Sam just got a hamster for a pet. But the hamster is kind of boring … he just eats and sleeps and gets his shavings wet. Inspired by her book of mythological creatures, Sam longs for a more exciting pet. But she soon realizes that taking care of these magical beasts might not be as wonderful as she thought. Sasquatches are messy, unicorns are shy, gryphons scare the dogs at the dogpark, and having a fire extinguisher handy at all times makes dragons seem like an awful lot of work. In the end, Sam realizes that her hamster is a pretty sweet and safe pet … or is he?
The one thing that I keep hearing about this book is that it will no doubt be the gateway book to kids reading Harry Potter. It is the perfect storybook for instilling a love for imaginative and creative ideas!
Who hasn’t dreamed of having some kind of mythical creature as a pet at one point of time or another? As a kid I always wanted a sea monster or a Pegasus. I am still waiting to come across a unicorn or dragon or fairy to make my secret BFF! I absolutely loved reading this book! I found myself imagining what life would really be like with these particular pets. There were even some creatures that I had not heard of, so I went ahead and looked those creatures up! I learned some things, and I know lots of kids out there are going to learn a lot from this book as well!
Not only will this story open the door to many other reading adventures, it teaches us all that its okay to dream for big things, but to appreciate what we have. Also, it gives us a little bit of an insight into how much responsibility having a pet can be! Plus it rhymes. What more could we ask for?
Thanks so much to Netgalley for letting me read this book early! Look for “If I Had A Gryphon” on shelves February 9th, 2016.
I gave this beautiful book a *10/10* and I will be recommending it to many, many people!
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