Pet Food Tester

November 1, 2016

Gr 4-8-A look at unconventional jobs in a highly visual format paired with simple texts. The repetition of common sight words and short sentences may improve fluency for some students, but the flow will seem choppy to more able readers. Details are authentic and draw on quotes and anecdotes from those in the field. In Pet Food Taster, for instance, experts cite the current demand for human grade pet food and debate whether to use animals or people to test it. Big Animal Trainer and Bounty Hunter depict the degree of risk taking and the precautions required. Pre-questions for each chapter, bright yellow fact boxes, captioned photographs, and bolded vocabulary words will boost comprehension. In addition to the back matter, a trivia page rounds out each volume.

Copyright 2016 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 15, 2016
These installments in the Odd Job series highlight paths less traveled in the working world, and the novelty of each career is a big part of the appeal. On pages broken up by stock photos, each title surveys a few people working in the field (though there are no source notes), offers a list of key jargon, describes some of the requirements for the job, and closes with a chapter brieflysometimes too brieflynoting controversial aspects of the career. Though Pet Food Tester gets much of its charm from its ick factor He gets a big tub. It's filled with cat food. He puts his face in it there's plenty of information about what the job requires. The direct, simple sentences are alarmingly abrupt, and curiously, though they're surely intended to make the text easier to read, the overall paragraphs can be quite confusing. Best suited for larger collections.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)