Guinea Pigs in the Greenhouse

Animal Ark [GB Order] #58

by Lucy Daniels (Pseudonym)

Vandals have struck at Woodbridge Farm Park and several animals have escaped. Mandy and James help track most of them down, but where is Chocky the pregnant guinea-pig? In the hot sun, she's in danger of getting heatstroke - and Mandy's especially worried when she hears Chocky's babies are due any day! Can she and James find Chocky in time?

Another exciting Animal Ark adventure, from the bestselling series.

Genres: Animals, Childrens

160 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

Lucy Daniels is the collective name for the writing team that created the bestselling children's book series Animal Ark, many of the books are also published under the name of the series creator, Ben M. Baglio.

Reviews

[Rena Sherwood · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was one of 30+ books in the main Animal Ark series that Scholastic in America would choose not to publish. Usually, there's no rhyme or reason as to why these books were passed over. In this case, the reason was crystal clear -- this book sucks.

Ever since the first Animal Ark book was published in 1994, veterinarian C. J. Hall was thanked for going over the manuscript. It's really obvious that no veterinarian looked this crap over, because there are multiple mistakes on caring for guinea pigs. Let's look at some of the main ones:

* Guinea pigs here are fed seeds. Seeds routinely kill guinea pigs, including sunflower seeds.
* Mandy picks wild plants by the sides of roads and in car parks to give to both rabbits and guinea pigs. This is a great way to sicken or kill your small pet, since the exhaust and liquids cars give off poisons the plants.
* Chocky is described as brown and white, then as a tortiseshell. Make up your damn mind, real author Stephen Cole. Those are two different colors.
* One of the Hopes recommended lavender oil for wounds on a guinea pig. ANY essential oil can greatly sicken or kill a guinea pig. I lived in the UK at the time this was first published in 2002, and my vet freaked out when he discovered I used tea tree oil on my first dog's sore.
* Guinea pigs do not lay on their sides to give birth. They sit up, bend their heads down between their legs and pull the babies out. They usually break the birth sac, too.
* Baby guinea pigs are properly called pups.
* Guinea pigs don't run for miles and miles when given a scare. They freeze, then find a dark place to hide.
* Guinea pigs usually do not scream before giving birth.

This book was apparently a 150 page plug for the Animal Ark spin-off series, Animal Ark Pets. You need to read not just one but two of those books to fully appreciate what's going on here. They were Lamb Lessons and Duckling Diary. This plug wouldn't save Animal Ark Pets, which had its last book published in 2002.

Mrs. Ponsonby makes an inauspicious return to the series, and Sam Western is definitely out of character here. Why on earth would he be driving a dying car? He always had top of the line gear beforehand. PC Wilde and Ernie Bell also return, but are in character. The goat farm owner, Lydia Fawcett, also returns, but is definitely not in character. Mandy herself seems dumber than usual, or extremely forgetful, bordering on dementia.

Even illustrator Ann Baum seems to have been disgusted with this book. She does not draw Chocky as an Abyssinian, and the representation of Apollo the Clydesdale didn't even look like a horse, let alone a Clydesdale.

[Sammy]

I was completely obsessed with this series of books when I was a child and my aim was to read every single book. They are a really good children's series.

[Tessie Dragon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Miluju sérii knížek z Archy zvířat! Tento měl také nádherný příběh, i když těm vandalům bych dala co proto! A Čoko musela být velmi statečná maminka a morče, když se jí podařilo takové dobrodružství. ;)

[Taylor Troncin]

Loved this series when I was younger. Still a huge animal lover and would like to read the rest of this series!