How to Catch a Class Pet: A Back to School Adventure for Kids

How to Catch a

by Alice Walstead, Andy Elkerton (Illustrator)

From the New York Times and USA Today bestselling How to Catch series comes an all-new, hilarious school adventure!

The class pets escaped from their cages and are running loose in your school! Lizards, hamsters, rabbits, and birds are on the loose... and a bearded dragon is leading the hilarious escape. Join the fun and find out if YOU have what it takes to catch these riotous pets on their wild field trip! Featuring an approachable school theme that kids will relate to plus cute animal characters and clever rhymes, this silly story will inspire repeat reads again and again.

Perfect for young readers and educators alike and a delight for fans of the bestselling series, this fun-filled picture book blends STEAM concepts with hilarity and chaos to encourage reading, learning, and imagination. Great for children ages 4-10, this book makes a delightful first day of school gift, appreciation gift for teachers, holiday stocking stuffer, graduation gift, or for read-aloud fun anytime of year!

All the class pets are on the loose, and each critter must be found!

We need your help setting traps before the school bell sounds!

Also in the How to Catch

How to Catch a UnicornHow to Catch a DinosaurHow to Catch a MermaidHow to Catch a MonsterHow to Catch a Snowmanand more!

Genres: Picture Books, School, Childrens, Back To School, Humor, Adventure, Fiction

40 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 26, 2022

Reviews

[Kelly Carey · Rating 1 out of 5]

The meter and rhythm of this rhyming picture book was off and it made it hard to read aloud.

Cute idea with fun illustrations, the rhyme just hurt the story.

[Sarah Brooks · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn’t like this one as much as some of the other books in the series. It is still kind of cute, where the kids try to catch the various animals that are hidden throughout the book.

[Kenna Lampe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review for How to Catch a Bookworm: This is a great book that’s fun for kids, has good jokes and has a good meaning. It encourages students to love reading all of the different kind of books out there. This book read easily and was very fun for me.

[Anthony · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's the first day of the new school year, and every classroom has a class pet. But when the students enter their classroom they discover every pet is missing. The hunt is on, and traps are set to find and capture each missing pet and return them to the their classroom.

[Ireland Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kid's Review

The kids tried to catch pets. There was a bearded dragon, rabbit, turtle, guinea pig, spider, and a frog in different classes the kids had to find.

[Travis · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought the concept was cute but execution left much to be desired. The rhyming was clunky, which made for awkward reading for me.

[Sandy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun illustrations. An entertiaing read, but the rhyming text was a bit awkward at times.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

7 Year old loved it

My 7 yr old loved this book. It's not too long and not too short for her. The pictures give you something to discuss.

[Mandy · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Jenny · Rating 3 out of 5]

All of the class pets have escaped. They have to try to catch them. This is cute and funny.

[Rick Christiansen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Wasn't a fan of the rhyme scheme. The pictures would be fun to look at for a kid during read a loud though

[Colleen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Eh, not my favorite in the series, but it would make a good picture search.

[Kimberly · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit too nonsensical for my taste. All the pets have phones, and made a mass escape. The kids couldn't catch them, and they all chose to come back on their own.
A fun base idea, though!

[Suzanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

This series is a kid-pleaser. Whether young readers are interested in dragons, mermaids, or unicorns, the rhyming text and charming illustrations offer laughs on every page. This new title was released in time for back to school read-alouds in classrooms everywhere. The students in the book are eager to return to school, but stop to have a little fun on the playground before class begins. The scene allows readers to see what those playing outside the school don't notice - the pets are on cell phones! When the bell rings and everyone heads inside, the pets have all disappeared. Plans are made and traps are constructed so that the pets can be reclaimed during recess. But all the preparation doesn't work and kids head back inside empty-handed.

Whether youngsters read on their own or with a parent, everyone will get a laugh out of seeing the "Petchat" app, the bearded dragon holding up a sign urging the other pets to play hide & seek from the kids, or the turtle standing against a green wall so that he is overlooked by searchers. Those classes and libraries who already have the previous books must be sure to add this title. For those who are only encountering the series for the first time, this introduction will show how much entertainment can be expected from the other books. Betcha can't read just one!

[Joyce Stewart Reviews · Rating 5 out of 5]

How to Catch a Class Pet: A Funny School Adventure for Kids
Author : Alice Walstead
Illustration: Andy Elkerton
5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

The class pets escaped from their cages and are running loose in your school! Lizards, hamsters, rabbits, and birds are on the loose... and a bearded dragon is leading the hilarious escape. Join the fun and find out if YOU have what it takes to catch these riotous pets on their wild field trip! Featuring an approachable school theme that kids will relate to plus cute animal characters and clever rhymes, this silly story will inspire repeat reads again and again.

💥🦎🐢🐦🐁🐹🐰💥
MY REVIEW

How to catch a class pet is a great interactive book for kids. All the class pets are on the loose, and each critter must be found!
Each page has a word that's wrote in a different color and that's the word they are supposed to find.
The illustrations are bright , beautiful, and match the page. They definitely draw the kids as well as the parent, grandparent, or teachers attention. This would make a great book for teachers to have in their classroom as well as in your own home library. Great for children ages 1-10.

#HowtoCatchaClassPet
#AliceWalstead
#AndyElkerton
#interactivebook

[Pam · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received an electronic ARC from Sourcebooks Wonderland through Edelweiss+.
Walstead and Elkerton continue to bring fun with a challenge to elementary level readers. This time the gang heads back to school and discovers the class pets are missing. Working together, they create traps for each one. If you've read the series, you'll know that these traps may not work and that proves true. However, the pets return on their own to finish the story.
Rhyming text and highly detailed illustrations draw readers in to figure out which pet they are searching for one each page spread. They will have to search too in order to locate each animal.
A terrific read aloud for the beginning of the school year.

[American Mensa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really love this book. I have read it a lot of times. The class pets are sneaky. They have cell phones and internet which helps them go to the playground. Then, suddenly they are just back in their cages! I think maybe there is a page missing. Some of the children look like me! They make some traps to catch the pets and I want to make a trap, too. A lot of the words rhyme so it is fun for me to read. I hope that I will have a class pet one day.

Book review by Arthur S., 4, Greater Phoenix Mensa

[Elizabeth Edwards · Rating 4 out of 5]

i read a kindle FIRE copy ...using my local library app thingy to get it on my kindle. works well but for some kindle books it doesn't give the best representation??! the kindle book is only the wee middle bit making the illustrations and text super small. not cool like it might be when you are reading a real handheld book. just saying. reason for the 4 verses big ole' 5 stars. the illustrations are fun and super colorful!! text would be better if larger.

[Ellon · Rating 2 out of 5]

2 stars (it was okay).

I think it's a cute idea and I appreciated some of the puns (like the snake reading HSSSS-Tory) but the rhythm of the text was so off that it was distracting. I think sometimes authors of children's books think they have to rhyme to make the book interesting but when they don't do it well, it really ruins the book.

[Taylor Lindsey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think this is a super cute book! It is a picture book about class pets that escape. I think it is very exciting and fun to read and I would definitely read it to younger grade levels. I really like they illustrations in the book as well I think they are very creative and cool to look at.

[Diane · Rating 3 out of 5]

Disappointing.

[Dana · Rating 1 out of 5]

Cute idea, but terrible execution. Writing is subpar and the illustrations were soulless.

[Jessica DiCicco · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute idea, but I agree with some of the other reviews that the rhythm and rhyme were a bit off, which was distracting.