Las Mascotas (Pets)

Ay caramba! 

THREE PROS

*Parents who are true devotees to the "babies recognize b&w before colors" will definitely consider this title to be up their alley   

*Charles Reasoner nails the six most common household pets (I think)
*I love me a good photo hunt, and that's exactly what the last page is

THREE CONS 

*Despite using colossally thick card stock, the pages were nearly impossible for me to separate and turn easily -- you can imagine what'd be like for a child lacking the same manual dexterity 
*As much as I enjoyed the photo hunt concept in theory, I found the page a little too busy and the words on it too cramped into the top corner 

*If you're gonna put purple on the cover and in the last picture, why not just use it for the animal names as well (instead of red)

ONE DAD'S OPINION
If I had to pick a pet to compare this book to, I'd go with a hamster.  It's only gonna last a few years and isn't that exciting on a day-to-day basis, but it's still better than nothing.  In truth, Las Mascotas is slightly worse than the rodent I'm likening it to, since I couldn't see myself getting the same joy from putting it on a pillow and snap-launching it into the air.  Overall, I'd say Mr. Reasoner's work is only slightly better than the cellulose one would line a cage with, but since it's in Spanish and English, it's okay to leave out when company comes over. 

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