Animal Tails: A Collection of Short Stories for Children

Ted McGee is an associate professor of English at St. Jerome’s
College, University of Waterloo.

Four of the five stories in Animal Tails focus on pets: an escaping
snake; multiplying hamsters; a dog that turns the game of hide-and-seek
into a search-and-rescue mission; and a dog who adopts a group of
ducklings. Warm in tone, these stories all have the ring of personal
experience. The fifth, “The Science Fair Disaster”—an oddity,
because animals here are secondary to humans—is a hilarious account of
the disasters that befall a school science fair.

Although Animal Tails leaves a lot to be desired as a book, the stories
are strong enough in plot for an engaged reading. Unfortunately the
drawings, apparently done in pencil crayon and in color, have been
reproduced in black and white, resulting in the loss not only of color
but also of texture, detail, and depth. Recommended with reservations.