Review Detail

SEAHORSES ARE SOLD OUT is a humorous picture book story with a building pet collection. Mika wants to go to the beach, but her father has to work. Instead, she convinces him to let her get a pet so she will be quiet and he can work. She picks out a mouse and has lots of fun showing it places to high, but then, it gets too good at hiding, and when she asks her father, he brushes her off, so she goes back to the pet store. They suggest a puppy, as they are good at finding things. The puppy does find the mouse, but then the puppy has trouble using the potty. She returns to the pet store and gets a seal to hang out in the bathroom and make sure everyone uses it correctly. As things keep escalating, Mika gets quite the collection of pets.

What I loved: This is an overall charming buildable story in the vein of The Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly and If You Give a Mouse a Cookie. One thing just leads to another until you have quite a bit more than you expected. The pets definitely bring some humor, like the penguin who likes to watch TV and the parrot who is a bit cheeky. Children are sure to giggle at some of the mistakes and the way that Mika decides to try to fix them.

The length of the story would work better for older picture book readers, who will also get all the jokes along the way, considering pet abilities. There is quite a lot of text on some pages, which makes them turn slowly and works better for elementary school aged picture book readers.

What left me wanting more: I had mixed feelings about the father and his work that seem to leave Mika neglected. I think there is a nice balance that could be shown with a parent who needs to work, but also notices that there is a whole zoo in their house for several days (he is surprised at the end when he finally finishes his work).

Final verdict: A charming buildable story about a menagerie of pets, SEAHORSES ARE SOLD OUT is a silly picture book that is sure to make readers giggle.