Review Detail

“Snake Milker and Other Animal Jobs” by Stepanka Sekaninova, illustrated by Jakub Cenkl, details a variety of jobs. Some are better known and others are much lesser known, but they are all jobs that allow people to dedicate their professional lives to working with animals.

Among the lesser known ones, there are animal bodyguards who provide all-day care for pets and protection for animals against paparazzi photographers and possible attacks. There are also animal surfing instructors, animal physiotherapists, taxi service for animals, animal food tasters, pet psychologists, animal communicators, animal detectives, dog fashion designers, animal wigmakers, ostrich babysitters, and panda nannies. There are even professional cat cuddlers!

Getting back to the title, snake milkers safely get deadly venom into bottles. They do this by firmly grasping snakes’ heads and pressing against the neck of a glass bottle with a rubber cap. They must carefully squeeze each snake’s head until venom comes out. This is not easy work, but milking snakes helps get enough venom for medical purposes.

Better known animal careers include professional dog walkers, advocates for animal rights, wildlife and pet photographers, and cat sitters, among others.

Many of the jobs listed include not only what the position entails, but what equipment will be needed, as well as what characteristics will help in doing the job well. There is so much to learn in this book that not only details lots of different animals and what types of jobs are needed to help them out, but also focuses on the power of taking responsibility and doing something that is not only engaging, but motivating.