Peeve, My Parents’ Pet Book Review

Both my husband and I were only children. As such, we became avid readers at a young age and have endeavoured to instill in our own son that same love for literature. In fact, for our Baby Shower, we went so far as to ask for books instead of cards to help us stock up for him his own fun and sentimental library right from the start.

We read to him every day, but at his young age, many of the books we have are still far too advanced for him. At the same time, our son seems to have skipped right over the early learning phase and craves more than simple shapes and one word books – he wants something with rhythm, length and lots of colourful pictures to stimulate his senses.

When we were sent “Peeve, My Parents’ Pet” by Tom Ryan – with illustrations by Kenny Durkin – I was instantly intrigued with the simple yet unique concept and the vivid illustrations of a young boy who bears a striking resemblance to my own son. Although the book is geared to an older audience of readers aged three to nine, it was an instant hit with my son!

Our protagonist – a charming yet playfully mischievous little boy – tells us the story of what he understands to be his parent’s pet, a mysterious little creature called Peeve.

Through the dialogue of the young boy’s parents, we learn all about the exciting activities of this “pet” such as bouncing on the bed and leaving the skateboard at the bottom of the stairs.

These fleeting images of Peeve excite the young boy as, in his words, “It’s too bad Peeve doesn’t slow down long enough to let me play with him. We seem to share a lot of the same interests.”

What a charming moment in the story for both children and their parents!

While we see the boy’s parents expressing their frustration about Peeve’s activities, the tone is always playful and never veers too far into negative territory – another peeve of mine in other children’s stories. We even see the mother’s concern for Peeve’s (in truth, her son’s) health when she says, “Please cover your mouth when you sneeze, that is my pet peeve!” – providing yet another beautiful moment in the story.

Certainly, this is a wonderful story that would delight older children and their parents at the same time, but it was also a fantastic book for my young son as the rhythm and repetition kept his interest while the expressive and vivid illustrations kept him engaged.

Despite the story being fairly repetitive throughout, each page builds on the concept further and helps to build the world and the characters while also creating some fun suspense for readers who understand the joke. The illustrations are a perfect mix of cartoon and reality, offering up immediate emotional responses on the first read and lovely details for repeat readers.

We particularly loved the spread halfway through the book where our young protagonist shows off his drawings of what he imagines Peeve must look like – “I can’t decide whether or not Peeve has wings, but I’m pretty sure he’s green, has at least one horn, and a spikey tail.” This offers a great opportunity for older readers to further engage in the story by drawing their own version of what they think Peeve might look like.

My son loved the voices I made for each character, and when he is older and learning to read it will be fun for us to read together as a family, with my husband and I taking on the voices of the parents, and our son reading the narration.

Peeve, My Parents’ Pet was such a fun family reading experience – and I look forward to seeing more in the future from both this author and illustrator!