about the book
Dogs drool and shed. They whine, bark, beg, and bite. They lick other dog’s butts, piddle, and poop. For those reasons, and pages full of other reasons, Rufus’s up-tight work-at-home-in-a-suit-tie-and-ugly-blue-slippers writer Dad vows they will never own a dog.
But fifth-grader Rufus yearns for a dog. His best friend has a totally awesome pooch. Even his worst frenemy has a canine. Rufus keeps pestering his mom.
Mom prides herself on solving problems. So one night after work she appears with a cage containing one orange pudgy guinea pig sporting a spiky white Mohawk. Is mom crazy? Does she really think this pip-squeak female rodent is as good as a dog?
Suddenly responsible for caring for a animal he definitely does not want, Rufus sarcastically names her Fido. Trying to keep the lame pet a secret from his classmates, he hopes she’ll end up back at the pet store soon.
But plump punk Fido is clever. More canine than guinea pig, she does all the usual doggy tricks, though she has some issues with barking, biting, and chewing on dad’s shoes. She even eats Rufus’s homework and fetches a Frisbee!
Not totally bummed that the pet shop closed, Rufus has second thoughts. Maybe his mother wasn’t so crazy after all!
about the author
Growing up in Northwestern Indiana, young Patrick Jennings was extremely scared of snakes. He was particularly afraid of African black mambas— it didn’t matter that there weren’t any in Indiana, mambas still freaked him out. So imagine what young Pat felt when he moved to Arizona and learned that 17 different kinds of poisonous rattle snakes roamed the state!
Trying to get past his phobias, Patrick turned to writing. At the age of ten, Patrick convinced his teacher to allow him to write, direct, and star in the play “The Half True Story of Jesse James.” It closed on opening night, but he continued writing from then on.
He intended to study film at Arizona State University, but since he loved kids, he switched his major to education and graduated from San Francisco State University. After working as a paperboy, busboy, record clerk, and courier, Patrick was thrilled to teach English and preschool in the US and Mexico. He also was a librarian in the oldest library in Arizona. But he is happiest as a writer of eighteen children’s books.
Patrick always wanted a neat nickname in school. From the letters in “Patrick Jennings”, you can come up with the nicknames Ratpick, Stinking Carp, Jetpack, and Tiger Snack. Patrick prefers just “Tiger,” and would love if you’d e-mail him if you like his books.
Patrick lives with his family and two cats, Soobie Mennym and DeClaudia, in the small seaport village of Port Townsend on the Olympic Peninsula of Washington state. And yes, he is still deathly afraid of black mumbas.
Sources:
Author website
Author profile : Amazon
Author biography : Scholastic
Author biography : JRank
Also by Patrick Jennings:
Guinea Dog 3. Egmont USA. 2014.
Odd, Weird & Little. Egmont USA. 2014.
Guinea Dog 2. Egmont USA. 2013.
Dognap. Egmont USA. 2013.
My Homework Ate My Homework. Egmont USA. 2013.
Invasion of the Dognappers. Egmont USA. 2012.
Lucky Cap. Egmont USA. 2011.
We Can’t All Be Rattlesnakes. Harper Collins. 2009.
Out Standing in My Field. Scholastic. 2005.
read more!
Obi, Gerbil on a Mission! by Michael Clark Delaney
Obi the gerbil is jealous when her owner, Rachel, gets a golden retriever pup for her birthday. Obi tricks the pup into getting lost, but then, remorseful, she is determined to get the dog back. That means she’ll have to brave the scary outdoors, as well as snack-seeking owl and a big dog searching for a new chew toy, to do the right thing.
One Dog and His Boy by Eva Ibbotson
When Hal discovers his parents only rented Fleck, the dog he always wanted, for his birthday, he is determined to free Fleck and run away to his grandparents. But the escape is complicated when a girl, Pippa, insists on freeing four more dogs. Can the kids and canines make it all the way from London to Hal’s grandparent’s house? With the private detectives and other reward hunters on their tails, it’s not going to be an easy trip.
We Can’t All Be Rattlesnakes by Patrick Jennings
When Crusher, a snarky gopher snake, is captured by an undisciplined “sweaty, slimy” boy, her only thought is to escape. Pretending to be domesticated, Crusher befriends the other inmates in the boy’s “zoo.” She begins to sympathize with the neglected boy and realizes that freedom also means leaving creatures…and a human…she cares for behind.