Many children are naturally drawn to animals from an early age. Introducing a pet not only teaches your child about how to care for something, but also teaches him about responsibility, too.• One of the most important things to remember is that your

doing most of it).DogMan’s best friend and most popular pet ever. Dogs need plenty of exercise every day, plenty of food and showering with endless attention.CatIndependent, tactile, fastidiously clean and mouse-catchers to boot. They’ll do what

I Want A Pet by Lauren Child (Frances Lincoln, £5.99)Lauren Child's tale of an animal loving little girl and her not-so-keen family has typically witty rhetoric and inventive, sketchy illustrations. Children who find their demands for a menagerie

Too much to do, too little time If everything is go, go, go in your house, then you need pets that don’t add to the general mayhem or add extra work to your already busy life. Fish, some reptiles and amphibians might be the right place to start

There's more than a hint of Christopher Robin charm about Belle and Boo, the delightful creations of Mandy Sutcliffe of the cutest little girl with an auburn bob, Belle, and her pet rabbit, Boo. This sweet tale tells of a birthday surprise

who? Luton Hoo... It could go on forever!).Despite the drizzly rain, I managed to do a reccy of the grounds, designed by some dude called Capability Brown – that's a cool name! Perhaps I could be Capability Joe? I discovered a pet cemetery

1 Love and lossThe day we brought our first bunnies home, the nice man in the pet shop gave us a free booklet. It listed the diseases that Flopsie and Fluffy might suffer from: myxomatosis, viral haemorrhagic disease, red urine and fly strike were

365 Penguins by Jean-Luc Fromental and Joelle Jolivet (Abrams, £9.95)Would your child like to have a pet penguin? How about 365? Discover the perils of keeping penguins as pets along with simple maths problems and cool monochrome illustrations

If you've a young techno-whizz in the house, then chances are you're no stranger to online virtual pets the Moshi Monsters (for all the low-down, check out our interview with Moshi Monsters creator Michael Acton Smith). And if you're a real

Aaaarrgghh! Spider! by Lydia Monks (Egmont, £5.99)A poor misunderstood spider tries to prove his family pet credentials but doesn’t get quite the reaction he had hoped for. Lydia Monks’ tale of tolerance and understanding is as hilarious