From School Library Journal
Starred Review. Grade 5-8–With plentiful, excellent-quality photographs, this highly visual book offers a behind-the-scenes look at an emergency animal hospital in Colorado. While a German shepherd's life is saved, a snake could not be resuscitated. The pictures work well with the smallish-print text. Photographs range from heartbreaking (the saddest-ever Basset hound) to heartwarming (Shelley, a dog recovering from HBC, or hit by a car in vet-speak) to somewhat graphic. There are examples of X-rays and action shots of surgeries. In a chapter on the history of vets and pets, readers learns about how, in 15th-century France, a sow and her piglets were put on trial for murdering a child. Source notes are appended. A section on grief counseling for families with critically ill pets and a spread on how to put together a pet first-aid kit are included. Well-researched and well-written,
ER Vets is an engaging book on a hot topic.
–Anne Chapman Callaghan, Racine Public Library, WI Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Gr. 5-8. A veteran nonfiction author as well as a pet owner, Jackson doesn't sidestep the emotional and physical demands of working in an emergency clinic, but her sensitive, behind-the-scenes look at emergency care also clearly shows the rewards of the profession and the bonds between owner and pet. To get the facts, she spent time in a-state-of-the-art facility, talking with vets, vet techs, pet owners, and even grief counselors, and observing a variety of animal patients--from a ball python, Lucy, that can't be saved, to a foal, Paco, born weak and tiny, that lives. The book's organization seems a little haphazard: while some chapters focus on particular animals, others are fairly general, and a few insets are sandwiched between the sections (for example, one discussing foods humans eat that can harm an animal). Still, Jackson gives both pets and their caregivers their due, and numerous, excellent photos, including a look at a surgery in progress, make this not only intriguing browsing material but also an honest initiation to a worthwhile career. A list of items for a pet first-aid kit is appended.
Stephanie ZvirinCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
