The Essential Goldfish (Howell Book House's Essential) [Abridged] [Paperback]

Maddy Hargrove (Author)

Book Description

Series: Howell Book House's Essential | Publication Date: July 27, 1999

Owning a goldfish is rewarding and fun! Get all you need to know about feeding, housing and caring for your fish's health in The Essential Goldfish. Special features include professional color photos and expert tips on how to make your fish a wonderful addition to the family. Learn how to have a great relationship with your pet with The Essential Goldfish.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Owning a goldfish is rewarding and fun! Get all you need to know about feeding, housing and caring for your fish's health in The Essential Goldfish. Special features include professional color photos and expert tips on how to make your fish a wonderful addition to the family. Learn how to have a great relationship with your pet with The Essential Goldfish.

Product Details

• Paperback: 96 pages
• Publisher: Howell Book House; 1 edition (July 27, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1582450838
• ISBN-13: 978-1582450834
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 6.2 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,334,822 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #19 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Science > Nature & Ecology > Natural Resources
  • #36 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Home & Garden > Animal Care & Pets > Fish & Aquariums

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

46 of 48 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars All you need in a goldfish book, August 1, 2002

By 

Marina Michaels (Santa Rosa, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Essential Goldfish (Howell Book House's Essential) (Paperback)

I recently entered the world of goldfish ownership. To prepare for the experience, I read many books on the topic (checking them out from the library), and looked at many more in the local bookstore. After reading some pretty scholarly tomes as well as some light, "So You Have a Goldfish" fare, I decided that this book, The Essential Goldfish, is everything a beginner like me needs.

The book starts by swiftly covering the basic varieties of goldfish, providing enough information so that you can tell the difference between the types and so that you can make an informed decision on what kind you want and which kinds to put together (and to avoid putting together). Along with that basic information, it gives guidelines for choosing your goldfish, and for creating a home for your goldfish.

Next, the book addresses aquarium maintenance, plants, feeding (with some surprising facts about what you can feed your goldfish), health, and even breeding, and concludes with a list of resources and an index.

As a professional indexer myself, I would say that the index is the weakest part of the book. There are terms that are indexed where the term is mentioned, but not defined or discussed in any way, and then other places where the term actually is defined, but is not in the index. In this case, the book is small enough and well organized enough that one can still find most of what one is looking for, but in the case of at least one term, one would have to read every page quite carefully to find the definition.

I should mention that this book is an abridged version of the older "The Goldfish: An Owner's Guide to a Happy, Healthy Pet (Owner's Guide to a Happy, Healthy Pet)," by Carlo De Vito and Gregory Skomal. Some of the sections in both books are nearly identical. However, the outdated information in the older edition was removed for this edition, and this edition is also more attractive and easier to hold and handle than the earlier edition.

In summary, setting aside the weakness of the index, and after having read several books on goldfish, I would heartily recommend this book for the beginner and intermediate goldfish owner. It is complete enough, small enough, and focused enough that you are more likely to read it from cover to cover, thereby giving your goldfish a better chance of being properly cared for.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Informative but incomplete, March 7, 2004

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Essential Goldfish (Howell Book House's Essential) (Paperback)

I found that the Essential Goldfish was decently-written and had a lot of pictures; however, the pictures were not very informative. Pictures should serve to augment the information in the text, and not as eye-candy. For example, in the chapter describing the different types of goldfish, pictures of each of the described goldfish and desirable traits would reinforce the given descriptions. Likewise, in the chapter on plants describes many plants that mix well with goldfish, but doesn't show pictures of each plant.
I found that there were some key bits of information missing. The author states that certain kinds of goldfish cannot be mixed together, and gives a few examples. A chart of compatible types would be helpful. Likewise, the chapter on breeding gives some good tips, but it doesn't actually explain how to differentiate between males and females!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars THIN; In more ways than one, August 28, 2007

By 

M. Lee "XCanonMike" (Wisconsin USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Essential Goldfish (Howell Book House's Essential) (Paperback)

"Informative but Incomplete" is, I believe, the "kinder and gentler" way to review this book. I should first review the book, and then offer my assessment of its value.

The Book: Thin--both in quantity of content, and in depth of content. What is there is OK, but there's not all that much there; and what is there only scratches the surface of what one would want (or need) to know if one is serious about getting into the keeping and care of gold fish.

To be sure, there is some interesting and unexpected information and tips offered in this book--and for that I am thankful. The book simply does not go "far enough" in giving this information nor offer any depth or background for it.

The Value of the book: I would have no problem if this were in a pets and hobbies section of an elementary school library--possibly even in a middle school library. However, I do not believe that there is much of value to an adult aquarist (neophite, novice, or beyond)to be found in this book. I found similar, and in some cases better information in some brochures and pamphlets put out by TetraCare.

In short, No. I do not suggest this book as a candidate for a 21st Century wave of book burnings. Neither do I recommend it to anyone who wants to learn very much about setting up a goldfish aquarium, and about caring for the little creatures.

In my teaching days, if this book were submitted as a paper, I would give it a "C," and suggest that it be redone for a better grade.

Fr. Mike Lee