It’s important to the keepers to keep the animals healthy and happy.
Why did I get this book?
I think it was mentioned by Michelle Stern of Pooch Parenting and I obviously got curious because it’s never a bad thing to have literature for children available. Especially since a lot of people with dogs tend to have children too. And aside from that, who would I be to turn down a title that included both dragons and unicorns?
What does this book do?
This book is a story about Ana, a young journalist who visits the zookeeper Marian in the local magical zoo. Marian takes Ana on a tour to visit the animals and watch their training. Ana asks all the questions that children would normally do, and the trainers they meet make a wonderful job of explaining things from targeting, recall, trick training, and corporative husbandry (seriously, how else would you trim the nails of Big Foot?). Throughout the book Ana also realises how she can use these training techniques for her new dog Nova by making easy to understand comparisons about the usefulness of targets, baby gates and clickers. The entire book is illustrated with adorable drawings of the mystical creatures and the training situations, which only adds value to the feel-good sense of the book.
The last chapter of the book includes a short, child-friendly introduction on how to start training practically even if your magical creature is just a terrier.
What does this book not do?
This book is by no means a comprehensive training manual, nor does it appear to be intended to be one, but I am fairly sure that used as a bedtime story, it can serve to broaden the horizon of both kids and parents.
Where can you get this book?
The book is available online through Amazon and other bookstores, but I’m also sure your local book-pusher can order it in.