Editorial Review

In what might be the most poignant entry in the Smart Kid’s Guide to Everyday Life series, Petersen takes on the unavoidable—and unavoidably sad—topic of pet death. Beginning with a history lesson (humans befriended wolves about 32,000 years ago), she goes on to explain that, though your pet will be kept healthy with a vet’s help, it will still eventually die—suddenly or over a slow process of weakening. In this case, euthanasia is often ‘the most caring choice for a dear pet.’ Petersen’s language is direct: ‘Your pet dies right afterward . . . The shot does not hurt.’ Much of the book is devoted to the experience of grief—‘a mishmash of feelings’—and memorializing a pet. A sunny design, sober stock photos, and occasional squiggly illustrations help make this a useful, sensitive package.