Every year on February 20th, pet lovers around the world come together to celebrate National Love Your Pet Day. This special day is dedicated to honoring our furry, feathered, and scaly companions who bring so much joy into our lives.
Whether you have a playful pup, a curious cat, or a friendly fish, it is the perfect opportunity to show your appreciation and spoil them with some extra love and attention.
Check out these adorable photos of our beloved pets below – their cuteness is sure to brighten your day!
Looking for a way to celebrate our furry friends all month long? The Alachua County Library District has you covered. Check out one of our many stories about pets or a pet care guide.
- Pet Care
- Image
Pet That Cat! A Handbook for Making Feline Friends by Nigel Kidd
A handbook that teaches kids how to meet, care for, and celebrate cats. Features a guide to cat body language, tips on how to safely interact with new feline friends, advice for adopting and caring for your own cat, and stories of cats throughout history.
Image
77 Things to Know Before Getting a Cat: the Essential Guide to Preparing Your Family and Home for a Feline Companion by Susan Ewing
Thinking of getting a cat? When new cat owners aren't prepared, it's the cat who suffers, so it's very important to consider all angles of cat care and ownership before making the commitment. Ewing starts readers with the process of selecting a suitable cat for your home and lifestyle and goes on to discuss the present and future requirements of feeding, grooming, training, healthcare, and much more.
Image
Dogs Demystified: An A-to-Z Guide to All Things Canine by Marc Bekoff
An easy-to-read A-to-Z guide of all things dog. The book largely focuses on dog behavior - what dogs do and why they do it - in order to help readers understand, appreciate, and peacefully coexist with dogs.
Image
The Little Book of Dog Care by Ace Tilton Ratcliff
Life-long dog lover and veterinary practice owner Ace Tilton Ratcliff delivers a must-have primer for every dog parent. What should you do when your dog is scared during a thunderstorm? How can you make clipping their nails less miserable? When do they like to eat? What can't you feed them? Endless questions, expert-certified answers. Thoughtfully divided into chapters that focus on a specific aspect of care, from sleeping to grooming and beyond, these tips and tricks are applicable to any breed of dog.
Image
Rabbits: Keeping and Caring for Your Pet by Angela Beck
Discusses how to choose and care for a rabbit, including diet, behaviors, housing, grooming, exercise, and vet care.
Image
From what they eat to how to keep their tanks clean and healthy, this book gives you all the pet care advice you need to become a fish's best pal. Learn the inside information on how to understand their behavior, so you can have your own piece of the ocean in your home.
Image
Beaky's Guide to Caring for Your Bird by Isabel Thomas
In this book, Beakie the Budgie reveals how readers should go about choosing a pet bird, what supplies they will need, how to make a new pet bird feel at home, and how to properly care for a pet bird, including feeding, exercising, and keeping a bird cage clean. Text is accompanied by clear, labeled photographs to further reinforce key concepts.
Image
Gordon's Guide to Caring for Your Guinea Pigs by Isabel Thomas
In this book, Gordon the Guinea Pig reveals how readers should go about choosing pet guinea pigs, what supplies they will need, how to make a new pet guinea pig feel at home, and how to properly care for pet guinea pigs, including feeding, exercising, and keeping a guinea pig cage clean. Text is accompanied by clear, labeled photographs to further reinforce key concepts.
Image
From where they sleep to what they eat and how you can make them feel safe and at home, this book gives you all the pet care advice you need to become a lizard's best pal. Learn the inside information on how lizards communicate, what games they like to play, and how to understand their behavior, so you can build a bond with your pet that will last a lifetime.
Image
Author Melissa Caughey knows that backyard chickens are like any favorite pet, fun to spend time with and fascinating to observe. Her hours among the flock have resulted in this guide packed with firsthand insights into how chickens communicate and interact, use their senses to understand the world around them, and establish pecking order and roles within the flock. Combining her up-close observations with scientific findings and interviews with other chicken enthusiasts, Caughey answers unexpected questions such as Do chickens have names for each other? How do their eyes work? and How do chickens learn?
- Pet Stories for Children
- Image
My Dog is Best by David Catrow
The dogs in this story are small, tall, fast, and funny. They can hide, hug, sing, and surprise. Which dog is best? The one that belongs to you.
Image
Perla The Mighty Dog by Isabel Allende
Perla, the mighty dog, teaches her human brother, Nico Rico, how to use his superpowers to stand up to a bully. Perla is a mighty dog who has two superpowers, making people love her, and roaring like a lion. When she finds out her human brother, Nico Rico, is being bullied at school, she knows she has to step in! But what will Perla do?
Image
The Perfect Pet for You by Estelle Laure
This picture book encourages self-reflection and animal friendship. Follows a thoughtful girl as she learns all about pets.
Image
Not that Pet by Smriti Prasadam-Halls
Mabel's family is letting her pick what kind of pet to get, and she is determined to find the very best one. "Any pet you like delivered to your door," promises the sign. But what if the ants are too tiny, the hyenas too giggly, the owl too loud? What if the snake almost strangles Granddad and the skunk wants to spray the baby? None of the pets she tries out seems like the right fit. Readers will love following through several comical reveals until Mabel meets her furry match (not what you might guess!).
Image
Some Pets by Angela DiTerlizzi
At the pet show, there are so many different types of pets! With dogs and cats, horses and chickens, hamsters and chinchillas, and many, many more, this book celebrates animal companions of all shapes and sizes.
Image
After awakening to find that her pet ferret is now pet feet, a young girl discovers that the letter "R" has disappeared and its absence is causing chaos throughout her town.
Image
How do Dinosaurs Choose Their Pets? by Jane Yolen
At first, the dinosaurs try to bring home all manner of wild beasts, but in the end, they learn to bring home an appropriate animal from a shelter and to love and care for it with attention.
Descriptions adapted from the publisher.
