Cover of My Perfect Pet, What Will I Get? — Nic stands thinking beside a pond, surrounded by a puppy, a sleeping cat, a frog, a leaping fish, a heron and a bearded dragon.

NovaSeed Kids™ · Picture Book · Ages 3–7

My Perfect Pet,
What Will I Get?

The best kind of friend is the one you just get.

Hardcover, paperback and eBook · 28 pages, full colour · The hardcover is orderable through any bookshop or library using the ISBN below.

Nic has just heard the best sentence a kid can hear: it's time for a pet. He dances. He cheers. And then he runs straight into the hard part — actually choosing one.

A puppy is cute, but it bites his shoes. A kitten purrs, but it runs from his hand. A parrot talks, but what if it squawks when he's trying to sleep? Turtle's too slow. Every animal is somebody's perfect pet. None of them is his.

Then he finds a picture of something with scales and a calm little grin — and the whole question changes shape. My Perfect Pet, What Will I Get? is a rhyming read-aloud about the difference between wanting the most exciting thing and recognising the right one, told in twenty-eight pages of full-colour illustration.

The book opens with a "This book belongs to ______" page, because a book a child writes their own name into is a book they keep.

From the Book

How it begins

Hi! I'm Nic,
and I heard something new —
"It's time for a pet!"
Said Mom and Dad too.

I danced and I cheered,
I just couldn't wait!
But what kind of pet
would be truly great?

Page 3

If you want a pet, don't rush or forget…
The best kind of friend is the one you just get.

It may not be furry
or noisy or new,
But the perfect pet…
is perfect for you.

Page 23 — the last spread

Look Inside

Eight spreads from the book

Every page is original artwork by Jerrianne Ferreras, drawn for this story.

For Grown-ups

What it's really teaching

On the surface this is a book about animals. Underneath, it's a book about how to make a decision — a skill most picture books skip.

Nic doesn't pick the flashiest option and he isn't talked into anything. He considers each choice honestly, notices what actually matters to him — a friend that's calm, that stays close, that's there when he gets home — and picks accordingly. The book never says a puppy is a bad pet. It says a puppy wasn't the right pet for Nic.

That gives you a few things to talk about after the last page:

  • What did Nic like about each animal? What worried him?
  • Which pet would you pick, and why that one?
  • Is it okay to want something different from what your friends want?

The rhyme scheme is built for reading aloud, and the vocabulary sits comfortably for a beginning reader working through it alone.

Book details
TitleMy Perfect Pet, What Will I Get?
Written byJay M. Richards
Illustrated byJerrianne Ferreras
PublisherNovaSeed Press
ImprintNovaSeed Kids™
Reading age3–7 years
Pages28, full colour
FormatsHardcover · Paperback · eBook
ISBN (hardcover)979-8-2187874-8-6
ISBN (paperback, Amazon)979-8-2454493-0-2
LCCN2025919902
CategoryChildren's picture book · Animals · Friendship
Published2025

Booksellers, schools and libraries: see bulk & school orders.

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