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| Animal Ark is probably newer than this. Probably. |
Maybe the two I picked were among the weakest, but I kinda doubt it. I have the feeling that there are various authors because no single person wanted to be accused of writing them all.
The two I read were Kittens in the Kitchen and Pony on the Porch.
The books are set in England...supposedly. There isn't a thing about them that feels British.
The people have nothing in their speech that indicates they're from England. There are no colloquialisms or idioms that are specifically British. These books could just as easily have taken place in America or Australia.
Kittens in the Kitchen moves very slowly. Nothing especially exciting or unexpected happens. I was ready to stop this series after this first book but determined to give at least one more a shot.
I shouldn't have.
Pony on the Porch seems to have little to no focus, at least through the first handful of chapters. You'd think that the porch mentioned in the title would be an important part of the story.
It's not.
Then there's the series title, Animal Ark. This refers to a veterinary office that the main female character's parents run. Other than that animal connection, it doesn't really play much of a role in these two books. (Maybe it's more important in others.) There are no significant scenes in the Animal Ark offices, even though you do visit them a few times.
Knowledge of animals is sort of important, but pretty much any country girl would have smarts equal to the lead character's.
If your child likes helping animals, there must be better books out there than these. Steer them in some other direction.
