16th July Guinea Pig Appreciation Day

Guinea pigs are a species of rodents that are adopted as pets due to their domesticated nature and cute appearance. However, guinea pigs were not always kept in homes — they were originally seen as livestock and their meat was consumed by people. Said to have originated from the Andes mountains of Peru, the animals were initially wild and had to be trained. 

They are certainly a popular pet at school and because of this they are also a popular topic to read about. Luckily many authors have recognised this fact and have written a series of novels which have them as main characters. We all know Michael Bond's Olga and Betty Birney's Humphrey, but there are others.

Do you know Charlotte Middleton's Christopher Nibble? (picture books)

Ali Pye's Harry Stephenson?

Colleen Venable's, Guinea Pig Private Eye,Sasspants?

Jennifer Gray's Fuzzy and Coco from Guinea Pigs Online ?

Pip Jones' Piggy Handsome?

These are series for your die-hard guinea pig fans. Of course there are other stand alone picture books, novels and nonfiction. See here.

Hamsters have a celebration of their own on 12th April, but I often do combined displays, as we do not have hamsters in Australia. Stinky and Jinks, Pigsticks and Harold and Super Turbo are hamster series that students enjoy.