Pet Shop Racers

Ages 5 to 8, Grades K to 3

Narwhal and Jelly meets The Mouse and the Motorcycle in this action-packed, hilarious graphic novel series starter perfect for early and reluctant readers ages 5-9.

Can Ham the hamster and Shelby the ferret become the greatest racecar drivers—and the greatest friends—of all time?

Ham and Shelby meet in the pet shop and become fast friends. But who is the fastest? Who will become the greatest racer in the world?

Only one can be the best. So as they race again and again, with better and better cars, Ham is determined to cross the finish line first every time. 

But when disaster strikes, Ham will have to learn that some things—like friendship—are even more important than winning.

Story Locale:a fictional pet shop and hobby shop inside a strip mall

Series Overview: Pet Shop Racers series schedule

Pet Shop Racers October 2025

Pet Shop Racers: The Fast and the Furriest October 2025

Pet Shop Racers: Need Fur Speed April 2026

About the Author

C.S. Jennings is the illustrator of over two dozen books for kids; working with publishers such as Penguin Books for Young Readers, Scholastic, Clarion, and Union Square Kids. His specialties are character design, middle grade, and humor in storytelling. He’s the author of Animal Band; Hello, Texas!; and Too Close Panda, and he illustrated the Texas Library Association’s Bluebonnet 2020-2021 Master List book, From an Idea to Disney: How Imagination Built a World of Magic (Clarion). He also works in the animation world—as animation lead for Richard Linklater’s A Scanner Darkly, and assistant animation director on the director’s newest film, Apollo 10½ (2022). He was assistant animation director on both seasons of Amazon’s Undone. C.S. believes in being part of the kid lit community. From 2016 to 2020 he was Illustrator Coordinator for the Austin chapter of The Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, an organization he’s been a member of for over sixteen years. A Texas native, he makes his home in Austin where he bikes and hikes, exploring the hill country for inspiration. See more of his work at https://csjennings.com/.

Author Residence: Austin, Texas