An entertaining, action-packed tale about raising a puppy that focuses on bad behavior.
In this illustrated children’s book, a rambunctious puppy upends a household.
Breuer draws on her experience as a dog owner for this work. The story features two canines, Tucker and Ridge, and a cat called Trouble who live with their humans in northeast Washington state. The trio gets along well and life is good until Daisy Mae, a German shepherd puppy, arrives. Daisy Mae is a “whirlwind of energy and activity” who disrupts the formerly “quiet, peaceful home.” The puppy cries at night, tries to bite the household humans and pets, attempts to steal food, and harasses the cat. The humans constantly shout “NO!” but Daisy Mae doesn’t understand their exasperation. “Learn to follow the rules. Then you will always hear ‘Good dog, Daisy Mae,’” Tucker tells her. Tucker and Ridge do their best to teach the puppy about walking on a leash, going potty outside, and leaving sleeping dogs alone. Trouble uses hisses and swats to reinforce boundaries. Tucker explains to Daisy Mae that “a good dog gets along with all sorts of people and animals. A good dog is calm even in strange situations. A good dog trusts its people to protect it from harm.” Over time, and with positive reinforcement, Daisy Mae learns to coexist peacefully with her housemates. By the end of the story, Daisy Mae is no longer just a source of chaos, but a beloved part of the pack as well. Breuer realistically captures the destructive antics of puppies, such as tearing up toilet paper and tipping over plants. The storytelling from Tucker’s point of view allows for humorous commentary: “‘Hiss’ is ‘Leave me alone’ in cat language.” Daisy Mae’s perspective is also unique and often funny in lines like “The people keep calling me ‘NO.’” Caswell’s dynamic illustrations convey Daisy Mae’s nonstop naughtiness and others’ emotional reactions to it. But the puppy-training techniques are barely shown in the story; instead, readers are told about them in a “Tips” section at the book’s end.
An entertaining, action-packed tale about raising a puppy that focuses on bad behavior.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: March 17, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story.
A home-renovation project is interrupted by a family of wrens, allowing a young girl an up-close glimpse of nature.
Renata and her father enjoy working on upgrading their bathroom, installing a clawfoot bathtub, and cutting a space for a new window. One warm night, after Papi leaves the window space open, two wrens begin making a nest in the bathroom. Rather than seeing it as an unfortunate delay of their project, Renata and Papi decide to let the avian carpenters continue their work. Renata witnesses the birth of four chicks as their rosy eggs split open “like coats that are suddenly too small.” Renata finds at a crucial moment that she can help the chicks learn to fly, even with the bittersweet knowledge that it will only hasten their exits from her life. Rosen uses lively language and well-chosen details to move the story of the baby birds forward. The text suggests the strong bond built by this Afro-Latinx father and daughter with their ongoing project without needing to point it out explicitly, a light touch in a picture book full of delicate, well-drawn moments and precise wording. Garoche’s drawings are impressively detailed, from the nest’s many small bits to the developing first feathers on the chicks and the wall smudges and exposed wiring of the renovation. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10-by-20-inch double-page spreads viewed at actual size.)
Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: March 16, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-593-12320-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Schwartz & Wade/Random
Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2021
A pleasant holiday spent with a perfectly charming character.
One of Boynton's signature characters celebrates Halloween.
It's Halloween time, and Pookie the pig is delighted. Mom helps the little porker pick out the perfect Halloween costume, a process that spans the entire board book. Using an abcb rhyme scheme, Boynton dresses Pookie in a series of cheerful costumes, including a dragon, a bunny, and even a caped superhero. Pookie eventually settles on the holiday classic, a ghost, by way of a bedsheet. Boynton sprinkles in amusing asides to her stanzas as Pookie offers costume commentary ("It's itchy"; "It's hot"; "I feel silly"). Little readers will enjoy the notion of transforming themselves with their own Halloween costumes while reading this book, and a few parents may get some ideas as well. Boynton's clean, sharp illustrations are as good as ever. This is Pookie's first holiday title, but readers will surely welcome more.
A pleasant holiday spent with a perfectly charming character. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: July 7, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-553-51233-5
Page Count: 18
Publisher: Robin Corey/Random
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2016
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