Genre 1 Book Reviews - LS 5603

The Poky Little Puppy

A. BIBLIOGRAPHY

Lowrey, Janette Sebring. 1942. The Poky Little Puppy. by Tenggren, Gustaf. Random House Children's Books. ISBN 9780307021342

B. PLOT SUMMARY

Over the course of three days, five little puppies repeatedly dig holes under their fence to go explore the wide, wide world. This goes against their mother's orders but each time the five of them climb to the top of the hill, only to discover that their poky sibling is still down at the bottom exploring. The poky sibling uses his senses to discover which dessert their mother is making along with their dinner. Upon this discovery the puppies dash home each night, only for their dessert to be withheld each time as punishment for digging holes. Twice in a row the poky little puppy slides through the hole under the fence to eat five shares of dessert and go to bed after everyone else is asleep. On the third day the four puppies come home sooner than he does, and fill in the hole to comply with their mother's wishes. They are rewarded with dessert while the poky puppy must go without as punishment for coming home late and for digging holes when he was ordered not to.

C. CRITICAL ANALYSIS

The Poky Little Puppy first opens with the title page. In addition to the usual information regarding the author, illustrator, and publisher, we are treated to our cast. The five little puppies are shown in animated poses with none of them looking at the reader: they are here to explore. The images are soft and recognizable to anyone but a child especially can identify with the chubby puppies, their curiosity, and the awkward splay of their limbs as they flop about the title page.

As the journey of the five siblings unfolds, it becomes clear that they are very curious and prone to mischief, as children are wont to do. The illustrations further underscore the story with clever repeating of the phrases found in the text: the "wide, wide" world is represented with a double page spread, with one page per usage of the world "wide." The wording is well crafted, using simple rhyming words to display that the strength of the English language lies in its simplicity. Each part of the journey, beginning with the journey to the hill and the clumsy way downwards, is repeated with rhyming stanzas. This helps with the repeatability of the text, as the story will be read and re-read many times.

The text further introduces multiple foundational concepts: such as counting (four puppies come up the hill while the fifth remains at the bottom), the senses (the poky little puppy uses smell, hearing, and sight to identify the desserts waiting for the puppies at home) and each concept is reinforced through repetition. Like many children's books there is a consistent theme of parents and food, as feeding their children is the way they show their love for their offspring. In this case the mother of the puppies feeds them dinner but withholds the desserts as punishment for digging the holes. The poky little puppy gets away with it two nights in a row when he comes home late and devours five servings of dessert, but on the third night, justice finally catches up to him when he arrives home late. The books closes with the puppy staring up at the fence, reading the sign put up threatening no desserts, ever again, if another hole is dug. This is a concept relatable to any child as the poky puppy's natural mischievousness and how his mother gently punishes him are common events in the life of a child.

The Poky Little Puppy is a lovely snapshot of the natural course of a child's playtime and interaction with their families.

D. REVIEW EXCERPTS

After extensive searching, no critical reviews of The Poky Little Puppy was found -- though there were many irate reviews from parents on Good Reads and Amazon railing against the book for being too harsh on the protagonist.

E. CONNECTIONS

• About Little Golden Books

The Poky Little Puppy is one book in the famous series of Little Golden Books, a series of picture books intended for children.

Golden Legacy: The Story of Golden Books. ISBN 978-0375829963

The book also spawned an animated spin off series called "Poky and Friends" produced by Varga TVC Productions and Golden Books Family Entertainment that ran from 1998 to 2003.

Wolf in the Snow

A. BIBLIOGRAPHY

Cordell, Matthew. 2017. Wolf in the Snow. New York: Feiwel & Friends. ISBN 978-1250076366

B. PLOT SUMMARY

Our protagonist, dressed in a red coat with her hood up, says goodbye to her family and pet to leave for school. On the opposing page, in another world, a wolf puppy runs with its family across a frozen wasteland. The human girl travels a far way to attend her schoolhouse: her family lives far away from the community. As she travels back home a blizzard drops on top of her, leading her astray. It also separates the wolf puppy from its pack. The two children, frightened and frozen, stumble across one another as they wend their way through trees and over tundra, blinded by the snow. The girl comforts the puppy and picks it up to carry it through the snow lest it become lost. She is able to reunite the wolf puppy with its pack and in gratitude the wolves guide her to her homestead where her parents find her on the edge of their property. The two families separate from each other but a small community has been formed between them through the children assisting and comforting one another, and now the two families no longer live in isolation.

C. CRITICAL ANALYSIS

Similar to the Poky Little Puppy, the book opens with illustrations instead of a traditional title page. This time we see the protagonist in her red coat saying goodbye to her dog and parents before she leaves for school. The scene looks into the log cabin from a window pane, the family depicted in soothing earthy tones to contrast the harshness of the white snow. The red coat is a pop of color in the middle of it all, denoting the girl as our main protagonist. The snow is cold and merciless but it cannot touch the warmth inside generated by the safety and comfort of the family. The following double spread depicts the protagonist's vulnerability as she waves goodbye to her dog and strikes out as a solitary red hooded figure on the unyielding white fields. At this point the literary reference is clear: Red Riding Hood once again leaves the safety of her home to strike out into the woods to go on another journey. In the next spread we see the dark wolves running, ready to collide with her. Only then do we come to the title page. The adventure has begun.

By their nature picture books base their storytelling on images but Wolf takes this to a new level. The only words are sound effects from the children and forest animals. No words of dialogue are spoken leaving the illustrations unadorned with no distractions from the peril that the children are in. Against the harsh color palette, Red stands out in her coat. At times the wolf puppy is nearly swallowed by the snow until she picks him up and hides him in her jacket. Only the red color lets us track them as she struggles towards home.

The fairytale is retold through a more sympathetic lens: Red wants to save the puppy, not run from it. They wander from two page spread to two page spread, lost in a cold wilderness. When they encounter the wolf clan Red could reasonably expect to devoured. Instead the wolves guide her back to her homestead as thanks for reuniting them with their child. In the beginning of the book, Red and the wolf pack were depicted as inhabiting two bubbles, isolated from one another. The journey through the blizzard unites the two into one landscape, and now the families have a bond through their children. No longer are the children isolated and far away from any community: they have instead formed one of their own.

D. REVIEW EXCERPT(S)

• 2018 Caldecott Medal Winner

• School Library Journal, January 2017 issue:

  • "VERDICT A heartwarming adventure about helping others, best shared one-on-one to pore over the engaging images.–Peter Blenski, Greenfield Public Library, WI"

E. CONNECTIONS

• Gather other books from Matthew Cordell:

King Alice. ISBN 9781250047496

Hello, Neighbor!: The Kind and Caring World of Mister Rogers. ISBN 9780823446186

Bear Island. ISBN 9781250317162

Explorers. ISBN 9781250174963

• Gather Caldecott Medal 2018 honorees:

Cooper, Elisha. Big Cat, little cat. ISBN 978-1-62672-371-9

James, Gordon C. Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut. ISBN 978-1-62672-371-9

Phi, Bao. A Different Pond. ISBN 9781623708030

Chin, Jason. Grand Canyon. ISBN 978-1-59643-950-4

• Book may also be used in a unit about survivalist material for children (such as in scouting troops).

Imagine!

A. BIBLIOGRAPHY

Colón, Raúl. 2018. Imagine!. New York: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers. ISBN 9781481462730

B. PLOT SUMMARY

We are introduced to the city of New York in a breathtaking landscape portrait before joining a young boy of color riding his skateboard across the sidewalk. He does flips and tricks as he goes to the Museum of Modern Art and steps inside. He studies the exhibits in deep fascination as a deep blue figure with a red heart adorned on its chest leaps from its frame. The young man takes to it immediately and they dance through the museum, inviting other painted figures to leave their frames and join them. The boy takes them on a trip through New York, showing them the train, a roller coaster, and even treating to hot dogs at a hot dog stand. After a day spent showing the painted figures around the city, the young man takes them back to the Museum for the night, carefully returning them to their proper frames. Then he picks up his things and heads home. Upon seeing a blank wall on the side of a building he climbs a ladder and decorates it with recreations of his friends from the Museum. When finished he goes home and then falls asleep in bed as the painted figures are free at last to enjoy the city on their own.

C. CRITICAL ANALYSIS

Imagine! is deeply impressionistic and with no words to guide the reader we are free to make up our own narrative in accordance to what we see. The author's note at the end however lends us some guidance as he speaks about his positive experiences with art, and how overwhelmed with joy he was when he finally got to see 'Starry Night' in person in New York City. Imagine! is his celebration of that feeling, of the joy of finally being able to interact with art in person instead of making do with the recreations scattered around the world. Those recreations give windows into the art world and are wonderful facsimiles of their original products but there is nothing quite like the joy of seeing the original pieces in person.

The trip into the city is a brilliant metaphor for being able to carry that joy back into the world. It eventually culminates with our protagonist recreating his favorite paintings on the side of a building just they can be free to visit the world, starting his own journey as an artist through recreation and re-contextualizing his favorite art.

The entire book is a celebration of the visual artistic medium and how we carry the joy with us and share it with others.

D. REVIEW EXCERPT(S)

• Publisher's Weekly, reviewed 6/25/2018

  • "Colón’s vibrant scenes make it clear that visiting works of art can breathe magic into the everyday and inspire further creativity afterward. Ages 4–8. Agent: Gail Morgan, Morgan Gaynin Agency. (Sept.)"

E. CONNECTIONS

• Gather other books illustrated by Raúl Colón:

Tomas and the Library Lady. ISBN 9780375803499

Child of the Universe. ISBN 9781524717544

Good-bye, Havana! Hola, New York!. ISBN 9781442406742

Solving the Puzzle Under the Sea: Marie Tharp Maps the Ocean Floor. ISBN 9781481416009

Portraits of Hispanic American Heroes. ISBN 9780803738096

• Gather resources about The Met

From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler Paperback. ISBN 978-0689711817

The Metropolitan Museum of Art. https://www.metmuseum.org/