Poking Along with the Poky Little Puppy (The Poky Little Puppy - Janette Sebring Lowrey)

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Product:	The Poky Little Puppy - Janette Sebring Lowrey
Date:	23/07/08 (194 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: gently playful text, classic illustrations by a world famous Disney stable artist

Disadvantages: not generally found on the high street

In 1942 when Simon and Schuster decided to launch their Little Golden Books line of children's storybooks, writer Janette Sebring Lowrey . Lowrey wrote mostly fiction for teens and later saw one of her creations jump to the TV screen as a TV series starring Annette Funicello, but it is here that she became immortalised in the world of fiction. Teamed with world class illustrator Gustaf Tenggren of Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs fame, it is no wonder that the Poky Little Puppy went on to become the English speaking world's best selling children's picture book with sales of over 17 million copies to date.This childhood hood favourite has been in print as a little Golden Book exclusive continuously since its first printing in 1942, meaning it has so far stood the test of time across 66 years.

It's a story that never fails to appeal. A cute, sweet faced group of puppies are out at play in their garden, when the Poky Little Puppy decides to go sniff a new piece of grass .Enjoying a bit of independence, he and the other puppies are emboldened to try to go outside the garden to play in the meadow, and so dig under the fence. Poky makes it, but Mummy Dog catches the other puppies and they are chastised, and go to bed without any pudding. Poky larks about, carefree, until he comes in, sees the yummy rice pudding Mummy has made, and scarfs it all down. Mummy Dog catches him, and while his siblings make up to Mummy for being naughty, they get some strawberry shortcake after all, but the doubly naughty puppy has none. It's a simple tale, and one that small children can relate to easily.
Toddlers will enjoy the roly puppy sweet faced puppy and his adventures, whilst also understanding that he is having the consequences for being naughty. Likewise, children respond to the notion of being able to say sorry and all being well with remorse shown, which Poky lacks until the very end.

It's as endearing as it is engaging, with the simple words having added impact thanks to the fantastic illustrations. Far from being simple, the rich bright colours and drawing style of Tenngren add a gently Scandinavian flavour that was his trademark, and which many of us are familiar with thanks to his work with Disney (Snow White, Bambi, Pinocchio). His cheekily sweet faced Poky fairly begs for one to pick him up and give him a squeeze, right off the page.The colour palette is vibrant but not glaring, perfectly matched to its Swedish inspiration as well as the mood of the story. This is because despite the topic, it's not a scolding moral tale, but rather a gentle , playful one that ultimately is in the spirit of Beatrix Potter's Tale of Peter Rabbit.


The story is not as short as many modern picture books, but it is short enough to be read at circle time at Nursery or at bedtime. The simple vocabulary is easily understood by children as young as two, and children from about the age of 5-6 should be able to read this on their own. It's a perfect stepping stone from readers before going on to chapter books due to the layout and amount of print, too, which is down to intentional design. Like all the Little Golden Books, it has the tough board book cover with the gold foil binding. The pages are heavy acid free stock, which is very sturdy. These books are meant to be handled by children, and it really shows.We first got our copy for my daughter when she was three, and now four years on, it is still as good as new despite constant rereads. The book is frequently asked for as a bedtime story by my now five year old son, and is often seen in the hands of my not quite seven year old daughter when she is sat in her favourite chair in her room, reading away for pleasure.

While they do have worldwide distribution, I have not seen this or any other Little Golden Book anywhere except Amazon.co.uk, where you can find it for the grand sum of £1.52.Its a very small investment that has very big rewards.

Summary: Little puppy learns not to go poking where he is not supposed to be.