The Poky Little Puppy by Janette Sebring Lowrey illustrated by Gustaf Tenggren

I recently listed to a podcast by Fuse8n'Kate where Betsy Bird and her sister Kate talked about this American classic, a Little Golden Book, called The Poky Little Puppy. They made lots of interesting comments. Of course I had seen copies of this book in bookshops and in department stores but I had never actually read it. I was amazed to discover this is one of the best selling children's books of all time having sold over 15 million copies. Are you curious to know the other best sellers?

1. Poky Little Puppy
2. The Tale of Peter Rabbit
3. Tootle by Gertrude Crampton (I don't know this one so I've included the cover)
4. Green Eggs and Ham
5. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

The Poky Little puppy was one of the first twelve Little Golden Books. It was published in 1942. Little Golden Books were popular because they only cost twenty-five cents. It's fun to link this with the copy I bought at a recent charity book sale which cost fifty cents for a mint condition copy. I guess with 15 million of these books floating around the world it is easy to see why more than one copy was for sale at my local book fair.

Here are the first twelve Little Golden Books:

There are many people who have written about The Poky Little Puppy. I am going to focus on why I think it appeals to very young children and linked with this why grandparents remember it fondly.

1. Puppies are adorable. In this book there are five. The illustration where the four good puppies are tucked up under their blankets is just so cheeky.  Their eyes are wide open as they wait to see what will happen to their naughty brother.

2. Everyone loves a rebel. The fifth puppy is so naughty but not in a dangerous way - he is just a mischief maker and what about the rewards!

3. Which leads to my third reason - the food. The puppy smells rice pudding, the puppy hears chocolate custard and finally the puppy sees a strawberry which can only mean one thing - strawberry shortcake.  Can you see what is happening here?  This is a common story device where the character, in this case the Poky Puppy, uses each of his senses in his quest for dessert.

4. Notice all the repetition. This gives the story a structure and predictability.  There are the repeated actions of through the meadow, down the road, over the bridge, across the grass and up the hill.  On each outing our puppy is missing. Three times we read these words as his siblings try to find him:

"And down they went to see, roly-poly, pell-mell, tumble-bumble, they came to the green grass, and there they stopped short.  'What in the world are you doing?' they asked."

5. Look at these words - onomatopoeia - pell-mell, tumble-bumble, roly-poly.  These are so lively and playful.

6. Numbers. Each time we need to count those puppies. One, two, three, four - where is the fifth puppy?  The action happens over three days. There are three desserts. The mother writes three warning signs and the puppies venture out exploring three times.

If I was going to make any criticism of this book, the aspect that has always puzzled me is the word poky.  When I read a dictionary it defines this word as small and cramped. I guess for this book the word relates to the puppy poking his nose into adventure. I think the pup should instead be called curious or naughty or even clever.

Over the years quite a lot of merchandise has been made celebrating this book along with a television series and other spin off books using a different author/illustrator.

I discovered there are two sequels by Janette Sebring Lowrey  - Where is the Poky Little Puppy? and The Poky Little Puppy's first Christmas.  If this post has made you nostalgic click here to listen to the original vinyl record of the Poky Little Puppy.

I didn't read this book as a child but I have a memory of another puppy book which may have been a Little Golden Book. It was about a set of pups who all find homes but one is left over and on Christmas morning he appears in the Christmas stocking of a little boy who had asked Santa for a pup. I wish I knew the title. It is a book I'd love to see again.

I have enjoyed digging into the background of The Poky Little Puppy. Gustaf Tenggren was a Swedish illustrator who migrated to the US in 1920. He worked for Disney and then he illustrated several Little Golden Books.