Pierre in the Air

October 3, 2011
Adventure-seeking poodle Pierre Le Poof heads to Paris with his owner, Miss Murphy, in his third outing. All he can think about is getting the chance to climb the
Eiffel Tower, but when Miss Murphy tours the city, she leaves Pierre in the hotel room. Escaping, he meets a dog named Coco, who shows him the way to the tower, where he grabs an umbrella and sails down, à la Mary Poppins. Though Pierre’s successful ascent and descent of the tower is over in a flash, and his big win at a poodle show is similarly anticlimactic, readers should appreciate Pierre’s daring. Ages 4–8.

January 1, 2012

K-Gr 2-In this third book about show dog Pierre Le Poof, the pup is excited to learn that he will be traveling with Miss Murphy to Paris for their next competition. He dreams of French bread and visiting the Eiffel Tower. But once they arrive, the pup finds himself locked in the hotel room while his owner goes on tours. By the third day, Pierre has had enough. When Miss Murphy leaves for the Louvre, he escapes from the hotel to begin his adventure. After he gets to the Eiffel Tower and climbs to the top, the daredevil pooch floats down to the ground while holding on to a lady's windblown umbrella. After a messy snack at a Dumpster, Pierre sneaks back to the hotel room and gets a good scrubbing. Later that evening, he not so surprisingly wins the show. Pierre is not quite so pampered in this book as in the first two; in fact, it seems downright cruel for his beloved Miss Murphy to abandon him for three days while she has fun on her own. Still, the dog always looks happy, even when he is supposed to be upset, and the full-page and spot illustrations are pleasant enough. Fans of the previous titles will want to read this one.-Martha Simpson, Stratford Library Association, CT

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