One Pup's Up

May 31, 2010
Equally peppy words and pictures introduce an active litter of 10 puppies. As this counting tale opens, most snuggle with their mother, fast asleep, but "1 pup's up," and its siblings soon awaken and spring into action. The cadence of Chall's (Prairie Train) verse is as playful as the pups, as is her choice of alliterative, tongue-tripping words: "4 pups drink./ 5 puppies huddle./ 6 puppies piddle in the middle of the muddle." Cole's (Big Chickens Fly the Coop) soft watercolor and ink pictures transmit an array of recognizable puppy emotions, from their curiosity about the world around them to their mournful eyes as they "nudge" their owner for dinner. After they devour their meal, a countdown to bedtime begins ("4 pups nuzzle./ 3 puppies rest./ 2 puppies curl in a puppy muzzle nest"). The story loops full circle as the exhausted pooches sleep... until one wakes up. With its lively tone and large-scale art that, thanks to ample white space, focuses exclusively on the dogs, this is a winning choice for reading aloud at story hour or lap time. Ages 1–4.

April 15, 2010
Preschool-K A counting book with puppies? This can only lead one place: puppy nirvana. Sure enough, it begins with one chubby pup awakening and pawing his way across the hardwood floor. Soon its two puppies tumbling, then three playing, and then the troop heads outside: 4 pups drink. / 5 puppies huddle. / 6 puppies piddle in the middle of the muddle. In a bouncy rhythm that recalls Dr. Seusss Hop on Pop, the gleeful little canines swell in number until they reach 10 and stuff their muzzles into a line of dog bowls: All the puppies sniff. / No puppies stray. / Every puppy dines / in the Line-em-up Caf'. The numerals themselves are bigger than the rest of the text, reminding readers at all times to keep counting. Its a bit harder than it sounds, as Coles tender watercolor-and-ink illustrations often conceal a pup or two in the margins, giving only glimpses of a flap of ear or a nudge of foot. Finally, Chall reverses the countdown through yawning and nuzzling and sleeping. Until, of course, 1 pups up . . . (Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2010, American Library Association.)