CM Magazine: Ten Little Puppies. (An Early Bird Boardbook).

________________ CM . . . . Volume VIII Number 12 . . . . February 15, 2002

Ten Little Puppies. (An Early Bird Boardbook).

Carman Kingsley. Illustrated by Sean Cassidy.
Toronto, ON: Fitzhenry & Whiteside, 2001.
28 pp., board, $10.95.
ISBN 1-55041-654-5.

Subject Heading:
Puppies-Juvenile fiction.

Preschool / Ages 6 months-4 years.

Review by Ruth McMahon.

** /4

excerpt:

Five frisky puppies love to run and play

Six growing puppies snoozing in the day

Seven strong puppies climbing a hill

Eight tired puppies taking a spill

This is a counting book with overly sweet illustrations of ten puppies exploring their world. The puppies engage in various activities: digging, eating ice cream, chasing bees, etc. As evident from the excerpt, the text is serviceable with rhyming couplets. Also evident from the excerpt is that the rhythmic structure varies which makes for a bumpy read through, at least the first couple of times.

As this title chronicles the day of the puppies I expected there to be some changes in daylight in the illustrations, particularly accompanying the text, "Ten frightened puppies/scurry home by dark." However, the illustration that accompanies this text and the following illustrations are all done with the same lighting as the earlier ones.

Our pre-schooler has enjoyed this title, but there is nothing new here.

Recommended with reservations.

Ruth McMahon worked as a professional children's librarian for 13 years and is currently co-chairing Alberta's Rocky Mountain Book Award.

To comment on this title or this review, send mail to cm@umanitoba.ca.

Published by
The Manitoba Library Association
ISSN 1201-9364

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