Customer Reviews

Pinkerton, Behave!

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

After reading the reviews insisting this book will traumatize children for life, I had to write this. I've read this book to my children and, now, my grandchildren. They all love it! In fact, they've all wanted to take the book home with them, and I've had to purchase most of the Pinkerton books as gifts for them. Perhaps it's because they really have big dogs that keep the "bad guys" at bay, but I think it's because the story is genuinely funny. Good triumphs over evil, with a little resourcefulness on the part of the child. Poor, bumbling Pinkerton saves his family and becomes a hero! To believe this will scar children gives them too little credit. In fact, compared to some of the classic children's stories (Little Red Riding Hood and The Three Little Pigs come to mind), Pinkerton Behave! is quite tame!

My two year old was given this book as a gift, and it instantly became her favorite. We have read it countless times and she asks for it repeatedly. The story is funny, the characters lively, and the illustrations are full of fun details that entertain me as well as my daughter - which is great when I read it for the 600th time.

There is a scene where a burglar comes through the window with a gun, and I admit that I was nervous that this might frighten her. But I treated it humorously, giving the burglar a kind of a silly voice, and although she asked me if it was "scary," she wasn't frightened herself. I think this is exactly what the author intended - the burglar is a very cartoonish figure, not very realistic, and almost as silly looking as the dummies that Pinkerton encounters at obediance school.

If your child is easily disturbed by anything at all scary, maybe this is not the book for them. But for most kids, I think this is a wonderful book.

Parents today. Sheesh! This book is adorable. Pinkerton, Behave! follows a harlequin great dane named Pinkerton through obediance school and onto a scary night when the house is broken into. Pinkerton, of course, saves the day.

There's no violence in this book, noone gets hurt, and the ending is hilarious. I've read it to children I've been babysitting (ages 2 and up) with no problems and fully intend to read it to my kids if/when I have them.

The people that are screaming that this book is too much: why not open your kids up to the real world a little? It'll do them some good. It's not like the family ends up murdered in their beds and the dog gets shot in the head.

I got the book when I was five or six, and since that, I love him and all great danes I see. Many kids are afraid to make mistakes, and he shows that this can happen even to big, strong dogs.
When a friend got a great dane five years ago, it was so nice to find so many similarities to him, so despite of their frightening utter appearance, they are very loveable and playful dogs.

Comments that the book is too scary for little kids because of a bad guy entering a room with a gun is just ridiculous...worse things happen in stories of the Grimm brothers and nobody had a bad impact on their lifes so far. In case they get really upset, buy them a nice dog like Pinkerton, then they will also learn other useful things like responsibility and social behaviour.

I can not believe the reviews I have read about this book! Pinkerton books are about the natural difficulties that all children run into as they cope with life. Trying to behave the way their parents want them to but not knowing for sure what that means is the main difficulty addressed in Pinkerton, Behave! If your child responded to the burglar with fear and is now afraid it is because you, the parent/adult, responded with fear and showed clearly to your child how much that upset you. Children learn by watching, listening, and immitating adults. When I was read this story as a child, the emphasis was on the funny side of Pinkerton just not understanding and how the people were able to use that misunderstanding to get Pinkerton to do what they needed him to do in an emergency. My daughter and all of the other children I have read this to (and believe me they are many) have laughed along and then learned that they can use what they do understand to learn about what they don't. They learned to ask questions to learn what they wanted to know from their parents. Stop being so scared of the world and start teaching about the world, including the dangers and how to cope with them. Your kids will thank you for being brave for them.

It's unfair to give this book a bad rating just because it may be a little mature for a childrens' picture book. I first read this story a couple of years ago (I was 27) while browsing through the library. By the time I had finished with the same surprise ending that has everyone in an uproar, I was in tears. The whole point of the story is that Pinkerton's misbehaving turns out to be serendipitous in the end. Anyone who has ever owned a large-breed dog (particularly a Great Dane) will agree that it's often very difficult and tedious trying to break them of their inherently energetic nature and train them not to be destructive and hyperactive. Those condemning this book for the way it turns out are completely missing the point. It's a twist of irony that leads to the happy ending--the bad habits of which Pinkerton's owners were trying to break him are what keep them from being harmed in the robbery. They end up praising him for his inability to learn commands because it saves their lives. That's how great stories are written. So, all of you namby-pamby moms out there who think this is such a "terrible" book because of its "violent" content need to settle down. It's ignorant of you to dismiss this title on the grounds that it's inappropriate for childen. As parents, it's up to you to determine your child's rate of development and decide for each one when is the proper time for them to experience a story like this. If any of you have a problem reading this to your kids, then it's your own fault for not skimming it before selecting it, not the author's or publisher's. It takes all of three minutes for an adult to read this book, so I would think that you would invest that time if you suspect a story this "intense" is too advanced for your children. Great book! Excellent story for any dog lover. I bought it and I don't even have kids. I agree that it's not for all children, but that's a subjective opinion that can't be evaluated by a book review on a website.

This is a book about Pinkerton...a fun-loving great dane pup that does things his own way. He's fun, he's happy, he's huge, and he doesn't seem to be able to learn a thing. When he's sent to obedience school he helps the other dogs unlearn everything they've learned, and he gets kicked out! (Hope they got their money back.)

But when it's crunch time, Pinkerton's owner knows what to do to help the family.

Join the fun by reading this wonderful book. I read this book LOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG before I had any children of my own...now it's a favorite of the whole family.

5 stars all the way for Steven Kellogg's "Pinkerton, Behave!" It has a great storyline, wonderful illustrations, and is a good time for all. This is the book that made me a Steven Kellogg fan way back when.

I urge you to give it a try. You's love it (so will your children)!

Alan Holyoak

Steven Kellogg books are my favorites to give as gifts. The pictures are marvelous and each time you read the book you see something you had missed before. I love all the Pinkerton books, The Missing Mitten, and the Jimmy's Boa series. My son (now 15 years old) loved these books as a child, we checked them out of the library again and again. As to the reviewers that are concerned about the gun, I just went and looked at my son again and so far he seems completely normal.

I had several Steven Kellogg books when I was little, and the memory of the hilarious and adorable Pinkerton stayed with me as I grew up. Upon recently purchasing a copy of "Pinkerton Behave!" I was thrilled to find that the story and wonderful illustrations are just as enjoyable now as they were when I was a child. I definitely recommend this and any other of the Pinkerton chronicles to any parent!

This was a hilarious book.. Pinkerton is one confused pooch when it comes to learning commands. He does the exact opposite of what is to be expected. His owner even tried to get him professional help,but nothing seemed to help. Poor Pinkerton tried his best and still got bad grades...

Needless to say, I had to stop reading to catch my breath from laughing so much..Each page had me wondering what this coo-kie dog would do next. The kids really enjoyed Pinkerton and couldn't get enough of him...