Customer Reviews

Which Puppy? (Paula Wiseman Books)

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(14)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

When the president fulfills his campaign promise to get a puppy for his daughters, word is spread far and wide. Animals from across the globe want a chance to be the White House puppy. Contests begin...racing, barking, even hoop jumping. However, the winner has poor social skills and is eliminated. A lottery draws participants, but unfortunately it is rigged. So, the animals rely on an ancient custom which states that the "true puppy" will have two rings around one paw, a heart on its face, an eye that winks, and a tail that tells time. Of course no one animal has all three characteristics, so it is decided to let the two dogs and a guinea pig team up as a package deal. After arriving at the White House the trio are disappointed because the puppy has already been chosen. The book ends on a happy note since the girls notice the discouraged animals leaving and invite them to play with their new puppy.

This book is a wonderful book for children. It is not only meant to be read to children, but by children. Finding a book that a child can read on his own can be very challenging, but this book is perfect for the developing reader. The text offers a chance for children to read expressively since there are so many pages with dialogue. Teachers and parents may find Which Puppy? a great spring board to discuss current events on a level the child can understand.

My sister who is a teacher and tutor with a masters degree in education told me that after reading the book she intends to make it available to all her students, as according to her there are so few good books available for kids that bridge current events with reading development. I think many of the critics that have heretofore provided low ratings for this book are not that experienced in education or perhaps they expect the book to satisfy and entertain THEM rather than a young child. This book was written for a young child and does a good and effective job in providing just the right amount of information and plot for reading development.

I heard my daughter giggling as she read this book. Later I asked her what made her giggle - she said it was once sentence that had the word "lucky" about a zillion times. She also really enjoyed the drawings of the different dogs, and in particular enjoyed the part of the story where different animals were convinced that they too would make a fine puppy.

It's a great book for dog lovers and of course for fans of Sasha and Malia!

This is a cute and very well-timed book to take advantage of the national (and even international) interest in our new President and his family.

The illustrations are closer to watercolor than traditional cartoons and are well done. Each of the 30 pages features colorful illustrations and a few sentences of text. The sentences do not rhyme.

This would be a good book for young children who are aware of the Presidential daughters, Sasha and Malia. It could be an opportunity to introduce the very basics of our system of government (which are not covered in the book).

The story is okay but not destined to be a classic. I don't think interest in this book will outlast the interest in the Obama family.

This was really a cute story about the first family's search for a new dog. I have read it several times to my little one and he really enjoyed it. It got him talking about our own dog, and how we got him. It also sparks conversation about the first family and the President in general. It helped bring some civics lessons into our daily lives. The illustrations are well done - which is always important in children's books. Overall I would recommend this book.

My kids LOVE puppy dogs (which is why I selected this book). The book kept their attention. My 2 year old was even was quick to point out who wasn't a puppy in the story. :) All the dogs want to be "chosen" to be the new puppy in the White House. After a long contest among the dogs, the winners discover that dogs (not in their contest) were already chosen. They still had a place to be "friends" with the new White House puppy dogs.

I thought this would be a great book for children. I was disappointed. First, I thought the illustrations are not great. They are watercolors, but they are so sloppy that I think the children could have done a better job. The story itself was just ok. It tells of how the animal world was excited that the new President's family was looking for a puppy. Many animals tried out to be that puppy (even ones that weren't dogs). The animals had a race, then a contest, depending on which dog took charge. Finally they decide on certain characteristics that are necessary for the appropriate pet: 2 rings around 1 paw, a heart on its face, an eye that winks and a tail that tells time. So they send 3 animals to the White House - 2 puppies and a guinea pig - since they couldn't find 1 animal with all of those characteristics. The 3 animals show up at the White House and are let in. They find the Obama's in the reading room and Sasha and Malia are already playing with a puppy. The 3 animals despair and start to leave, but the girls invite them to stay to keep their puppy company.

After reading the story, I just felt that it was haphazardly written and rushed. I think it could have been much better.

With the Feiffer gift for presenting the point of the matter without being pointed, Kate Feiffer's little book, apparently just about cute pets, deals with the very complex process of selection. Children will be in such contests all their lives, selection processes run by rules of competition, trickery, tradition, and group selection. Feiffer manages to cover all these with just a few words of text and even brings us to the ending we must all face at times: the contest is in vain, and another has already been chosen. So how do you deal with failure? You all play together "until no one could possibly play any longer."

Maybe this book should go into the adult section of my library.

This is a fun story with a bit of history included. Kate Feiffer has created an imaginative tale about what happened in the animal world when President Obama announced that he was looking for a puppy for his two daughters. After all, what puppy wouldn't want to be First Dog and live in the White House?

Well, some animals would go to any lengths to live in Washington with the First Family. For instance a turtle named Marple decided to take barking lessons in hope that he could pass for a puppy, and a kitten practiced begging and jumping up on people. Eventually several of the puppies (including Sam the guinea pig) headed to our nation's capital. They were in for quite a surprise when they arrived.

No one can resist the whimsical illustrations of Pulitzer Prize recipient Jules Feiffer. When father and daughter are paired the result is a book that's a keeper to be read now and later put away to read to grandkids.

Enjoy!

- Gail Cooke

'Whick Puppy?' is a book about what book President Obama's family will choose to adopt upon moving to the White House. I have trouble reviewing average/poor children's books because when they aren't great there just isn't much to say. The artwork is good enough but the story is boring and uninteresting. I really can't think of much reason to recommend this book, it's just flat.

***

My kids enjoyed this book and I was amazed at how current this was, since I received the book while the First Family's dog selection process was in the news. A good story, a quality printing job, and something we are glad to have on our living room bookshelf. Shoppers here on Amazon can use the "Look Inside" feature to see exactly what they're getting before purchasing.