By: Chuck Miller
history, Uncategorized, Writing

In Praise of the Poky Little Puppy and What-A-Jolly Street

Sometimes, the simplest of texts are indeed the best of texts.

Jason Purvis penned this blog post, asking people about what would be the most appropriate and enjoyable children’s books.  And for the love of me, the only book I could recall reading over and over again, and essentially begging my mother to read to me over and over again – was The Poky Little Puppy, as penned by Janette Sebreng Lowrey.  The book, with beautiful artwork by Disney animator Gustaf Tenggren, is probably the best-selling children’s book of the 20th century.

The Poky Little Puppy, (c) Golden Books. This copy looks like it's been read a few million times, doesn't it?

Surely everyone has heard of this little book – how five little puppies dug a hole under a fence and went exploring.  When four of the puppies got home, they were chastised by their master for digging the hole, and were sent to bed without any dessert.  The poky little puppy, however, came back from his exploring jaunt after everyone was asleep, and ended up eating all the desserts for himself.  Of course, the poky little puppy’s luck doesn’t last through the entire book, and – well, if you haven’t read the book yet, what are you waiting for?

I remember my mother reading the book to me, and eventually she acquired a “book and record” edition of this text for me.  Now, all I had to do was put the record on my phonograph, and read along with the narrator.  And the one thing I remember distinctly about this book-and-record set was the narrator saying, “When you hear the puppy bark – ARF ARF – turn the page.”

Nice.

As we grow older, we forget some of the treasures of our childhood.  We focus on the bad things and we don’t focus on the pleasant memories.  I’m as guilty of that as anyone.  However, there’s still a place in my heart for books like The Poky Little Puppy, as well as The House at Pooh Corner, Goodnight Moon, most of Dr. Seuss’ catalog, and the collected works of Beverly Cleary.  I even remember a book called 365 Bedtime Stories: A Story for Every Day of the Year about the Children on What-a-Jolly Street, which featured the adventures of several families as they lived on a street whose name was so long, nobody could pronounce it – so they called it “What a Jolly Street.”  Great, great stuff.

Maybe I’m asking too much in our day and age… but sometimes it’s nice to find a copy of one of these books, sit down in a comfy chair, crack open the dusty spine, and enjoy reading a childhood treasured tome.