One Pup’s Up

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. (Pub­lish­ers Week­ly)