Two Halves Of A Happy Whole

Children are attracted to puppies.  Puppies gravitate toward children.  You simply can't keep them apart.  Once they have been introduced to one another, they are inseparable.  After visiting an elementary school classroom several times, my sixth month old puppy instantly perks up at the sound of children's voices.  These younger humans and their canine counterparts share much in common.

Yesterday was National Puppy Day, a celebration started in 2006 to recognize how human lives are changed when puppies enter them.  (It also helps to bring awareness to the many orphan puppies needing forever homes.)  One of the most delightful new titles to express this irrepressible joy is Puppy, Puppy, Puppy (Boyd Mills Press, an imprint of Highlights, April 4, 2017) written by Julie Sternberg with illustrations by Fred Koehler.

As the sun rises,
Baby enjoys breakfast,
and Puppy enjoys breakfast.
And Baby says,
"Puppy."

As the morning progresses Baby and Puppy get dressed or is it make a mess?  Gardening takes on a whole new meaning.  Mom and Dad are carefully turning the soil among the flowering masses.  The youngest duo are enjoying the benefits of a hose, plucking a bunch of flowers and wearing dirt is the new attire of the day.

Bath time is a mix of suds and mud; footprints and pawprints patterned on the bathroom floor and wall.  Whew!  After all this morning excitement it is time for a snooze.  Baby is tucked away in one place and Puppy is gated in another space.  Two tuckered-out parents slump side by side in sleep.

Puppy spies Baby's toy.  No gate is going to stop this puppy from spending time with a pal.  No crib is going to stop this baby from being with a best buddy.  While parents rest and later as the afternoon passes, Baby and Puppy are stuck together by friendship glue.

As the night sky darkens Puppy and Baby prepare for bedtime.  They must be exhausted by now, but not too tired to raise a chorus at the moon.  How long will they slumber?  Only the sun knows.


Author Julie Sternberg starts with a trio of paragraphs sharing the same rhythmic sentences only altering the activity for each.  This firmly establishes the reader's presence within the story.  Bathtime and naptime break this pace but create new ones.  The original beat begins anew as Sternberg reinforces the bond formed between the baby and the puppy as the afternoon continues and the day closes.  Here is the naptime passage.

Baby wails,
"Puppy!
Puppy!
Puppy!"

Puppy cries.
Baby cries.

Mommy and Daddy say,
"Shh, Puppy.  Puppy, shh.
Shh, shh, shh."


I don't know how you can look at the matching dust jacket and book case without smiling or laughing out loud.  Those pawprints and handprints all over the title text and the puppy enjoying the baby's spilled food speak volumes.  The pale yellow background superbly accents the other elements on the front.  To the left, on the back, is a scene from nighttime slumber of Baby curled on the floor and Puppy using the child as a pillow.  The opening and closing endpapers are the same bright, sky blue as the title text.

Fred Koehler does not waste any space beginning the pictorial story on the title page.  Surprised parents are standing with gift-giving grandparents as Baby opens a box with Puppy leaning out.  The happiness on Puppy's and Baby's faces express an instant bond.  Opposite the verso page on the dedication page Baby and Puppy are eye-to-eye, each one clasping their treasured toys.

Rendered digitally Koehler extends the text with humor in his pictures which will have you giggling throughout the narrative.  It's the expressions on the parent's faces amid the chaos created by Puppy and Baby which tell another tale.  Most of the visuals extend page edge to page edge across two pages.

His backgrounds are usually the pale yellow, a pale blue or a dark purplish brown.  These backgrounds hold the setting done in line drawings and varied hues of the background color.  The main elements are done in full color.  It's a wonderful effect.

One of my many, many favorite pictures is the garden scene.  It is a pale yellow background with lighter yellow clouds.  Across a portion of the lower half is a garden full of red flowers.  On the left, at the top of the garden, Mommy and Daddy are working.  Mommy is bent over either digging or hoeing.  Daddy has stopped and is leaning with one hand on his shovel.  His other hand is pointed toward Mommy's shoulder.  You can almost hear him saying, "Ah dear, you might want to look at Baby and Puppy."  The toys, the bone and blue monster, are sticking out of the mud.  The puppy is spraying the hose at Baby.  Baby is pulling out flowers.  They are both literally coated in mud.


Puppy, Puppy, Puppy written by Julie Sternberg with illustrations by Fred Koehler is absolutely perfect for National Puppy Day or any day of the year when you want to share the delight of a baby and puppy together.  This blend of story and illustrations is guaranteed to generate laughter.  These two, an author and an illustrator, certainly know how to present the essence of puppies and babies within the pages of a book.

To learn more about Julie Sternberg and Fred Koehler and their other work, please visit their respective websites by following the links attached to their names.  Julie Sternberg is featured at HenryHerz.com, and All The Wonders, Let's Get Busy, Episode 198 with teacher librarian Matthew Winner.  Fred Koehler is showcased at The Writers' Loop, The Picturebooking Podcast, and All The Wonders, Let's Get Busy, Episode 240 with Matthew Winner.