Ruffles and the Red, Red Coat

by David Melling, David Melling (Illustrator)

Overview

Join in Ruffles’s adventures as he faces all the troubles of toddler life in this brightly colored series now available as a board book.

As Ruffles learns about the world around him, he discovers there are lots of things he likes and some things he doesn’t! He loves scratching, digging, and chewing, but he does not like wearing his red coat on rainy days. No, no, no, no, NO! But when Ruffles wants to splash in puddles with his best friend, Ruby, he soon learns that sometimes wearing a raincoat is a very good idea after all.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781536237672
Publisher:	Candlewick Press
Publication date:	11/12/2024
Series:	Ruffles
Pages:	24
Product dimensions:	6.94(w) x 6.94(h) x (d)
Age Range:	2 - 5 Years

About the Author

David Melling grew up in London and has illustrated for magazines and advertising agencies as well as animated TV and film. He is the creator of the Hugless Douglas series and the picture book The Kiss That Missed, which was short-listed for the Kate Greenaway Medal. The creator of around 150 books in over thirty languages, David Melling lives near Oxford, England, with his wife and their two children.

Editorial Reviews

Small sequential drawings of Ruffles struggling to wriggle out of and back into the notorious red coat prove priceless. . . . A playful, endearing tale of canine friendship.
—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

From the Publisher

09/01/2021

PreS-K—Ruffles, a white puppy with personality, sports a black dot encircling his right eye (somewhat resembling Bullseye, the Target mascot). At the book's beginning, nine vignettes show the small canine's antics during his busy day: "howling," "scratching," "fetching," and more. What stops him in his tracks is being outfitted with a new red coat. Since he "does not love" it, the bull terrier slowly but determinedly works until he manages to take it off and walk away, head held high, leaving the red coat in a heap. While he should wear his coat on a cold rainy day, Ruffles refuses. When he and his friend Ruby—who, by the way, is wearing a blue coat—are splashed by bigger dogs, Ruffles is chilled and too upset to play anymore. Ruby comes to the rescue and all ends well. The illustrations, drawn in pencil and colored digitally, are delightful, especially a run of several pages of small illustrations revealing the adorable pup with energy to spare. VERDICT Young children will be entertained by Ruffles, sympathetic to his wardrobe woes, and thrilled to see his relationship with Ruby warm up.—Maryann H. Owen, Oak Creek P.L., WI

School Library Journal

★ 2021-08-31
A stubborn little dog refuses to wear his new red coat.

Ruffles loves canine activities like howling, scratching, fetching, sniffing, chewing, digging, and running. He especially loves playing in puddles. Ruffles does not, however, love his new red coat. He won’t wear it, even when it’s rainy, cold, and wet. But his pal Ruby wears her new blue coat when they play together in a puddle. They “splish” and “splosh” happily in the puddle until some big dogs splash all the water away—and onto Ruffles and Ruby. Protected by her coat, Ruby wants to continue playing, but wet, cold, mad Ruffles says, “No.” Ruby sadly walks away. Then Ruby returns with Ruffles’ red coat. Will Ruffles still refuse to wear it or relent? The spare text relies on repetition of verbs addressing Ruffles’ activities as well as his repeated no’s, making his eventual reversal about the dreaded red coat surprising. With a limited palette of vibrant blue, red, yellow, and green, the simple, lively illustrations rely on neat pencil outlines to portray Ruffles as a perky white terrier and Ruby as an affable gray sidekick who stand out against plain white and color backgrounds as they engage in active puddle-play. Small sequential drawings of Ruffles struggling to wriggle out of and back into the notorious red coat prove priceless, his comic facial expressions and body language telling the whole story.

A playful, endearing tale of canine friendship. (Picture book. 3-5)

Kirkus Reviews