The Juggling Pug

by Sean Bryan, Tom Murphy (Illustrator)

Overview

A town becomes instantly famous when one special pug begins to juggle. But the pug is also mischievous and messy. He digs holes in the yard, drinks all the soda in the fridge, and even poops on the rug. Finally, a little girl has had enough. The pug must learn to control his behavior, or else!

From the award-winning author and illustrator of A Girl and Her Gator comes a story that will teach kids how to juggle good behavior and the limelight. The wacky rhyming and witty illustrations are sure to entertain young readers and parents alike. Ages: 4-8.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781626365926
Publisher:	Sky Pony
Publication date:	10/01/2011
Sold by:	SIMON & SCHUSTER
Format:	eBook
Pages:	32
File size:	2 MB
Age Range:	2 - 5 Years

About the Author

Sean Bryan is the author of numerous children’s books, including A Girl and Her Gator and A Bear and His Boy. In order to fully research this book, Sean spent two years living with wild pugs in their natural habitat (his home). His study of pug behavior has culminated in this important work. He works at a New York advertising agency and lives with his wife and son in Darien, Connecticut.

Tom Murphy is the illustrator of numerous books, including four books with Sean Bryan. He also works in advertising. He lives with his wife and two children in Westchester, New York.

Editorial Reviews

PreS-K

The pug of the title not only juggles but, when fame overtakes him, his arrogant antics broaden to include a wide range of predictable doggie misbehaviors. When he drives the community to distraction, a young girl calls a town meeting and proposes getting rid of the offending pup. Predictably the dog, suddenly sheepish and repentant, promises to change. His reformation is short-lived as he is soon pooping on the rug again. This is not a real story but rather a rhyming verse that does not always scan (beware when reading aloud). The book is illustrated with bright, bold-lined cartoons in primary colors amid plentiful white space. There are hundreds of picture books about dogs so any new entry into this crowded field must compete. For more engagingly fractious Fidos, try Alice Provensen's A Day in the Life of Murphy (S & S, 2003) or Mark Teague's Dear Mrs. Larue: Letters from Obedience School (Scholastic, 2002).-Kate McClelland, Perrot Memorial Library, Old Greenwich, CT

School Library Journal

A celebrity pug wears out his welcome-nearly-in this labored outing from the creators of A Boy and His Bunny (2005). Having learned to juggle, the unnamed dog brings such fame to his small town that everyone puts up with his pooping on rugs, pulling down curtains and other such bad behavior. When one girl finally puts her foot down, he promises to mend his ways in exchange for a hug, gets a second chance...and is last seen sneaking into a house to poop on the rug again. In Bryan's previous works the premises were silly enough to complement his sing-song style of rhyming, but here it just sounds artificial: "I won't act like a jerk, / I won't be such a lug. / I'll just snuggle and juggle. / C'mon guys, let's hug!" Next to other literary pugs, such as Nancy Coffelt's Pug in a Truck (2006) or Dan Yaccarino's Unlovable (2002), the canine in Murphy's wobbly-lined sketches looks pale and generic. Truly unlovable. (Picture book. 6-8)

Kirkus Reviews