The Pup
written and illustrated by Lori Doody
Running the Goat Books and Broadsides, 2024
ISBN 9781998802104 (sc)
$12.99, 48 pp, ages 5 – 8
runningthegoat.com
The Pup is the latest picture book from the well-known Newfoundland author/illustrator Lori Doody. Using her trademark combination of bold illustrations and sparse text, Lori delights young readers with this story about the adoption of a pet. With her parents’ permission, Jenny heads off to the local animal shelter to choose a new pet. On the way, she finds a stray seal pup and decides to take it home with her instead. The pup quickly settles into the household routines and entertains Jenny with its playful behaviours. It is not surprising, then, when some members of a travelling circus knock at the door looking for their lost pup. The seal does not want to rejoin the circus, and after some discussion, Jenny suggests that she could adopt all of the animals who are tired of travelling. The story ends with Jenny having plenty of pets: a couple of cats (a lion and a tiger), a dog, a horse, a bear, a giraffe, an elephant, and the seal pup!
Classroom Connections: The Pup would make a fun read-aloud book for primary classrooms and might be used to introduce/practise the making of predictions as an effective reading strategy. The illustrations contain generous splashes of bright orange, yellow, and red (traditional circus colours). By helping students recognize the link between this colour scheme and the circus, they can make text-to-world connections. Other reading comprehension strategies that can be practised with this book are questioning and inferring.
Review by Brenda Boreham.
This review is featured in Canadian Teacher Magazine’s Winter 2025 issue.
