The Pup Grew Up! (English and Russian Edition)

A mishap at the train station exchanges a lady traveler's Pekingese puppy for a Great Dane.

Grade 1-3-- A translation of a poem by Russian children's author Marshak originally published in the 1920s. A woman is shipping a number of items by train, including her Pekingese. Along the way the dog is left behind and a Great Dane substituted. When the astonished woman claims her belongings, she is told her "little pup grew up." This is a one-joke story, and the repetition of the woman's list of belongings does not bring it to life. Radunsky's period characters and rich, patined colors are stylish and well-placed against large expanses of white space. Unfortunately the poem is too slight for them to carry far. Evidently some things do not travel well, including the Pekingese and this tale. --Judith Gloyer, Milwaukee Public Library
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Pevear and Radunsky deliver this story, first published in the U.S.S.R. in 1926, into the hands of American audiences in this offbeat translation. A lady going on a train trip registers her belongings with the conductor: "The pan, the divan, the basin, the box with three locks, the valise and a tiny Pekingese." But during the journey a Great Dane is substituted for her Pekingese, and the way in which the train personnel explain that to her is priceless. Readers will enjoy the answer, which comes out of the most childlike of rationales. Radunsky's art is sharply daringthere are no backgrounds for his occasional buildings or the several kooky people; all stand alone in vast, stark-white spacestwo-dimensional objects of precisely detailed, elongated shapes. Ages 4-7.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.