My dog Mokey has a blanket that she loves to death. It's folded up in
the bottom of her kennel in a snuggly sort of way, and that's where it
stays except for those occasions when we pull it out to run it through
the wash. She does not have a portable blanket. But Mudge does in Puppy Mudge Loves His Blanket.
Cynthia Rylant, author of many series of children's books including
Poppleton, Mr. Putter and Tabby and the original Henry and Mudge series,
of which Puppy Mudge is a spin-off, writes this simple tale of a dog's
devotion to a well-worn blanket, and Isidre Mones illustrates in the
cartoonish style of Sucie Stevenson, who illustrated most of the Henry
and Mudge books.
The books in this series are a pre-level 1 on
the Ready-to-Read scale, which means that they are intended for
children who are just learning how to read. The sentences are simple and
only one or two to a page, and there is repetition aplenty. Throughout
the 25 pages, for instance, the word "blanket" appears six times and is
referenced with the word "it" on another four occasions. Once Rylant
establishes how much Mudge adores the titular object, the rest of the
book focuses on him trying to find the blanket, as it has gone missing,
which evidently is a recurring problem.
Mudge is an enormous
dog, so even as a puppy he dwarfs Henry, the happy-go-lucky red-headed
boy who shares all his adventures. We also see Henry's parents, Dad with
his bushy brown hair and mustache, Mom with her golden locks. But they
don't come into the story much. The bigger star is the house, which
Mudge explores thoroughly, hoping his blanket will turn up around the
next corner.
Puppy Mudge Loves His Blanket is another
cute installment in the Puppy Mudge series that will strike a chord with
anyone who knows what it's like to have a deeply cherished possession.
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