Just Me and My Puppy - Mercer Mayer

Published by Western Publishing Company, Inc./A Golden Book: New York, 1985.

This 'Little Critter' book tells the story of the titular Little Critter swapping a baseball glove for a puppy, and the subsequent ways in which he plays with and 'trains' his pet.

Little Critter books always have an element of humour in the drawings, even when the story is being told matter-of-fact, and this exists in Just Me and My Puppy as well. As an example, on one page the narration states "My puppy is a big help around the house. He's a good guard dog." Meanwhile, the picture shows Little Critter's mother pulling the puppy away from the mailman, who has fallen on the ground, with letters everywhere. As Elise observed, the fact that the mailman is an anthropomorphic dog adds another level to the humour.

Just Me and My Puppy is sweet-natured, fun, and light, with great illustrations.

And it talks about dogs, a topic that Ezekiel is becoming more fond of (see also Dogs).


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