Saturday, August 11, 2012

The Mugged Pug

Penned By: Darrel and Sally Odgers


Shuffle, the Australian pug is having a really bad day. His owner, Walter Barkly, has gone off for the weekend and left him with the annoying neighbor, Uptown Lord Setter, a hyper-active red setter. When Shuffle decides to walk home his day goes from bad to worse when he gets mugged and lands in the pound. The local human police sergeant springs him and takes him back to his place where Dog Detective, Jack Russel, lives. Jack of course immediately takes Shuffle's mugging case. Will Jack and his sidekick Foxie, a fox terrier, be in time to catch the culprit before he flees town?

My 7 year old niece loves this book series! Of course, the fact that 2 of her dogs have been a Jack Russel (Patch) and a toy fox terrier (Foxie) couldn't possibly have anything to do with it.


Quote: "Most dogs lie with their noses on their paws. Pugs have their noses in a different place. Therefore, pugs lie with their jaws on their paws. This is a fact."

Genus: Adventurous*

Era: Little Ones

Difficulty: 1

Determination: For the genus lover

Series: Jack Russel: Dog Detective

Film: No

Cool Stuff: Doggeroo Shop     Australia     Jack Russell: Dog Detective Trivia!

Support pugs in need by voting in Arizona's Cutest Pug Contest!

*This is a new genus that I have not yet added to the Cypher

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Molly Moon's Incredible Book of Hypnotism

Penned By: Georgia Byng

Petula the pug has a grumpy and mean-spirited owner who feeds her only chocolate cookies. Inexplicably, her tummy always hurts which makes her grumpy and mean-spirited too. But she wants to follow her nature and be a sweet and adventurous little pug. Petula seizes her chance when she makes friends with the hypnotist Molly Moon. Molly's just discovering her power's of hypnotism which starts a grand adventure that sends the two half way around the world. They're now living the high life where they each get all they could ever dream of. A life of fame and fortune may not be all it's cracked up to be though and it seems someone sinister is keeping a close eye on them. A choice will have to be made; the world or true friendship?

This series is so much fun and of course our favorite character is Petula the pug! The author did a wonderful job of capturing pugginess!

Quote: "Petula still had a tummyache, but she liked this girl so much she made her way up the stairs for a stroke. She wagged her tail, which was a lovely sensation, because she hadn't wagged it for weeks."

Genus: Fantasy Minded

Era: Young at Heart

Difficulty: 2

Determination: For the genus lover

Series: Molly Moon    

Film: No  

Cool Stuff: Incredible Book of Hypnotism Trivia Quiz           Unofficial Book Trailer         UK Publisher's Page

Support pugs in need by voting in Arizona's Cutest Pug Contest!

Unlovable

Penned By: Dan Yaccarino

This is one of my all time favorite books. One of the kids in my after school program introduced it to me because of my pugs. I think I love it so much because it epitomizes how a pug makes you feel. This can be a cold hard world but if you have the love of a pug nothing else matters.

Alfred is a pug with a fantastic bed and nice yard. However, all the nice things in the world don't make up for having friends which is something this poor little puggie just doesn't have. That is until a new neighbor moves in and they bcome friends sight unseen. Alfred loves his new found friendship but he wasn't exactly honest with Rex....

The simple illustrations of this book never fail to make me cry!

Quote: "But what was it that made him unlovable?"

Genus: Literary Minded

Era: Little Ones - Young at Heart

Difficulty: 1

Determination: Must read

Series: No

Formats: Children's paperback and hardback

Film: No
  
Cool Stuff: Review by WordsbyMom.com      Video - Read out loud       The Publisher

Support pugs in need by voting in Arizona's Cutest Pug Contest!

Sunday, August 5, 2012

Pugs, pugs, and more pugs!

If you're a follower over on my Facebook page you know that I made an announcement that LitPool will be returning this week in full force with a special theme! I'm sorry for my long absence but with a new job and all the poor blog just got put on the back burner but I hope to be back in full force with a regular 3-5 posts a week.

On to the theme! As many of you are likely aware I have two obsessions, books and pugs. And as evidenced by the Pug's Harry Potter Reading Challenge the two are not mutually exclusive! Every summer the local pug rescue, Arizona Pug Adoption and Rescue Network (APARN), runs Arizona's Cutest Pug Contest. The prizes are 12 coveted spots in Arizona's Cutest Pug Calendar and first prize is being declared Arizona's Cutest Pug! The real prize though, is all the money that is raised for Arizona's pugs in need. Every $1 vote over the 12 weeks goes directly to help pay for the pugs that APARN rescues.

In the past my pug's Oreo (the black) and Willo (the fawn) have made it into the calendar. This year it's my pug Leo's (the brindle) turn and he has had an excellent run! If you would like to learn more about him and his competitors in the contest check out his Facebook page.

So, what's the theme already? Well, you see, it's calendar week! In honor of the 16 pugs still in the contest I'm posting a blog a day on a "pug" fiction book. At the end will be the return of an updated and much more challenging Pug's Harry Potter Reading Challenge 2012!

So if you like pugs why don't you head on over to APARN's contest and vote for a cute one! If you think they are just pugly, head on over to APARN's website and let those cute little puggies prove you wrong! Still not convinced? Stick around on LitPool these week and check out pugs in fiction!

And now a special message from Leo the Brindle Pug:
VOTE FOR ME!