Please, Puppy, Please

All Ages

Birth - 12 months

by Spike Lee
Illustration by Kadir Nelson

In page after page of tail-wagging fun, Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Spike Lee and his wife, Beacon Award-winning producer Tonya Lewis Lee, take a close-up look at what happens when a couple of high-energy toddlers meet their match in an adventurous pup who has no plans of letting up.

Irresistible illustrations by Coretta Scott King Award winner Kadir Nelson unleash countless memorable moments of toddlerhood, and puppyhood, which families with four-legged friends will enjoy over and over again.

Age: 2 Year-olds | Title: Please, Puppy, Please | Author: Spike Lee | Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing

Why we chose this book

The upturned water dish and piece of paper hanging from the puppy's mouth on the first page immediately offer clues as to what's in store - one puppy with boundless energy plus two toddlers ready to play means adventure is certainly not far away! Great for toddlers, Please, Puppy, Please has simple sentences with lots of repetition, so your little one can join in the fun of coaxing the puppy to come, stay, and hold still - good luck! The fonts change size and wiggle up and down, making reading that much more fun. The pictures are mesmerizing in their vibrant colors filling the pages to the edges. Fine detail touches off the pictures as the brush strokes show the individual hairs on the puppy and blades of grass. The puppy gets up close and personal with readers with many full face shots, ready to jump out of the book and have you chase him around with the toddlers.

The puppy's antics are giggle-inducing and his expressive face will bring a smile to yours as he bounds around, eyes wide, tongue out, and ears flapping this way and that. His eyes are painted with such fine detail he appears to be looking right at you, begging you to play with him. Because the words are repeated, pleading with the puppy to do as he is told, the pictures will help guide your little one in memorizing the text and 'reading' along with you. Those with puppies of their own will easily relate to the toddlers, while those without a puppy may fall in love and start asking for one.

This is my friend, Sam's favorite book since he is a huge fan of dogs. Sam's family has a black lab named Murphy, so he decided the unnamed puppy in the book is actually Murphy when he was little. Based on six-year-old Murphy's still hardly-containable energy, I may have to agree with Sam!

--Audra

What our customers are saying

I just had to have this book because I knew it was a topic that my son would be interested in and we are dog lovers. We also have the dumbest dog in our house and while he is not really a puppy anymore he just doesn't get life. I hoped this book would help us all remember the puppy stage and that Bo has come a long way, while being able to laugh at the same time.

--Brandy, Center, CO

This book had me grinning ear to ear each time I read it. If you have ever had a puppy, let alone a Labrador puppy, then you know how much trouble they can get into and how relentless they can be. In Please, Puppy, Please the toddlers simply want their puppy to behave and listen. They plead with him, PLEASE, PLEASE, PUPPY! They ask him to stay inside, to stay in the yard, to come when called, to leave the cat alone.. and so much more!

Lillian enjoyed this book! Every night at bedtime, she wants to 'read' a book before I do. So when I showed her this book, she was excited to flip through the pages and give her depiction of what is going on. Even Olivia (our infant) seemed to enjoy it. The pictures are bright and colorful which definitely caught her attention. We all really LOVE this book. It kept all of us entertained I highly recommend this book. It will surely bring smiles to little ones and adult alike.

--Toni, Millington, TN