 |
It is bedtime for Picco Puppy.
Is he ready for bed?
Let’s go inside and see."
Wong's brightly illustrated tale is intended for very young children. It is one of a series that teaches sprightly lessons of positive interactions through ". . . a unique blend of rhyme, rhythm, and repetition." A few examples demonstrate the relationships between the children (puppies) and parents (dogs). Bath time, prior to bedtime, is fun. The whole family participates and enjoys it. Picco wants to brush his teeth before going to bed, and his mommy permits him after she brushes them. When the puppies, siblings Picco and Poppi, want to be permitted to stay up later, their daddy suggests a bedtime story, which he reads. Mommy asks for a cuddle before the puppies go to bed, and they respond happily. The little ones are put to bed with the happy sounds of "Goodnight, my puppies" from each parent to send them to sleep.
The story repeatedly demonstrates the positive interactions of the family. The children have input to what they do as the parents guide them—gently, happily, and definitely—into positive actions. The adults and children genuinely enjoy one another. They play and laugh as they accomplish tasks. A young child and an adult reader are able to recognize the happiness of the story as, together, they connect to the processes of a young child's as well as his or her parents' needs and hopes at bedtime. The solutions might be called conflict resolution, except that the situations do not escalate into conflict. Each is a wish expressed by a puppy or a parent, and the wish is fulfilled in a positive way. The author has made his book permanently free on his own website and soon plans to have it available for free on Amazon also.
RECOMMENDED by the US Review