Wee Review


Gimlet and Nigel Review "Calling All Puppies."


Nigel and Gimlet share their opinions of author and illustrator Winifred Martin's "Calling All Puppies."

Gimlet: Our Doggie Dad found this book for us on ebay. We read it over the Fourth of July weekend. There are two wire fox terrier puppy protagonists, littermates Bart and Sally. They get into mischief.
Nigel: Mischief is an understatement. They ate a book, shredded shoes and socks and made off with a pair of trousers. And that was in the first seven pages.
Gimlet: I found it interesting that there are no humans shown in this book. There are references made to "scoldings," and their dog mother is shown, but there are no humans pictured. Fascinating.
Nigel: Yes, that's a sharp twist to the typical dog book ... No puppies in danger of being taken to the pound or being hit by cars, no jerking around of the emotions. Just a happy, feel-good tale of doggie mischief. I enjoyed it immensely.
Gimlet: Bart and Sally have lots of friends: Hamish the scottie, spaniels Roddie and Rory, Mr. Wu the Pekinese, the Alsatian Tex and Mitch, the old neighbor dog. And Bart and Sally have a mother, too. But there's no mention of their father. Wonder what that's about. Divorced, maybe?
Nigel: Hmm ... The puppies are well-off, you can tell that by the tailored coats they're wearing in some of the illustrations. Maybe the father is a show dog, a champion, and is out on the circuit.
Gimlet: That must be it.
Nigel: The illustrations are animated, with just a touch of whimsy. The drawings tell the tale as finely as the wording. I recommend this book.
Gimlet: It's a feel-good book for all domestic dogs out there. You don't have to be a wire fox terrier or a scottie to enjoy it.
Nigel: That's right. But potential readers will have to look for it. This was written circa 1953, and chances are your library won't have a copy. There may be copies available through abe.com. or bookfinder.com or through ebay. Just don't bid against our dad if he's looking for another copy.
Gimlet: No, don't bid against him. Please.
Nigel: Here's a photo of the book's cover. You can see it's cool, just from the cover design.
Gimlet: Can I have that toy you're playing with?
Nigel: No.






Posted: Mon - July 7, 2003 at 11:08 PM          

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