Pup and Hound

Carol L. MacKay is a children’s librarian living in Bawlf, Alberta.

Hound hears something outside and goes to investigate. Beneath a wild
rose bush he finds a famished stray pup. Hound tries to satisfy the
young canine’s hunger with a variety of objects: a stick, a shoe, a
bone. Nothing works until Hound sniffs out a hot dog on a picnic table.
It’s just the ticket for a hungry pup.

In the second book in the series, Pup, who is now teething, moves in to
his friend Hound’s place. Unfortunately for Hound, Pup chooses
Hound’s favourite toy bear as a chew toy. But the older, wiser Hound
knows that puppies need to gnaw, and finds an acceptable alternative.

Both stories are part of the Kids Can Read series, written for the
Level 1 reader who has had some early reading experience. The rhyming
sentences are of varying lengths, short and manageable, containing a
good number of sight words and averaging about five words a page for the
first book. The second book contains an average of 13 words per page,
but the sentence length and vocabulary level remain the same. Linda
Hendry’s pencil-crayon illustrations not only add character and
additional detail to Susan Hood’s simple text, they also provide
visual clues to help readers with new words. Children will undoubtedly
love both characters: Hound for his patience and kindness, and Pup for
his mischievous and playful nature. Both books are recommended.