Please, Puppy, Please by Spike Lee, Tonya Lewis Lee, Tonya Lewis-Lee, Kadir Nelson (Illustrator)

From the Publisher

Away from the gate,

puppy puppy, please, puppy.

Oh wait, puppy, wait,

please, please, please,

please....

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.

Child Magazine

Director Spike Lee may not be known for wild chase scenes, but there's an exciting one in his newest work with his wife, Tonya, a TV producer. A young boy and girl struggle to keep up with their high-energy puppy as he bolts through the backyard fence, rolls in mud, and escapes from the bath. But despite his naughty ways, the rascal is irresistible. (His silky, chocolate-colored fur gleams in Nelson's light-infused oil paintings.) Just as in Please, Baby, Please, this follow-up gleefully recognizes the power that little ones have over those who are supposedly in charge. (ages 2 to 4)
Child magazine's Best Children's Book Awards 2005

School Library Journal

PreS-Gr 1-Two young children celebrate the joy and challenges of life with their new pet. Puppy is exuberant, energetic, and as undisciplined as can be. The kids are thrilled with their uncontrollable new friend, chasing him, playing with him, and trying to get him to behave. In the spare text, the authors' repetitive dialogue rings true, echoing the sounds of children's excited screams and squeals. Nelson's illustrations are full of movement, switching perspective often to create a frenzied atmosphere. The children and puppy are appealing, dominating each page and keeping the focus clearly on the action. This book would be fun to read to a group, small or large, and the text is easy enough for beginning readers.-Mary Hazelton, Elementary Schools in Warren & Waldoboro, ME Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

Two adorable African-American preschoolers, a boisterous puppy and a marmalade cat are the characters in this exuberant story suitable for children from toddlers to those just learning to read a few words on their own. The two children care for the puppy as he gets into mischief: escaping from the yard, rolling in the mud, getting a bath and fetching a ball. The deceptively simple text features short, rhyming couplets of the children's pleas for the puppy to behave, interspersed with a refrain of variations of the words in the title. The words in the refrain are printed in varying type sizes corresponding to the level of the puppy's antics and the children's resulting frustration, adding an extra dimension to the repetition. Nelson employs a wide range of perspectives in his vibrant oil paintings, sometimes showing the children as the puppy would see them, from below. A memorable climactic spread (with no text) shows the puppy bringing his ball back to the children, showing that the kids really can control their puppy after all. (Picture book. 2-6)

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