The Poky Little Puppy Read online

  Copyright © 1942, renewed 1970 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Golden Books, an imprint of Random House Children's Books, a division of Random House, Inc., New York. Originally published in 1942 by Simon and Schuster, Inc., and Artists and Writers Guild, Inc. GOLDEN BOOKS, A GOLDEN BOOK, A LITTLE GOLDEN BOOK, the G colophon, and the distinctive gold spine are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.

  The Poky Little Puppy is a registered trademark of Random House, Inc.

  Library of Congress Control Number: 2005935760

  eISBN: 978-0-307-75946-7

  www.goldenbooks.com

  www.randomhouse.com/kids

  FIVE little puppies dug a hole under the fence and went for a walk in the wide, wide world.

  Through the meadow they went, down the road, over the bridge, across the green grass, and up the hill, one right after the other.

  And when they got to the top of the hill, they counted themselves: one, two, three, four. One little puppy wasn't there

  “Now where in the world is that poky little puppy?” they wondered. For he certainly wasn't on top of the hill.

  He wasn't going down the other side. The only thing they could see going down was a fuzzy caterpillar.

  He wasn't coming up this side. The only thing they could see coming up was a quick green lizard.

  But when they looked down at the grassy place near the bottom of the hill, there he was, running round and round, his nose to the ground.

  “What is he doing?” the four little puppies asked one another. And down they went to see, roly-poly, pell-mell, tumble-bumble, till they came to the green grass; and there they stopped short.

  “What in the world are you doing?” they asked.

  “I smell something!” said the poky little puppy.

  Then the four little puppies began to sniff, and they smelled it, too.

  “Rice pudding!” they said.

  And home they went, as fast as they could go, over the bridge, up the road, through the meadow, and under the fence. And there, sure enough, was dinner waiting for them, with rice pudding for dessert.

  But their mother was greatly displeased. “So you're the little puppies who dig holes under fences!” she said. “No rice pudding tonight!” And she made them go straight to bed.

  But the poky little puppy came home after everyone was sound asleep.

  He ate up all the rice pudding and crawled into bed as happy as a lark.

  The next morning someone had filled the hole and put up a sign. The sign said:

  BUT

  The five little puppies dug a hole under the fence, just the same, and went for a walk in the wide, wide world.

  Through the meadow they went, down the road, over the bridge, across the green grass, and up the hill, two and two. And when they got to the top of the hill, they counted themselves: one, two, three, four. One little puppy wasn't there.

  “Now where in the world is that poky little puppy?” they wondered. For he certainly wasn't on top of the hill.

  He wasn't going down the other side. The only thing they could see going down was a big black spider.

  He wasn't coming up this side. The only thing they could see coming up was a brown hop-toad.

  But when they looked down at the grassy place near the bottom of the hill, there was the poky little puppy, sitting still as a stone, with his head on one side and his ears cocked up.

  “What is he doing?” the four little puppies asked one another. And down they went to see, roly-poly, pell-mell, tumble-bumble, till they came to the green grass; and there they stopped short.

  “What in the world are you doing?” they asked.

  “I hear something!” said the poky little puppy.

  The four little puppies listened, and they could hear it, too. “Chocolate custard!” they cried. “Someone is spooning it into our bowls!”

  And home they went as fast as they could go, over the bridge, up the road, through the meadow, and under the fence. And there, sure enough, was dinner waiting for them, with chocolate custard for dessert.

  But their mother was greatly displeased. “So you're the little puppies who will dig holes under fences!” she said. “No chocolate custard tonight!” And she made them go straight to bed.

  But the poky little puppy came home after everyone else was sound asleep, and he ate up all the chocolate custard and crawled into bed as happy as a lark.

  The next morning someone had filled the hole and put up a sign. The sign said:

  BUT

  In spite of that, the five little puppies dug a hole under the fence and went for a walk in the wide, wide world.

  Through the meadow they went, down the road, over the bridge, across the green grass, and up the hill, two and two. And when they got to the top of the hill, they counted themselves: one, two, three, four. One little puppy wasn't there.

  “Now where in the world is that poky little puppy?” they wondered. For he certainly wasn't on top of the hill.

  He wasn't going down the other side. The only thing they could see going down was a little grass snake.

  He wasn't coming up this side. The only thing they could see coming up was a big grasshopper.

  But when they looked down at the grassy place near the bottom of the hill, there he was, looking hard at something on the ground in front of him.

  “What is he doing?” the four little puppies asked one another. And down they went to see, roly-poly, pell-mell, tumble-bumble, till they came to the green grass; and there they stopped short.

  “What in the world are you doing?” they asked.

  “I see something!” said the poky little puppy.

  The four little puppies looked, and they could see it, too. It was a ripe, red strawberry growing there in the grass.

  “Strawberry shortcake!” they cried.

  And home they went as fast as they could go, over the bridge, up the road, through the meadow, and under the fence. And there, sure enough, was dinner waiting for them, with strawberry shortcake for dessert.

  But their mother said: “So you're the little puppies who dug that hole under the fence again! No strawberry shortcake for supper tonight!” And she made them go straight to bed.

  But the four little puppies waited till they thought she was asleep, and then they slipped out and filled up the hole, and when they turned around, there was their mother watching them.

  “What good little puppies!” she said.

  “Come have some strawberry shortcake!”

  And this time, when the poky little puppy got home, he had to squeeze in through a wide place in the fence. And there were his four brothers and sisters, licking the last crumbs from their saucers.

  “Dear me!” said his mother. “What a pity you're so poky! Now the strawberry shortcake is all gone!”

  So the poky little puppy had to go to bed without a single bite of shortcake, and he felt very sorry for himself.

  And the next morning someone had put up a sign that read:

  The Story of

  The Poky Little Puppy

  The Poky Little Puppy was one of the first twelve Little Golden Books published, in 1942. At the time, World War II was in full force. Americans were dealing with rations of all kinds, and money was tight for most people. But many could find the twenty-five cents needed to purchase a Little Golden Book for their children, so Little Golden Books sold briskly even during this difficult time.

  For sixty-five years, The Poky Little Puppy has delighted generations of children all over the world, and it has the distinction of being the bestselling picture book of all time.

  Janette Sebring Lowrey, who lived in Texas, wrote few picture books. In the 1940s and 1950s, she w
as best known for writing teen fiction for Harper & Row. Ms. Lowrey received a flat fee of seventy-five dollars for writing The Poky Little Puppy.

  Gustaf Tenggren immigrated to the United States from Sweden in 1920. He was a prolific Golden Books illustrator who had also painted concept artwork for the Disney Studio, creating some of the unforgettable characters and scenes from the films Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Pinocchio, Fantasia, and Bambi. Some of the most beloved Little Golden Books of all time—including The Saggy Baggy Elephant, Tawny Scrawny Lion, and The Shy Little Kitten—were brought to life by Tenggren. Using a wide range of artistic styles, he also illustrated many oversized story collections for Golden Books, including Tenggren's Golden Tales from the Arabian Nights, King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, and Pirates, Ships, and Sailors.

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  Janette Sebring Lowrey, The Poky Little Puppy

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