PreS-Gr 1 What a pleasure it is to welcome a new edition of Jane Thayer's charming book, first illustrated by Seymour Fleishman (Morrow, 1958). More than anything in the world, Petey, a puppy, wanted a boy for Christmas. Nothing else his mother suggested would do, and none of the other dogs would give him their boys. Dejected, Petey passes the Home for Boys where a lonely newcomer sits on the steps. Petey has found not one boy, but 50 boys full of love. McCue's puppy is a frisky, impish dog-pound special, closely resembling her Sebastian, the Super Sleuth of Mary Blount Christian's novels (Macmillan). However, where Sebastian is portrayed with scratchboard, Petey and friends are in naturalistic watercolors highlighted with crayon. The ``Orphan's Home'' of the earlier edition has become a Home for Boys; minor changes in the text are in keeping with evolving life styles; the interracial boys are in cords, blue jeans and sneakers. With updated text and illustrations, an old friend has a new personality, and Petey is virtually guaranteed another almost 40 years of popularity with the picture book crowd.Virginia Opocensky, Lincoln City Libraries, Nebr. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

The Puppy Who Wanted a Boy by Jane Thayer, illus. by Lisa McCue, is also newly available. The 1958 text, about a puppy who asks his mother for a boy for Christmas, was illustrated by McCue in 1985. (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

A puppy wants a boy for Christmas. After asking a few dogs if they are willing to give him their boys--and getting barked at in response--he finds fifty boys, at a home for orphans. The sentimental story, originally published in 1958 as an easy reader, was issued as a picture book in 1988. The format here is slightly larger, and the realistic, comfortable drawings are a bit brighter. From HORN BOOK Spring 2004, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.