With its fetishistic refrain "PUPPIES ARE LIKE THAT!!!!" and over-excited prattling about every little thing puppies do (puppies admittedly do cute things, but then so do, say, kitties, but I suppose, as an academic writer would say, "that is beyond the scope of the current children's book"), this can't help but remind me a bit of a kid's book written by the local gauleiter who loves Bach and his pipe and scratches his faithful old schnauzer behind the ears thoroughly each day as he signs execution orders. (And of course, doesn't hesitate to shoot old Mitzi when the vagaries of dog life require it, with single requisite tear.) But cloying sentimentality is a Janus-faced thing, and what stimulates my yak reflex may simply tug on your heartstrings (I believe the two are adjacent). And certainly this book was a major factor in the establishment of my niece's longstanding and heartbreaking puppy obsession ("somewhere out there there's a puppy who wants me as much as I want him"). And as always we should judge kids' books by their reception among kids, not grups. (Though these days she seems more into Katy Perry, whose cat is named Kitty Purry.) ( )