Ups and Downs: One Pup's Up by Martha Wilson Chall

ONE PUP'S UP.

TWO PUPPIES TUMBLE.

THREE PUPPIES ROLL IN A FUNNY PUPPY JUMBLE.

It's a chain reaction, as each of the ten puppies awaken from their snuggle next to Mama, and stumble out to look for puppy action. And where there are puppies, there is always action--and fun--and a mess! And these ten pudgy puppies are no exception. Mama probably wishes that they could have slept a little longer!

FOUR PUPPIES DRINK.

FIVE PUPPIES HUDDLE.

SIX PUPPIES PIDDLE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE MUDDLE.

Soon all ten plump pups are up and scouting for a bite, and their owner obligingly comes along to fill ten little bowls with kibble, in a Line-'Em-Up Canine Cafe.

The pups already know what to do after their dinner--they wash and play and then, one by one, begin to head back toward their sleepy mother, until they're almost all accounted for in another naptime.

Of course there's one, always one, who fights the urge to sleep to the last yawn and twitch, and then for one glorious moment, Mama has them all asleep around her. Until--well, you know who is up again!

Martha Wilson Chall's latest, One Pup's Up, is a clever little counting book which takes us up to ten and back down again as ten of the cutest canines you can imagine get up and go down for another nap. Chall's verse seems simple, but her word choice stretches her audience's vocabulary while remaining completely understandable in context, courtesy of the wonderful Henry Cole's fetching pen and brush, which gives us ten roly-poly little pups with plenty of personality. Toddlers will love the rhyme and alliteration while they count up the puppies on each page, some cleverly concealed amid the tangle of puppy tot toys. Large clear numerals on each page keep the count going until we're back to one pup up again. One Pup's Up is one to count on for the youngest picture book fans.