Nope, It’s NOT Harry Potter!
It’s a book called The Poky Little Puppy by Janette Sebring Lowrey, copyright 1942.
I plunked down 4 bucks the other day and made the investment in this book to study why it was so successful.
Here’s a few quick observations:
1. Just about everyone loves puppies. (Except for serial killers, who probably don’t buy children’s books.)
2. The puppies go on three adventures. (You’ve heard of the power of threes, right?)
3. The puppies dig under the fence and get out of the yard, and break free to go on said adventure. Who doesn’t want to break free every once in a while?
4. Repetition. Kids supposedly love repetition.
a. While going up the hill each day, they see something coming up the hill and something going down the hill.
b. When they get to the top of the hill, they notice the poky puppy is not with them. He’s still down the hill doing something.
c. The hole by the fence gets filled in each night. And they have to dig it again in the morning.
5. It’s got desserts. Who doesn’t love rice pudding, strawberry shortcake and chocolate custard?
6. The puppies come home every night to a nice, warm safe bed. Security.
Yes, I know I have not been consistant with “quotes”, italics, and bold face. And I won’t give away the ending either. 😉
So we’ve got: puppies, adventure, freedom, repetition, power of threes, DESSERT, and security.
After all, isn’t that what we ALL want?
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SueAnn Porter 