To say that my niece is obsessed with pugs is putting it lightly. We have read countless pug books together, with many pug stuffies tucked into enjoy the story. So naturally when I came across this picture book I knew I had to review it with Samantha.
The thing we found when we literally gobbled up this delicious read, was pure joy. Joy in the vibrant, fun illustrations. Joy in the goofy activities Pugtatos “spuddies” tried with Thing. Mostly though, joy in the unexpectedly adorable nature of the vegetable animals. Samantha emphasized Corrigan’s entertaining cast when she said, this story is “different because it combines vegetables and animals.”
Page by page Samantha and I went back and forth guess what Thing could be. “It looks like…” she pointed at the illustration. Page turn. “No wait!” we burst out on more than one occasion. The mystery of Thing as it was misidentified throughout the story (by us and the “spuddies”) propelled the pages forward with such speed that we were almost sad when the book ended.
Almost sad, but not actually sad. How can we say we were sad when Samantha’s first words after reading it were “Pugtato is the funniest.” Not only that, but the ending also has the two key components of every great picture book. Pugtato manages to solve the mystery all on his own, and once the mystery is revealed, it seems obvious, even though we didn’t foresee the answer. Samantha sums up our thoughts beautifully. “At first, Pugtato didn’t really believe in himself, but in the end he figured it out on his own. It was a good ending. I liked the whole book.”
So that’s our take on Pugtato Finds a Thing. A definite must read for pug lovers everywhere and for anyone who wants a good laugh wrapped up in a satisfying story.