The first pup : the real story of how Bo got to the White House

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Title:

The first pup : the real story of how Bo got to the White House

Author:

Staake, Bob, 1957-

ISBN:

9780312613464

Publication Information:

New York : Feiwel and Friends, c2010.

Physical Description:

1 v. (unpaged) : col. ill. ; 27 cm.

Reading Level:

AD 890 L Lexile

Personal Subject:

Obama, Barack-Family.

Corporate Subject:

White House (Washington, D.C.)

Subject Term:

Portuguese water dog.

Presidents -- United States -- Biography.

Children of presidents -- United States -- Biography.

Puppies.

Summary:

Once upon a time, a man named Barack Obama ran for president of the United States. On the night of his victory, he made a very important announcement...his daughters would get a puppy! A semi-fictional story of Bo, the Portugese water dog, who was given to the Obama family by Senator Edward Kennedy.

Holds:

Available:*

Library	Call Number	Status
Searching... R.H. Stafford Library (Woodbury)	EASY STA	Searching... Unknown

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Summary

Once upon a time, a man named Barack Obama ran for president of the United States and he won! On the night of his victory, he made a very important announcement: When he and his family were settled in their new home in Washington, D.C., his daughters would get . . . A PUPPY!

On a farm in Texas, a puppy had been born. One of ten brothers and sisters, this puppy was lively and smart, but he needed a new home.

From a Texas farm to the White House, this is the real story of Bo--the First Pup!

The First Pup is a 2011 Bank Street - Best Children's Book of the Year.

Author Notes

BOB STAAKE is a freelance illustrator who has worked on everything from greeting cards to magazine covers, most notably Reflections, one of the most popular covers in the New Yorker 's history. He has also written and illustrated over 20 children's books, including This Is Not a Pumpkin and The Red Lemon .

Reviews (3)

School Library Journal Review

Gr 1-3-Staake chronicles President Obama's 2008 victory speech and the ensuing media blitz surrounding the new puppy promised that night to his daughters. The pop-culture tale includes the well-known details of how Senator Ted Kennedy suggested a Texas-born Portuguese water dog, a sibling of one of his own dogs, when that puppy's first home didn't work out. It is Easter weekend on the White House lawn, a rosy day with a rosy sky, when the red carpet is rolled out and up rolls a limousine with the new puppy. Staake's sophisticated cartoons combine traditional and digital techniques to create depth and give the drawings a crisp, vibrant, retro flavor. This is one of the best versions of the tale so far, but it remains lightweight fare.-Sara Lissa Paulson, American Sign Language and English Lower School PS 347, New York City (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Publisher's Weekly Review

Staake's (Pets Go Pop!) welcome addition to the cache of Bo books offers an enthusiastic look at how the Portuguese water dog came to live at the White House. Neither as fact-driven as Carole Boston Weatherford's First Pooch nor as fanciful as Kate Feiffer's Which Puppy? this account is downright centrist by comparison, giving familiar and lesser-known particulars a whimsical bent. Kids will warm to the backstory of how the late Sen. Edward Kennedy acquired the puppy (a littermate of his own pet) for the Obamas. "When he learned that one of the litter of pups... had been returned to the farm and needed a second chance, he had a great idea...." Staake's stylized, angular illustrations take playful liberties with proportion and perspective, presenting caricatures of the first family, as well as Bo, White House staffers, and assorted fans. The canine's festive, red carpet arrival by limousine (complete with a sextet of buglers, a chef with a bone on a tray, and plenty of attentive Secret Service agents) is but one of the visual highlights in this exuberant tale. Ages 5-8. (June) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

Horn Book Review

Staake tells of how President Obama honored his campaign promise to his daughters and brought a dog to the White House. The straightforward text sticks to the facts: in short, Senator Ted Kennedy brokered the doggy deal. The effervescent illustrations, a combination of traditional and digital art, have the look of crisply cut paper. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.

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Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

Summary

Author Notes

Reviews (3)

School Library Journal Review

Publisher's Weekly Review

Horn Book Review

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