Patsy’s mother thinks almost five years old is too young to take care of a puppy. But one day, a sweet pup follows Patsy all the way home. 

Patsy hopes she can keep him. Unfortunately, the mailman knows the pup belongs to old Mrs. Murphy in the pink cottage on the hill. Mother sends Patsy off to return him right away. 

In no hurry to get to the cottage, Patsy takes the long way around. Each time the pup leads Patsy into a scrape, she has to explain that the pup isn’t hers. Until the answer is practically one long word. 

“He belongs to old-Mrs.-Murphy-in-the-pink-cottage-on-the-hill.”  

Oh, dear, guess what the pup will do next!

It looks like the pup isn’t any happier about going back to live with Mrs. Murphy than Patsy is about returning him. 

Patsy is quite brave for almost five years old. Though it is difficult for her to obey her mother, she does the right thing, even if she does take the long way around. And all is well at the end of a long day. 

Occasional pages have very few words, but these are dramatic pauses where suspense builds with pictures.  

Between these, the reader encounters pages like this. 

Which makes this an excellent “Read to Me” book rather than a “Learning to Read” book.     

For more “Read to Me” recommendations, see the list in our “Early Readers” article.  

For more picture book recommendations, click on the “Picture Books” tab at the top of this page.  

You can buy Patsy and the Pup at Amazon.com.

You may find out more about this book at biblioguides.com.