Janette Sebring Lowrey (1892–1986)
Author of The Poky Little Puppy
About the Author
Works by Janette Sebring Lowrey
Little Golden Books: The Poky Little Puppy, The fire Engine and Animal Orquestra with Poky Little Puppy Plush Toy (2017) — Author — 93 copies
Classic Characters of Little Golden Books: The Poky Little Puppy, Tootle, The Saggy Baggy Elephant, Tawny Scrawny Lion, and Scuffy the Tugboat (2006) 37 copies
Associated Works
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Legal name
- Lowrey, Janette Sebring
- Birthdate
- 1892-03-02
- Date of death
- 1986-03-17
- Gender
- female
- Occupations
- children's book author
high school teacher (English) - Short biography
- Janette Sebring Lowrey was born in Orange, a town in the southeast corner of Texas. She wrote dozens of books for children and young readers from the 1930s through the 1970s. She's best-known for The Poky Little Puppy (1942), the best selling children's book of all time, with sales of more than 15 million. The Poky Little Puppy was one of the original 12 classic Little Golden Books. Another famous children's book was Margaret (1950) about an orphan girl who moves to live with an uncle in East Texas.
In 1958, Disney turned the book into a five-part television movie series called "Annette," showcasing Annette Funicello. - Nationality
- USA
- Birthplace
- Orange, Texas, USA
- Places of residence
- San Antonio, Texas, USA
- Burial location
- St. Mark's Episcopal Church Columbarium, San Antonio, Bexar County, Texas, USA
- Associated Place (for map)
- Texas, USA
Members
Reviews
You know what is a great stress-reliever? This book.
Well, actually just about any kids book from my childhood.
I've taken up reading kids books at bedtime, to help me turn off all the day's horrible news, to let go, to combat horrible insomnia. Kids books are doing the trick.
I swear, in just the first two pages of this one, I was smelling that sweet puppy breath, hearing happy little puppy yips. I was recalling the clumsy way puppies run and how that makes us laugh. Then I remembered, in show more vivid detail, a very particular Texas hot summer afternoon. Sitting on my porch in the shade, I was reading this very book to my oldest Little (my grandchild, she's 21 now). I remembered my dog Dixie, too. Dixie was there with us as we read that afternoon, nudging with her wet nose to be in the middle. (Dixie was one of those dogs. You know: the best dog in the world kind.)
I fell asleep in just 10 minutes, the book open beside me.
Sweet puppy breath....my first Little when she was so little....Dixie.... show less
Well, actually just about any kids book from my childhood.
I've taken up reading kids books at bedtime, to help me turn off all the day's horrible news, to let go, to combat horrible insomnia. Kids books are doing the trick.
I swear, in just the first two pages of this one, I was smelling that sweet puppy breath, hearing happy little puppy yips. I was recalling the clumsy way puppies run and how that makes us laugh. Then I remembered, in show more vivid detail, a very particular Texas hot summer afternoon. Sitting on my porch in the shade, I was reading this very book to my oldest Little (my grandchild, she's 21 now). I remembered my dog Dixie, too. Dixie was there with us as we read that afternoon, nudging with her wet nose to be in the middle. (Dixie was one of those dogs. You know: the best dog in the world kind.)
I fell asleep in just 10 minutes, the book open beside me.
Sweet puppy breath....my first Little when she was so little....Dixie.... show less
I read this to my kids every couple years and each time they got wide eyed at the idea of being sent to bed without food. Nothing other than dessert was mentioned, and that's all kids really want, right? It's somehow a bad book in a way the kids also find bad and don't like yet sometimes ask me to read again, as if they subconsciously enjoy being reminded how good they have it when they do things they're told not to. There's also something about the wording and artwork that makes it unique show more enough I'm not driven crazy when asked to read it again.
Sometimes the slow and curious are rewarded, sometimes they aren't. Sometimes breaking rules results in punishment, sometimes it doesn't. Puppies can't read signs, but someone expect them to. Grass grows fasted on freshly filled holes. I can't think of another children's book with such a complicated message. show less
Sometimes the slow and curious are rewarded, sometimes they aren't. Sometimes breaking rules results in punishment, sometimes it doesn't. Puppies can't read signs, but someone expect them to. Grass grows fasted on freshly filled holes. I can't think of another children's book with such a complicated message. show less
The Poky Little Puppy is the first book I remember reading, so it will always have a space on my bookshelf. Revisiting it almost forty years later, however, has resulted in some mixed feelings. As a Little Golden Book, the focus is more on counting and reading along with the child to help build cognitive skills, so it's really a mistake to put too much emphasis on the plot or story. With that being said...
On the surface, the book is about a curious little puppy who eventually learns that show more disobeying the rules has consequences, but upon closer inspection this morality tale becomes a bit more muddled. The titular Poky Little Puppy is not the only one breaking the rules, but is in fact one of five puppies that repeatedly ignore restrictions against digging under the fence and leaving the yard. Warning against straying from home is a good message for a children's book, but instead of unforeseen dangers in the unknown outside world, the five runaway puppies are greeted by green grass and a colorful array of insects and reptiles, only returning home when they realize that a dessert is being prepared for them back home. Poky's only deviation from the behavior of the other puppies is that he is the one to first notice hints that dessert is awaiting them at home, and is the only one that doesn't rush back home in time to be punished for digging under the fence by being refused dessert. By the time Poky returns, everybody is asleep, and he eats the dessert, seemingly unaware of the punishment. This happens again and again until Poky's four brothers are rewarded with dessert for filling in the hole under the fence AFTER they've already left and come back, and then narc on Poky when he comes back later so that he is punished with no dessert. Now, apart from the idea of 'Just Desserts' at play here, it seems more than a little unfair that Poky is singled out as the main transgressor when you consider that his only deviation from group behavior was being more observant to details and less prone to running back home at the first hint of sugary treats. If the other puppies had simply followed Poky's lead, they all would have arrived home late and had dessert together, as it appears their "mother" can't be bothered to search for missing puppies that don't show up for dinner.
So, while on the surface this is little more than a cute story about the pitfalls of curiosity, what we really have is the unfair persecution and scapegoating of an individual for being more in tune with his surroundings, rewarding pack mentality, parental neglect, enforcement of arbitrary rules with no indication as to their importance, and a prediction of the current childhood obesity epidemic.
This is why adults should not review children's books. show less
On the surface, the book is about a curious little puppy who eventually learns that show more disobeying the rules has consequences, but upon closer inspection this morality tale becomes a bit more muddled. The titular Poky Little Puppy is not the only one breaking the rules, but is in fact one of five puppies that repeatedly ignore restrictions against digging under the fence and leaving the yard. Warning against straying from home is a good message for a children's book, but instead of unforeseen dangers in the unknown outside world, the five runaway puppies are greeted by green grass and a colorful array of insects and reptiles, only returning home when they realize that a dessert is being prepared for them back home. Poky's only deviation from the behavior of the other puppies is that he is the one to first notice hints that dessert is awaiting them at home, and is the only one that doesn't rush back home in time to be punished for digging under the fence by being refused dessert. By the time Poky returns, everybody is asleep, and he eats the dessert, seemingly unaware of the punishment. This happens again and again until Poky's four brothers are rewarded with dessert for filling in the hole under the fence AFTER they've already left and come back, and then narc on Poky when he comes back later so that he is punished with no dessert. Now, apart from the idea of 'Just Desserts' at play here, it seems more than a little unfair that Poky is singled out as the main transgressor when you consider that his only deviation from group behavior was being more observant to details and less prone to running back home at the first hint of sugary treats. If the other puppies had simply followed Poky's lead, they all would have arrived home late and had dessert together, as it appears their "mother" can't be bothered to search for missing puppies that don't show up for dinner.
So, while on the surface this is little more than a cute story about the pitfalls of curiosity, what we really have is the unfair persecution and scapegoating of an individual for being more in tune with his surroundings, rewarding pack mentality, parental neglect, enforcement of arbitrary rules with no indication as to their importance, and a prediction of the current childhood obesity epidemic.
This is why adults should not review children's books. show less
The Poky Little Puppy by Janette Sebring Lowrey is one of those children's books that is simple but also has gentle lessons and engaging illustrations. This story follows five puppies who sneak out to explore, but one curious puppy always wanders away. One of the many themes in this story is curiosity and independence. Children are naturally curious beings, so this story sheds light on how children want to explore the world around them. It is also a great example that children can be curious show more but with responsibility. The illustrations are warm and inviting, using soft colors and very expressive emotions with the puppy characters, and also show other animals throughout the story. Overall, this story is engaging and cute for children. show less
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