Molly's Puppy Tale

American Girl: Short Stories #32

by Valerie Tripp, Nick Backes (Illustrator), Susan McAliley (Illustrator)

In 1945, ten-year-old Molly does not want to share her puppy Bennett with her brother but finds she might need to change her mind.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Childrens, Fiction, Middle Grade, Short Stories, Historical, World War II

48 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 2003

About the author

Valerie Tripp is a children's book author, best known for her work with the American Girl series.

She grew up in Mount Kisco, New York with three sisters and one brother. A member of the first co-educated class at Yale University, Tripp also has a M.Ed. from Harvard. Since 1985 she has lived in Silver Spring, Maryland. Her husband teaches history at Montgomery College.

Right out of college, Tripp started writing songs, stories, and nonfiction for The Superkids Reading Program, working with Pleasant Rowland, the founder of American Girl. For that series, Tripp wrote all the books about Felicity, Josefina, Kit, Molly, and Maryellen and many of the books about Samantha. She also wrote the "Best Friends" character stories to date, plays, mysteries, and short stories about all her characters.. Film dramatizations of the lives of Samantha, Felicity, Molly, and Kit have been based on her stories. Currently, Tripp is writing a STEM series for National Geographic and adapting Greek Myths for Starry Forest Publishing. A frequent speaker at schools and libraries, Tripp has also spoken at the Library of Congress, the Smithsonian, The New York Historical Society, and Williamsburg.

Reviews

[Miranda Reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

"I'd do anything for Bennett. I love him. And he loves me best of anyone in the world."

Owning a dog is a BIG responsibility but Molly feels ready to take it on. She loves how Bennett relies the most upon her and always wants to be by her side...only one problem. Bennett seems to have other ideas.

"A little mud won't hurt him," said Ricky. "Bennett's not a baby anymore. He wants to rough-and-tumble with me. He likes it. And it's good for him."
"I'll decide what's good for him," said Molly sharply. "He's my puppy."

Molly doesn't want Bennett to like anyone more than her and decides to take full responsibility for Bennett. But as the weeks wear on, she begins to realize that taking care of a puppy is a lot of work for one ten-year-old girl.

WOO-HOO!

We actually have confirmation that the puppy exists!! Only took 5 books from the original introduction to show that Bennet actually exists in the Molly-verse.

(For the uninitiated: Bennet was Molly's birthday present in book 4 of the main series. He subsequently disappears with 0 mentions for the last two books in the main series and the first three of the companion books, leaving me to wonder if he ever existed at all).

(though, the jury is still out on Yank, the puppy that Emily received on the shared birthday with Molly)

Joking aside, this felt like a really good addition to the Molly-verse. Bennett was a sweetheart in this story and his antics were really fun to watch (and they made me grateful that my dogs are no longer in the puppy phase).

I think Molly's actions and reactions were realistic in this story. If you are given a puppy for your birthday, it's only natural that you'd want the puppy to love you the most and to be disappointed when the puppy starts to show preferences.

I also really liked Ricky's growth in this story. He spends much of his time as an annoying older brother, always mocking Molly and playing pranks on her. It was nice to see this other side of him and the character growth felt genuine.

That being said, I think Molly's mom set her up for failure.

Giving a puppy for a birthday and then leaving all the responsibility on that child (despite the child NOT indicating that she wanted a puppy before that moment)...it's a lot to put on a ten-year-old's shoulders.

At the very least, Molly's mom really should have checked with Mrs. Gilford, the family's housekeeper, first and made sure Mrs. Gilford would be willing to help take care of the puppy while Molly and the rest of the family was at school/work.

Overall, this was a cute story and the ending worked really well.

A Peek into the Past

Like all of the main and mini Molly McIntire books, this one has a mini historical section at the back called a Peek into the Past.

In this Peek into the Past, we learn about the relationship between dogs and children in the 1940s. We see how dogs took over the silver screen and the hearts of families. Dogs were often used as a distraction for the kids and a way to cheer them up. We also see how dogs helped in the war effort - whether it be in combat situations, search-and-rescue, or retrieval missions.

And finally, there's a recipe at the back how to make homemade dog treats using cornmeal, wheat flour, eggs, etc. (basically, a simple cookie dough minus the sugar) which you roll out and place into a waffle iron to get the shape...but is then baked into the oven until they are dried out.

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

Molly learned the value of accepting help. Sometimes doing it yourself isn’t always best. Especially when it comes to a lively Jack Russel terrier lol.

Loved the looking back section with info on dogs in WWII. I wrote a research paper on that subject in both middle school and college.

[Little Seal]

On brand for Molly. I felt for Molly, but glad she came to her senses. I also liked having Ricky have more personality this book, despite it being still pretty minimal.

[Rubi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Molly gets jealous when her puppy shows more affection to her brother than to her so she decides to keep him from him.
But she learns that raising a puppy is hard on ones own and she'd miss out on activities if she wanted to be home for Bennet. So she has to decide, does she want help?
Raising a puppy is hard work. This book shows some of the struggles and responsibilities it takes to raise a puppy.

[Christina Erickson · Rating 2 out of 5]

A rival for “Molly Learns A Lesson” as she is stubborn and selfish up until the last five seconds.

She is looking so cute in her Victory Garden dress though and I viscerally remember this “Peak Into The Past” section about dogs being recruited for the war effort. It was scary and admirable.

I was so impressed by those dogs.
I’m incredibly annoyed that this book cover doesn’t match the other short story covers. Give us a blue spine, GIVE IT TO US.

[Meghan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Molly was annoying in this story.

[Katie Young · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Peek into the Past about military dogs is great, but Molly is giving Felicity and Kit a run for their money in the brattiest American girl competition. I had more patience for the other two . . . And may have been more similar to Molly in my youth. #theguiltytakeththetruthtobewhatnow?

[Amanda Novak]

A cute short story about Molly and her dog Bennett. I really liked at the end there was a section about how dogs played a valuable role in the war effort. Also includes a recipe for dog treats!

Personal note: received as a gift from Joe for my birthday

[Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sweet story with a good lesson.

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

Once again, I was completely blown away by the "looking back" section at the end. I'm fascinated by how they used dogs during WWII!

[Isabella DiGiacomo · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5

[Ian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall enjoyed. Molly can be a little bratty or annoying at times but it is somewhat understandable.

[Shayla Salazar · Rating 3 out of 5]

Such a cute quick read! I didn’t know dogs were such a big help during WW2

[Bulk Reviews · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s nice that Bennett was included in the short stories, because the main series completely forgets about him. I was kind of expecting them to give up the dog in the end, because he was absent in Changes for Molly. (And now that I think about it, I hope that Emily’s aunt was okay with the whole new puppy thing, since Emily is now gone and I assume Yank went with her.)

Molly is super possessive of her new puppy and won’t let Ricky help out. This story was realistic in showing how difficult it is for children to suddenly share and care for an animal, but there was surprisingly little parental interference. Doesn’t Mrs. McIntire take care of Bennett at all? Does she leave the responsibility entirely to her sometimes irresponsible ten year-old?

Ricky comes across as the parent here more than anyone else, as he proves himself to be a good dog owner and is the one to teach Molly a lesson in the end. I do think this could have been resolved earlier if Mrs. McIntire had simply laid some ground rules for Bennett when they first got him, though.

[Bree · Rating 5 out of 5]

This review is from the perspective of a mother. I am reading the books to decided when they are age appropriate for my daughter.

A very realistic portrayal of Molly's adapting to owning her puppy Bennett, which I think was a great idea after Bennett barely gets mentioned after the birthday book.

Molly struggles with understanding what a puppy needs, treating him more like a baby doll, and suffers realistic 9 year old jealousy when she thinks that Bennett is getting too attached to Ricky, her brother.

I think this is one of the best AG books, hands down, for any little girl to read, especially ones thinking about getting dogs!

[Katt Hansen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Molly's insistence that she be the only one to care for her new puppy has disastrous consequences.

While I understand the emotion behind this story, the troubles with the puppy seem almost TOO farfetched, the destruction too much to be believable (if she was just downstairs having dinner while the puppy was in her room destroying everything I have to wonder first how long dinner was and second why no one heard anything thumping or crashing...?)

These stories irritate me as they really don't seem to take into account any coherent timeline. On the other hand, what pulled this up to three stars was the genuine relationship with her brother throughout the book.

[James Crawford · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is another in the American Girls Short Stories series of books. Molly has been given a puppy and she likes it, but her brother also seems to like the puppy and this makes Molly jealous.

She decides to take over the care of the puppy by herself, but things go very wrong as she finds out it's more than she can handle.

The historical section includes information on how dogs were used in World War II in a rather wide variety of jobs. Finally, there's a short section on how to make doggie treats.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think this book will show that having a puppy can be a lot of work. I could see why Molly would want to keep her puppy to herself, but I also saw the point of view from her brother's side. I might recommend if you were already a fan of the Molly series.

*Taken from my book reviews blog: http://reviewsatmse.blogspot.com/2009...

[Svetlana · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book

[Macy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really cute AG book. I could relate to how Molly wanted to keep Bennett all to herself, that's exactly how I use act about my dog :)

[Marya · Rating 3 out of 5]

Simple, but reasonable.

[Bailey Marissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

As others have pointed out, the end history part is the best.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Molly learns how to let her brother help with her new dog

[Mary Combs]

This book follows the main character (Molly)through her experience of having a dog. The book shows how she wanted so badly for the dog to only be with her but after destroying the maid garden she realizes she need to let her brother help.

This would be a great book to transition readers from picture books to chapter books. The story uses something almost every girls loves (puppies) to teach Molly the lesson of sharing. This book not only teaches the lesson of sharing, but also has information about the different ways dogs were used in the 1940's.

The few illustrations in this added greatly to the story. The illustrations gave the reader a better example of Molly's mood, because of her facial expression. The illustrations also gave the reader a good example of what houses looked in the 1940's.

I would recommend this book to 3rd grade readers.