Pride Puppy!

by Robin Stevenson, Julie McLaughlin (Illustrator)

A young child and their family are having a wonderful time together celebrating Pride Day—meeting up with Grandma, making new friends and eating ice cream. But then something terrible happens: their dog gets lost in the parade! Luckily, there are lots of people around to help reunite the pup with his family.

This rhyming alphabet book tells a lively story, with rich, colorful illustrations that will have readers poring over every detail as they spot items starting with each of the letters of the alphabet. An affirming and inclusive book that offers a joyful glimpse of a Pride parade and the vibrant community that celebrates this day each year.

Genres: Picture Books, LGBT, Childrens, Dogs, Queer, Family, Fiction

32 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2021

About the author

Robin Stevenson is the award winning author of over thirty books of fiction and non-fiction for kids and teens. Her books have received starred reviews and have won the Silver Birch Award, the Sheila A. Egoff award and a Stonewall Honor, and been finalists for the Governor General’s Literary Awards, the Lambda Literary Awards, and many reader’s choice awards. Robin was the Book and Periodical Council of Canada’s Champion of Free Expression for 2022, and received the Lieutenant Governor's Award for Literary Excellence in 2023. She lives on the west coast of Canada.

Reviews

[Trio · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pride Puppy

Aimed at children from 3-5 years old, Robin Stevenson’s Pride Puppy is a lively tale. With bright, vibrant illustrations by Julie McLaughlin, this book will easily appeal to kids of every age.

An LGBTQ inclusive tale, I especially appreciate the wide variety of shapes, sizes, and colors of the folks in the story. The background is filled with fetching images, and the people are adorned in festive clothing and appealing tattoos.

What a wonderful and subtle way to add messages of inclusivity at story time.

thanks to Orca Book Publishers, via Net Galley, for the purpose of my honest review

[Ricky Rodriguez · Rating 5 out of 5]

This LGBTQ+ inclusive picture book was refreshing to read. I believe that having the queer community as the center of the story was unique. The illustrations were bright and colorful and busy. I valued the search and find word list at the end of the book.


ARC provided to me by Orca Book Publishers, via Net Galley, in exchange for an honest review.

#PridePuppy #NetGalley #ownvoices

[Gina · Rating 4 out of 5]

P is for "Pride Puppy!" Written by Robin Stevenson and illustrated by Julie McLaughlin, this rhyming alphabet book is a rollicking run through a day at a Pride Parade. A family celebrating Pride Day at the parade loses and eventually finds their dog, encountering many different people and activities.

The blurb included in the ARC describes the illustrations as "busy, bright, and dynamic," and they certainly are. The artistic style will appeal to young children, as will the rhyming cadence. The book is decidedly queer-centric, and the blurb also states that the family is purposely non-gendered.

This is a great introduction for young readers to the LGBTQ+ community, and I recommend it.

I received an advance copy from NetGalley and Orca Book Publishers in exchange for my honest review.

[CaseyTheCanadianLesbrarian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely perfect!

[Manybooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

First and foremost and before my actual review, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada children's author Robin Stevenson has actually and sadly been facing and receiving serious death threats after her 2021 LGBTQ+ alphabet book Pride Puppy! (which tells the sweet and fun story of a puppy kind of deliberately getting themselves lost during a Pride Parade) became embroiled in a U.S. Supreme Court challenge (and well, in my not at all humble opinion, publicly made and uttered death threats via letters, emails, hateful phone calls and the like should absolutely and totally NOT EVER be and represent protected so-called freedom of speech and should thus result in serious legal consequences, both financial and criminal for ANYONE making them and with no exceptions or exemptions either, and yes, this also needs to include politicians, soldiers, teachers, lawmakers and the like). But honestly, this horrifying and totally fucked up scenario (and I am not sorry at all for being crass here) just shows how ignorant, depraved and downright satanically evil ALL book banners and ALL extremist homophobes (basically anyone who strives to impose their vehement anti LGBTQ+ and anti trans philosophy and sentiment on everyone else, and this of course also includes colleges, schools and libraries) obviously are (but then again, I also think and strongly believe that the most radical and the most vehement homophobes out there are likely so extreme and so ridiculously nasty because they are for one horrid little yellow-bellied cowards with dreams and illusions of dictatorial grandeur and for two most probably also have some serious and dangerous mental health issues with regard to their own sexual and gender identities and are thus spewing, threatening and freaking out at all and sundry because of their own self hatred, low self esteem etc.).

Furthermore, and up yours, book banning morons and lowlifes, I actually only decided to purchase a copy of Pride Puppy! (and to thus also make sure that author Robin Stevenson and illustrator Julie McLaughlin receive their deserved royalties) because your very public hatred, your attempts at banning and restricting Pride Puppy! and also your utterly putrid death threats makes me absolutely want to read and to own Pride Puppy! and to also all encompassingly and unilaterally support Stevenson and McLaughlin, so guess what, book banners or potential book banners, hate mongers and groups like Moms for (Dis)Liberty et al, you have failed pretty hugely miserably and have also made Pride Puppy! something for me to absolutely support, to buy, to enjoy and equally to consistently introduce to the intended audience (to young children from about the age of three to seven or so) with absolute joy and total and complete justification in every conceivable way.

And Pride Puppy! starts with both Robin Stevenson's simple but engaging letters of the alphabet text (from A to Z) and Julie McLaughlin's brightly colourful, full of movement, visual joy, emotion and delightfully diverse (regarding ethnicity, gender, sexuality, physical ability, age, religious backgrounds etc.) accompanying artwork showing a family (two mothers and two young children) getting ready for Pride, starting their day with rainbow pancakes, getting dressed in all of their festive, brightly hued parade clothing, and with their puppy, with their dog wearing a rainbow-coloured bandana with one ear sticking straight up and the other flopping over, and Pride Puppy! clearly and joyfully both verbally and visually demonstrating that the Pride Parade is obviously a fantastic day, that everyone is in the mood to celebrate, including the excitable puppy who inevitably gets loose to delightfully run amok through the festivities. So as the dog runs through the parade and other events of the day, readers and listeners of Pride Puppy! get to witness all sorts of fun and frivolity (signs with delightfully inclusive messages, including one saying in rainbow colours Bienvenue which means Welcome in French and thus showing that Canada is bilingual, people dancing and singing, colourful parade floats, drag queen performances) and that along the way, that throughout Pride Puppy! and although the family is shown by Stevenson and McLaughlin as certainly having fun, as enjoying their Pride Parade, everyone also keeps searching for the escaped and lost puppy, but that the family's dog is obviously much more interested in the sights and smells all around than getting back on a leash, that they are also proudly and with very much personal enjoyment doing a bit of parading.

And yes, even though Pride Puppy!'s alphabet book format is rather standard in set-up and as such a pretty traditional abecedarian in many ways, Robin Stevenson's words and Julie McLaughlin's art do delightfully and wonderfully present a rich narrational and illustrative portrait of absolute diversity and total inclusion (and delightfully focused around a curious and energetic dog who just wants to experience everything and thus slips off their leash). Engaging, fun and with the search and find alphabetical word list at the back of Pride Puppy! being the icing on the cake for me, both my inner child and my adult reading self are rating Pride Puppy! with solidly five stars (and also highly recommended) for the combination of Stevenson's text and Maclaughlin's illustrations (but indeed, that part of the reason why for adult me Pride Puppy is five and not four stars is that I am so so so angry at the animosity and death threats Robin Stevenson is currently getting that for me a five star rating for Pride Puppy will or should hopefully mitigate some of the undeserved and vile nastiness Stevenson is experiencing).

[Kristi · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is inappropriate especially at its target age range of 3-5 years old these images are highly disturbing and inappropriate even for adults parents avoid this book you will be saving your kids a lot of trauma and nightmares by avoiding it

[Hasan Namir · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing book ! Read it to our son Malek who absolutely loved it ! Beautiful writing, gorgeous colourful illustrations ! Can’t recommend it enough !!!

[Rainbow Reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

Robin Stevenson is a precious LGBTQ+ rhyming alphabet picture book. Unlike most alphabet books, Pride Puppy is not just a collection of words starting with every letter of the alphabet, but a story featuring a family as they attend a Pride parade.

Our story starts with the family waking up and preparing for their big day—packing everyone in the car, including their pup with a cute little rainbow bandana. But during the festivities, there’s an accident and their puppy gets lost, making a big mess of things as everyone tries to catch him. I won’t spoil the ending, but I’ll just say that by the time they get to Z, young readers will be pleased.

I absolutely LOVED the representation in this book. The illustrations have rainbow flags, trans flags, bi flags, two spirit flags, and more. We see folks with a wide range of ages, abilities, races, and genders all celebrating together. There is even representation for colored hair and tattoos! The level of detail and inclusion is absolutely lovely to see, and all the fun bright colors are just icing on the cake.

As someone who is bi, seeing that flag meant the world to me. I have to admit, this is the first time I remember seeing bisexuality specifically represented in children’s literature. I don’t have the words to describe how much it means to me to point to that flag while reading this book with my son and proudly tell him what it means.

Robin Stevenson is an award-winning author of over twenty-five books based in Victoria, Canada. Please visit her website at robinstevenson.com to learn more about her and her work.

Julie McLaughlin is an award-winning freelance illustrator based in Vancouver Island, Canada. To learn more about her and her work, please visit her website at whatwouldjuliedraw.com.

I’m so happy to see more books centering the queer community being published today. I want to thank Orca Book Publishers for sending me a copy of this wonderful book. Now I’m going to cry tears of joy because I get to take my son to his first pride parade this year and I have the perfect book to prepare him for it.

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[Lyzz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Title: Pride Puppy
Author: Robin Stevenson
Illustrator: Julie McLaughlin
Genre: Children’s Book
Pages: 24
Publication Date: 5/11/2021

I don’t normally review children’s books but the cover of this one caught my eye. I’m a sucker for a rainbow! This book is targeted at children between 3 and 5. The basic premise is that a family goes to a Pride Parade. Their puppy gets separated from them and sees all the different groups at the parade. It is an alphabet book.

I absolutely loved this book. I am planning to give it to every small person in my life and any “future” small people. The illustrations are so colorful, captivating, and inclusive. The book also includes a find the object for each letter for more fun.

I also feel like this book is age-appropriate. The gender of the parents is not discussed nor is sexuality – it is just presented as-is. The book focuses on a family going to a parade and the dog gets lost. Parents may recognize the various Pride flags and groups at the parade – but the book is not about them and does not dive into those issues.

I would highly recommend buying this for any small people in your life that are between 3-5 or to expecting parents! It’s a beautiful book.

ARC provided to me by Orca Book Publishers, via Net Galley, in exchange for an honest review.

#PridePuppy #NetGalley #ownvoices

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

One family goes to a Pride Parade and they seemingly lose their dog at the event. Can they find their four-legged friend before they miss all of the festivities of the local PRIDE event?

Told through A-B-C's, this book showcases LGBTQIA+ Diversity in the biggest way possible. Every possible age, gender identity, gender expression, ability, sexuality and race are BEAUTIFULLY showcased in Julie McLaughlin's illustrations.
The other cool part about this book, in addition to being about A-B-C's, it showcases off LGBTQIA+ history in a very honest, realistic and positive way. The other neat part about this book is that it is a search and find on each page as well. This is a read-again and again book, great for Storytime, Alphabet practice and search and find, all rolled into one.

BRAVO to #OWNVoices and award-winning author, Robin Stevenson, for bringing such a fitting fun picture book to life. Happy Pride Month ALL!

[Peacegal · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars--So colorful! The ideal audience will be kids who are gearing up to attend a Pride event with their families, as this fun ABC book takes place at a festive Pride parade. I liked that so much diversity was shown within the audience--there's someone just about everyone can relate to. I felt a little nervous for the "Pride Puppy" who breaks away from her family and goes running through the event in a panic. Perhaps this will be a lesson demonstrated for dog-owning families not to allow kids to be on leash duty, especially in a crowded, unfamiliar area.

[Steff Fox · Rating 5 out of 5]

| Read on Reader Fox |


W for wags and wide smiles all around.

When I first picked up Robin Stevenson and illustrator Julie McLaughlin's Pride Puppy, I admittedly wasn't expecting an alphabet book. I was, however, very excited for the premise. Basically, the family puppy escapes while they're out for Pride and everyone around does their best to help him find his way home. Honestly, this is a beautiful book on that theme alone.

It Gets Better

I loved every second of Pride Puppy! From the diverse illustrations to the masterful and lyrical language. You can almost hear the song of it all as you're reading. Robin Stevenson definitely knew what she was doing with this book. I'll be honest, I can't think of a single thing to criticize about it. I just loved this book, plain and simple.

The characters have personality and emotions all throughout. You get a genuine story from start to finish. It's a fun read. And of course, there are the clear emotional moments in the background that touch on what it's like to lose your dog. But it didn't ever really take away from the excitement of the book. I think, as readers, you know without a doubt that those tears are going to disappear soon as pup is sure to be found.

And then there's that word list search at the end, basically sending you back through the book once again to find all the illustrations you, no doubt, missed in your first read. It starts with A, listing things like alligator (a toy you can find on the A page). This was such a simple and brilliant thing to include. I'm honestly just in awe.

Puppy!

And oh my goodness, that artwork. It was so beautiful, so colorful, so exciting! I don't think you could really turn a single page without your eyes being drawn to something utterly dazzling. I think the colors are what shines the most, of course. For children's books, colors are so important. Those are the things that are going to keep the littles engaged with a book. I don't think anyone will have trouble introducing this one to their kids.

The puppy is adorable, the characters are all so incredibly unique. I mentioned above that they all very clearly have personality and a lot of that is due to the exquisite artwork. I mean, this is an alphabet book and there's only so much that's told through the alphabet. You experience so much more when you include the artwork. Of course, I don't think the artwork would be as impactful without the language, either.

This story just flows so well together.

Pride

I think it's safe to say that this puppy has pride. How about you?

I was provided a free copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

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[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute. Colorful. Pride in the background on every page. An alphabet book for kids, with lots of objects on each page that start with that letter. LGBTQIA flags of all colors scattered throughout the book. Very friendly format and easy to read.

[Dee Dee G · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really like the way this was done.

[Kaitlin Lewis-Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

Super cute with fun illustrations and a seek and find!

[Tanya Boteju · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful, sweet, and joyful book for young and old. I find something new and wonderful in it every time I read it. My partner’s gr. 1s LOVE it. So colourful and loving. Highly recommend.

[Ashley · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great rhyming adventure through the alphabet, Pride edition! Loved that kids could try to find things on the page that also started with that letter of the alphabet (with a list in the back for them to check). Loved how effortlessly diverse it was. Really felt like it reflected the community and the celebrations I have been to in Vancouver. Would be a really great one for families to read before going to the parade or the Dyke March or the Trans March. So happy this exists. I can imagine a zillion people I want to give this book to. I think it could also be a good one for Drag Queen storytime or any storytime that happens in any of the Pride months. Alphabet books are a little long (and kids won't be able to do the search for other words starting with that letter), so I would do it when there is a lot of attention and a long amount of time left (good first book).

Highly recommended for any age that's yet to master and move on from reciting the alphabet.

[Neha Thakkar · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is so cute and so colorful! It is an ABC book that doesn’t actually talk about pride, but simply family and community. I feel like it’d be a great conversation starter and temp taker of sorts (if kids have Qs about the flags/rainbows/signs, great, if not, also good!). It also has this added layer of a search and find element, where kids can find items that start with the letter of each page. Love this one!

[Blane · Rating 5 out of 5]

A 'Pride'-oriented alphabet book aimed at the 3-5 years old set. A family's beloved dog unexpectedly gets loose at a pride event, leading to colorful pages of illustrations (and a fun chase) that encourage kids to find letter-related objects on each page. Spoiler alert: The family dog is reunited by the end of the day. This book has, of course, been banned in some quarters because, well, 'Pride' and general inclusion.

[Kyleigh Wegener · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the book, but I feel there was a missed opportunity to write an ABC book that was more LGBTQ+. While the illustrations were full of pride, the actual letters were just normal everyday examples. If the pictures weren’t specifically inclusive, this could have been just another ABCs book.

[Meg · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really cute search and find concept, but I wish there was aro/ace rep and a flag glossary or recommended reading at the end.

[Becket · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quite possibly the most adorable thing I've ever read in my queer life. Time to read it to every toddler I know!

[Mark Robison · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got this because I'd heard it was part of a Supreme Court case on whether parents could be forced to let their children attend classes where it was used. (The school had gotten rid of the "opt out" option because so many parents had opted for it — a sure sign of a district not in touch with its community.)

I heard a justice objected to someone wearing "leather" at a pride parade. I had to search for it. It's a woman. She is on a motorcycle, but it's tan with fringe. I guess she's wearing riding leathers but, again, she's on a motorcycle. Not menacing, not sexualized.

It's a utopian vision for certain lefties in cities like Portland, little different to me than a picture book aimed at, say, the Amish. If you're down, it's sweet. If not, it'll seem strange and not for you or your family.

There are food trucks and everyone has random tattoos on calves, thighs and arms. The "plot" involves a little girl, her puppy and her two mommies going to a pride parade. If that triggers you, don't read it. I personally found the pages so colorful and filled with vibrant activity and little curiosities in the backgrounds, that it's fun. Not for everyone, but fun. I could see reading it with a wee one.

[Shoshanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute!

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

ABC, pride, fun search and find

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good little alphabet book for kids, but the illustrations are the big winner in this one! Inclusive and exciting and fun!

[Shannon · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my favorite book.

[Grunge SeaBunny · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amazing

[Courtney H · Rating 4 out of 5]

I disagree that X is for exhausted, but that’s the only thing I disagree with. 🏳️‍🌈