Product Description

Pinkerton the dog is sent to obedience school but learns his commands wrong.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #436548 in Books
• Published on: 2002-05-13
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 32 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780803727229
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

From Publishers Weekly
In this series, a Great Dane consistently finds himself in humorous adventures such as flunking out of obedience school, getting disguised as a stegosaurus, behaving like a cat, and getting trapped in a hot air balloon. PW called the "action-filled, colorful pictures, as funny as the story." Ages 4-8.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Customer Reviews

Pinkerton books are great.
I can not believe the reviews I have read about this book! Pinkerton books are about the natural difficulties that all children run into as they cope with life. Trying to behave the way their parents want them to but not knowing for sure what that means is the main difficulty addressed in Pinkerton, Behave! If your child responded to the burglar with fear and is now afraid it is because you, the parent/adult, responded with fear and showed clearly to your child how much that upset you. Children learn by watching, listening, and immitating adults. When I was read this story as a child, the emphasis was on the funny side of Pinkerton just not understanding and how the people were able to use that misunderstanding to get Pinkerton to do what they needed him to do in an emergency. My daughter and all of the other children I have read this to (and believe me they are many) have laughed along and then learned that they can use what they do understand to learn about what they don't. They learned to ask questions to learn what they wanted to know from their parents. Stop being so scared of the world and start teaching about the world, including the dangers and how to cope with them. Your kids will thank you for being brave for them.

Classic example of not judging a book by its cover
It's unfair to give this book a bad rating just because it may be a little mature for a childrens' picture book. I first read this story a couple of years ago (I was 27) while browsing through the library. By the time I had finished with the same surprise ending that has everyone in an uproar, I was in tears. The whole point of the story is that Pinkerton's misbehaving turns out to be serendipitous in the end. Anyone who has ever owned a large-breed dog (particularly a Great Dane) will agree that it's often very difficult and tedious trying to break them of their inherently energetic nature and train them not to be destructive and hyperactive. Those condemning this book for the way it turns out are completely missing the point. It's a twist of irony that leads to the happy ending--the bad habits of which Pinkerton's owners were trying to break him are what keep them from being harmed in the robbery. They end up praising him for his inability to learn commands because it saves their lives. That's how great stories are written. So, all of you namby-pamby moms out there who think this is such a "terrible" book because of its "violent" content need to settle down. It's ignorant of you to dismiss this title on the grounds that it's inappropriate for childen. As parents, it's up to you to determine your child's rate of development and decide for each one when is the proper time for them to experience a story like this. If any of you have a problem reading this to your kids, then it's your own fault for not skimming it before selecting it, not the author's or publisher's. It takes all of three minutes for an adult to read this book, so I would think that you would invest that time if you suspect a story this "intense" is too advanced for your children. Great book! Excellent story for any dog lover. I bought it and I don't even have kids. I agree that it's not for all children, but that's a subjective opinion that can't be evaluated by a book review on a website.

Quite a surprise!
I went to the library with my 4 year old son and just grabbed the book. We have read Pinkerton stories and have always loved them and I didn't even look through the book or even much at the cover until that night when we settled in for night time stories. I then realized that there was a "robber" with a gun on the cover. I thought to myself, "How did I not see this before?" and by then it was too late. My son saw it and had a zillion questions so we read it. I was shocked by the content! We are very open with our son about anything he asks and I explained that yes, there are "robbers" and yes, people do get into dangerous situations like that. I felt very uncomfortable having to almost outright lie to him and tell him that, "No, noone will break into our house because we lock our doors, etc..." How else do you explain this to a 4 yo at bedtime?! We got through it and son loved the book. I thought it was very cute that Pinkerton was confused but could have done without the break in part. I feel it could have been as cute without that. Very irresponsible in a child's book, but I guess I learned a lesson to read the books before we check them out even when they are written by someone you consider "safe".