A Review of 'Ginger Pye' by Eleanor Estes

"Meet the marcelous Pyes--

There is Mrs. Pye, the youngest mother in town; Mr. Pye, a famous bird man, who handles all the nation's important bird problems; Rachel Pye, who is so reasonable she can make unreasonable ideas sound like good ones; Jerry Pye, who know about rocks of all sorts and plans to grow up to be a rock man; Uncle Bennie, who is Jerry and Rachel's uncle-- even though he's only three years old.

Lastly is Ginger Pye, the "intellectual dog," who Jerry bought for a hard-earned dollar.  The most famous pup in all of Cranbury, Ginger knows tons of tricks, is as loyal as he is smart, and steals the hearts of everyone he meets... until someone steals him!"

This book has been on my shelf for ages and I have finally gotten around to reading it!

Ginger Pye has so many interesting anecdotes in it which makes this a lovely read.  I can't say that I was blown away by it, but there were a number of really adorable and funny parts that I will probably remember long after finishing this.  For example, when Ginger climbs the fire escape in an effort to find out where Jerry goes all day long, the perpendicular swimmer, dusting the pews...  They were small yet interesting details in the book that I just loved.

What I didn't like about this book was that everyone seemed so passive in their efforts to find Ginger after he went missing.  At first they had search parties, but then it got to a point where they'd just look a little bit if they were already going out.  When they went to knock on doors, they weren't very assertive at all.  When they were told to go away, they left.  They didn't ask questions.  Even if they had seen suspicious activity.

I guess I'm just disappointed that this book didn't have more action in it.  No chases, not a very dramatic find... I just wasn't blown away by that.

Overall, this book is good for elementary school kids and lovers of children's books and dogs.  Had I read this book when I was younger, I might have liked it a little more.

I give 'Ginger Pye':

Thanks for Reading!

--Jude