CAPTAIN PUG

Pug and Lady Miranda have a seafaring adventure…in a manner of speaking.

Lady Miranda, who lives at No. 10, The Crescent, has a birthday party to attend at the boating lake according to Wendy, the housekeeper. Lady Miranda decides that Pug will attend in a captain’s uniform; though Pug would rather stay home and eat jam tarts, he wants to please Lady Miranda. Running Footman Will and Running Footman Liam, dressed in their old-fashioned costumes, carry Lady Miranda and Capt. Pug to the lake in a sedan chair. Due to an enticing picnic basket that harbors the possibility of more jam tarts, Capt. Pug finds himself separated from Lady Miranda. He formulates a brilliant plan to reunite with her: become such a famous sea captain that she’ll hear about him and find him. But first he must overcome his fear of water! James’ ostentatiously English debut and series starter offers likable characters in sweet, devoted, and clueless Pug and his privileged young white mistress (no parents in evidence here); their silly, simple adventure is sure to please young Anglophiles (and pugophiles). French illustrator Ceulemans’ plentiful, Eloise-esque, two-color illustrations are expressive and endearing.

Just the ticket for children transitioning to chapters.