Puggleton Park (Puggleton Park #1)

Spoiled Pug Penelope loves going to Puggleton Park, a bustling recreational area in the center of Regency-era London where she plays fetch, picks bluebells, and wades in the brook before enjoying quiet time eating her special biscuit treats while her Lady indulges in her own favorite raspberry tarts. One day, when a particularly dreadful squirrel steals a tart, Penelope—who’s “manner was gentle, although she was rather untrained”—tears after it and gets lost in the vast park. For weeks she lives as a stray, admiring lavish balls from outside their doors and sleeping on a green peacoat until she meets the coat’s proprietor, widow Lady Diggleton, who takes Penelope home, determined to find her owner despite the disgust of her friend Lady Picklebottom, who believes “animals belong on a farm.” As Lady Diggleton searches for Penelope’s home, Penelope struggles to remember what her life looked like before, trains for polite society, and grows closer with Lady Diggleton. Naif-like illustrations by Peck (Green) breathe life into whimsical descriptions of animal adventures by Kizis (Please Don’t Read This Book) in this sweet story about friendship and finding one’s forever home. Human characters present as white. Ages 7–10. (Apr.)