Two children receive a puppy who acts up but is too young for training school. A stranger tries to teach the children how to behave so as to help the puppy adjust to their home.

The concept of this book is a good one -- if you're going to wish for a pet, you should know how to take care of it when it arrives -- but the execution leaves something wanting. The children are just absolutely horrid and barely seem to learn their lesson about treating the puppy well. They spend more time arguing about the puppy's sex (which is pretty irrelevant) than anything else. The concept of a random stranger helping them is really bizarre, and it would have made more sense for their parent(s) to do so. The illustrations are okay if you like cartoonish style ones. ( )