What an adorable puppy! Children—and their parents—will adore the images in Puppy Pete’s Imaginary Jungle. A crocheted puppy in a crocheted room with windows, wallpaper, drapes, and furniture all crotcheted with wool. Author Rachel Hilz has created an imaginative book encouraging children to be imaginative. A rainy day indoors doesn’t have to be boring—pretend you’re outdoors. Puppy Pete takes us on an original, whimsical journey into the jungle with waterfalls, quicksand, and a black panther—without leaving the living room. I encourage teachers to get this book to share with students or parents to include this book filled with imaginative possibilities. Rachel Hilz is an experienced crocheter who created all the images in this full-color children’s picture book. Children will like the thought bubbles and the descriptive words like slip, slide, squish.

I love books that encourage interactivity and using your imagination. After reading Puppy Pete’s Imaginary Jungle, you’ll want to imagine your living room as a jungle. What will your sofa become? Author Rachel Hilz encourages us to imagine a lamp as a tree and a rug as quicksand or a river. Imaginative play can be done alone, with a friend, or with a parent. Will you have to swim across a river or crawl under a table to get into the cave? This book also promotes physical activity without even realizing it. I like the link at the back of the book to get a free pattern to crochet your own puppy to encourage children to crochet and create wonderful adventures with a crocheted pet. Good story + creative images + interactivity + crafts = successful book.

Puppy Pete is bored. It’s raining outside and he has nothing to do. Or so he thinks. Then he allows his imagination to take root and everything in his living room becomes part of a jungle. Even the table he imagines becomes a cave and the curtains and window (with raindrops falling outside) become a gushing waterfall. And Puppy Pete becomes a lion. He has a vivid imagination and he allows his mind to create a jungle adventure complete with sinking mud and a wild cat.

Rachel Hilz’s picture book story, Puppy Pete’s Imaginary Jungle (Crochet Me a Story), is a clever way to introduce young readers to imaginary adventures. Using a crocheted puppy, Puppy Pete, and a room full of crocheted items (furniture, curtains, rugs, you name it), the imagination that takes off in Puppy Pete’s mind is much like the many stitches used to create each item, including Puppy Pete. Young readers will want to have their own Puppy Pete after reading this story (the pattern is available with a link provided at the end of the book) and they’ll want to have their own Puppy Pete create his own adventures.

Crochet lovers and young readers will love Puppy Pete’s imaginary adventures. Told in simple language and with bright, colorful photographs depicting Puppy Pete in his crocheted environment, this story will appeal to very young readers and those just learning to read. The story provides a good incentive for young people to be both imaginative and symbolic in their play. Like Puppy Pete, anyone can imagine being a lion in a jungle.