Jules, Penny & The Rooster

4.0

0.0 (0)

294 0

Write Review Add to favorites

Author(s)

Daniel Pinkwater

Publisher Name

Tachyon Publications

Genre(s)

Age Range

Release Date

April 01, 2025

ISBN13

978-1616964320

ISBN10 or ASIN

Jules McShultz was promised a dog. Supposedly, she’d get one once her family moved from the city to the suburbs. But then her parents decided it still wasn’t the right time.

So Jules does what any intelligent girl would do. Instead of sulking, she enters an essay contest and wins first prize: A purebred Collie. And no one―not even Jules’ parents―can resist Penny, who is clearly Jules’s perfect new canine pal.

Jules and Penny are ready to spend the summer exploring the woods by the house. But the woods are not at all what they seem to be. Magic and adventure await them just on the other side of an old stone wall.

Editor review

1 review

Blends modern and magic

January 26, 2025 (Updated: June 04, 2026)

Overall rating

4.0

Plot

4.0

Characters

4.0

Writing Style

4.0

Illustrations/Photos (if applicable)

N/A

Not your ordinary pet adoption story. Jules doesn't exactly expect to win the contest, and she certainly doesn't expect the prize puppy to talk. Jules and Penny immediately become fast friends and together they navigate strange events, quirky neighbors, and certainly much more than the average suburban summer.

Pick this up for quicky fun, bursting with details. As a fellow oboist, I found the elder sister particularly endearing. "When the player blows it'll make a good quack." - truer words never said, haha. Oboes and instruments come up later, alongside a brief discussion of Claude Debussy and other musicians, and a host of other topics.

The opening chapters have some particularly long paragraphs and descriptions, but push through and the dialogue quickly picks up after that, and once Penny arrives, the story is truly off and running. In fact, given the amount of dialogue and quick chapters, it makes for an entertaining read-aloud book.