The copyright page of The Poky Little Puppy by Janette Sebring Lowrey (1942) states that the book I own is "A Commemorative Facsimile Edition Published on the Occasion of the 50th Anniversary of Little Golden Books." The copyright was renewed in 1969, so perhaps this is also the date for Gustaf Tenggren's illustrations. There's no date for this printing.
Also on the copyright page "The Little Golden Books are Prepared under the Supervision of Mary Reed, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Education, Teachers College, Columbia University."
The story has 38 pages. Five puppies dig a hole under a fence and go for a walk three times. Three times one of the puppies lags behind. Three times the other four search for this poky puppy. They see things in the world beyond their back yard. They're punished when they get home; they don't get dessert after dinner. There's a plot twist in the final few pages that relieves the monotonous repetition. Some of the illustrations are in color. Some are in black and white. It's a cute story that very young children may memorize and "read" aloud with whomever reads the story to them.
