Peter Puck and the Stolen Stanley Cup. Brian McFarlane. Illustrated by Geri Storey. Toronto, ON: Fenn/Tundra Books, 2015. 64 pp., hardcover & ebook, $12.99 (hc.). ISBN 978-1-77049-581-4 (hc.), ISBN 978-1-77049-582-1 (ebook). Grades 1-4 / Ages 6-9. Review by Laura Dick. * /4

excerpt:

Whack! Zap! Crunch!

Peter Puck was taking a pounding, but he didn't mind. He was right where he belonged, in the middle of one of the biggest hockey games of the year.

It was the sixth game of the Stanley Cup playoffs. The Metro City Scouts were playing the Winston Warriors in the Warriors' arena. With a victory tonight, the rough, tough home team could win the Stanley Cup.

Peter was the most famous puck in hockey, and he had been in plenty of playoff games. But he couldn't recall a more exciting series.

Sticks poked at Peter and smacked him. He bounced off skates, pads, and the boards. He was sent flying into the glass behind the nets with such speed that some fans screamed and ducked. A puck couldn't ask for more fun.

Brian McFarlane, of Hockey Night in Canada fame, is the author of this and more than 90 other books on hockey. This title was originally released in 1980, at the height of Peter Puck's popularity, and was reissued with a new illustrator on board in 2014. Peter Puck is a hockey puck shaped cartoon character who appeared on CBC television's Hockey Night in Canada many years ago as a way for the network to explain hockey rules to home viewers. I vividly remember watching hockey games with my father in the 1970's, waiting anxiously for the first period of the game to end and for Peter Puck to appear and explain to me what exactly was going on with the game.

     In this story, Peter solves the mystery of the stolen Stanley Cup. The cup is stolen the night before the big game. Peter, sleeping soundly in a freezer in the arena (pucks are always frozen just before games so that they are not too bouncy during the game), awakens to a discover the arena is on fire. Soon it becomes apparent that someone has broken into the arena and stolen the cup. Peter is on the case. Peter, a hockey puck. A four inch round hockey puck. Who talks. And solves mysteries. Willing suspension of disbelief figures prominently in this story.

     Although the hockey scenes may appeal to very young hockey fans who are just learning the fundamentals of the game, there is not much else to recommend about this title. The whole thing seems a bit dated, perhaps a reflection of the original publication date. The illustrations appear to be digitally produced and are typical cartoon type drawings the planes have smiles, the pucks have arms and bright colours dominate. There is nothing sophisticated or finessed about the illustrations.

     Because there is not much to offer or appeal to contemporary readers in this book, Peter Puck and the Stolen Stanley Cup receives a not recommended rating.

Not Recommended.

Laura Dick is trying to raise four teenagers while attempting to maintain her sanity. She escapes to work as a branch manager at a mid sized public library in Southwestern Ontario.

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