Pugs Cause Traffic Jams

A fun ode to dogs! This wonderfully, rhyming, chaotic tale is about a pug that chases a yellow butterfly as it flutters around town. On the inside cover, readers sneak a peek at the back end of a pug walking through an open fence-gate. The story begins with a little BIPOC girl trying to feed her dog, Kirby, only to discover he is missing. Unable to find him in their house, the little girl walks around town asking her fellow townsfolk for help. The little girl knows everyone by name and, interestingly, everyone in this town has a pet dog (each a unique dog breed). The text of the story is very simple and mainly highlights the different dog breeds and their unique characteristics. For example, “Golden retrievers are pleasers” and “Huskies are singers” and “Terriers have a lot to say.” The illustrations support the text well and emphasize the characteristics in bright, bold scenes.

The search for Kirby is described mainly through word bubbles during the interactions between the little girl and her townsfolk. Upon flipping the page, readers discover that Kirby is mindlessly chasing a yellow butterfly around town and unknowingly causing a traffic jam of various vehicles. The text on this page reads, “But pugs cause traffic jams.” The search continues, and the sequence repeats with the little girl asking three more dog owners for help followed by Kirby still chasing the yellow butterfly and causing an even bigger traffic jam. Younger readers will enjoy how the sequence repeats yet again and the traffic jam grows until finally it turns into a spectacle of chaotic delight. In the chaos, readers see Kirby the pug turn into a celebrity with townsfolks holding signs saying, “Pug 4 Prez”, and there is even a red carpet and paparazzi, or “pugarazzi” as the police dog thinks. The story ends with the little girl finding her pug, Kirby, and a fun street party being deemed worthy of a town holiday with a banner celebrating “Puppy Palooza.”

My favourite part of the book was the richly detailed illustrations and how each different dog breed had a perfectly paired owner with similar physical and/or personality characteristics. For example, on the page where readers learn that “Poodles are overachievers”, they see a copper haired girl (and her copper coloured poodle) building a rocket ship for the dog. I particularly enjoyed the illustration of the bulldog who is wearing a punk-inspired spike vest like his owner with both dog and human sporting a matching red mohawk hairstyle!