Book Review: "The Pug Who Wanted to Be a Unicorn"

By Bella Swift

I’ve read this one before, but I wanted to re-read it again so I could review it with fresh eyes! The plot of “The Pug Who Wanted to Be a Unicorn” is that Peggy the pug is abandoned at an animal shelter by her first owner, then she tries to be the best pug ever so the family fostering her will want to keep her. But things don’t go as planned. Will she finally find her forever home?

I love the Pug Who Wanted to Be A series. I don’t own all the books (yet), but the Unicorn one is the first one, followed by “The Pug Who Wanted To Be a Reindeer,” “The Pug Who Wanted to Be a Bunny,” “The Pug Who Wanted to Be a Pumpkin,” “The Pug Who Wanted to Be a Mermaid,” Wanted to Be a Star, Fairy, Elf, Bumblebee, Witch, and Christmas Unicorn. So eleven books total, and I own four of them. Not necessarily in order of which comes next in the series, but the stories are easily read independently of each other. While it does have a continuity, you don’t need to read them in order to understand later-published additions.

Now, this book is for five-year-olds to seven-year-olds, so it’s below middle grade but above first chapter books or easy reader books. There are some illustrations to accompany the text, but it’s not a picture book, either. So while I am 32 years old, I do still enjoy reading about Peggy. Everything is a big deal to a small puppy, but it’s conflicts are easily resolved, and Peggy does everything within her power to try to achieve her goals. It’s easy to get into the series if you like stories about dogs being dogs, and I would recommend reading it with your kids because after a long hard day at work, this Pug series lets you relax. Heck, I don’t even have kids, and I find them very relaxing to engage with even after a difficult day at work or at school or at applying to new jobs. I love this fictional pug so much! Definitely check it out.