Five little puppies dug a hole under the fence and went for a walk in the wide, wide, world. Through the meadow they went, down the road, over the bridge, across the green grass, and up the hill, one after the other. And when they got to the top of the hill, they counted themselves: one, two three, four. One little puppy wasn’t there. “Now where in the world is that poky little puppy” they wondered. For he certainly wasn’t on top of the hill. He wasn’t going down the other side. The only thing they could see going down was a fuzzy caterpillar. He wasn’t coming up the other side. The only thing they could see coming up was a quick green lizard. But when they looked down at the grassy place near the bottom of the hill, there he was, running round and round, his nose to the ground. “What is he doing?” the four little puppies asked one another. And down they went to see, roly–poly, pell-mell, tumble-bumble, till they came to the green grass; and there they stopped short. "What in the world are you doing?” they asked. “I smell something!” said the poky little puppy. Then the four little puppies began to sniff, and they smelled it, too. “Rice pudding!” they said. And home they went as fast as they could go, over the bridge, up the road, through the meadow, and under the fence. And there, sure enough, was dinner waiting for them, with the rice pudding for dessert. But their mother was greatly displeased. “So you’re the little puppies who dig holes under fences” she said. “No rice pudding tonight.” And she made them go straight to bed. But the poky little puppy came home after everyone was sound asleep. He ate up the rice pudding and crawled into bed as happy as a lark. The next morning someone filled the hole and put up a sign. The sign said: DON’T EVER DIG HOLES UNDER THIS FENCE AGAIN! BUT..... The five little puppies dug a hole under the fence, just the same, and went for a walk in the wide, wide world. Through the meadow they went, down the road, over the bridge, across the green grass, and up the hill, two and two. And when they got to the top of the hill, they counted themselves: one , two, three, four. One little puppy wasn’t there. “Now where in the world is that Poky little puppy?” they wondered. For he certainly wasn’t on top of the hill. He wasn’t going down the other side. The only thing they could see going down was a big black spider. He wasn’t coming up this side. The only thing they could see coming up was a brown hop-toad. But when they looked down at the grassy place near the bottom of the hill, there was the poky little puppy, sitting still as a stone, with his head on one side and his ears cocked up. “What is he doing” the four little puppies asked one another. And down they went to see, roly –poly, pell-mell, tumble-bumble, till they came to the green grass; and there they stopped short. “What is the world are you doing?” the four little puppies asked. I hear something!” said the poky little puppy. The four little puppies listened and they could hear it, too, “Chocolate custard!” they cried. “Someone is spooning it into our bowls!” And home they went as fast as they could go, over the bridge, up the road, through the meadow, and under the fence. And there, sure enough, was dinner waiting for them, with the chocolate custard for dessert. But their mother was greatly displeased. “So you’re the little puppies who dig holes under fences” she said. “No chocolate custard tonight.” And she made them go straight to bed. But the poky little puppy came home after everyone was sound asleep and he ate up the chocolate custard and crawled into bed as happy as a lark. The next morning someone filled the hole and put up a sign. The sign said: DON’T EVER DIG HOLES UNDER THIS FENCE AGAIN! BUT..... In spite of that, the five little puppies dug a hole under the fence, just the same, and went for a walk in the wide, wide world. Through the meadow they went, down the road, over the bridge, across the green grass, and up the hill, two and two. And when they got to the top of the hill, they counted themselves: one, two, three, four. One little puppy wasn’t there. “Now where in the world is that Poky little puppy?” they wondered. For he certainly wasn’t on top of the hill. He wasn’t going down the other side. The only thing they could see going down was a little green, grass snake. He wasn’t coming up this side. The only thing they could see coming up was a big grasshopper. But when they looked down at the grassy place near the bottom of the hill, there he was, looking hard at something in front of him. "What is he doing” the four little puppies asked one another. And down they went to see, roly–poly, pell-mell, tumble-bumble, till they came to the green grass; and there they stopped short. “What is the world are you doing?” the four little puppies asked. I see something!” said the poky little puppy. The four little puppies looked and they could see it, too. It was a ripe, red strawberry growing there in the grass. “Strawberry shortcake!” they cried. And home they went as fast as they could go, over the bridge, up the road, through the meadow, and under the fence. And there, sure enough, was dinner waiting for them, with the strawberry shortcake for dessert. But their mother said, “So you’re the little puppies who dig holes under fences” she said. “No strawberry shortcake for supper tonight!” And she made them go straight to bed. But the four little puppies waited till they thought she was asleep and then they slipped out and filled up the hole, and when they turned around there was their mother watching them. “What good little puppies!” she said. “Come have some strawberry shortcake!” And this time, when the poky little puppy got home, he had to squeeze in through a wide place in the fence. And there were his four brothers and sisters, licking the last crumbs from their sauce. “Dear me!” said his mother. “What a pity you’re so poky! Now the strawberry shortcake is all gone!” So poky little puppy had to go to bed without a single bite of shortcake, and he felt very sorry for himself. And the next morning someone had put up a sign that read: NO DESSERTS EVER UNLESS PUPPIES NEVER DIG HOLES UNDER THIS FENCE AGAIN!
Janette Lowrey The Poky Little Puppy, Golden Press, Western Publishing Co. 1942.