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Jules, Penny & the Rooster
Daniel Pinkwater
“Daniel Pinkwater is so obviously the funniest writer of children’s books that he should be made a Living National Treasure.” —Washington Post Book World
Internationally bestselling author Daniel Pinkwater (The Big Orange Splot) brings his zany wit and wisdom to the magical adventures of a clever girl and her brave dog. Told with warmth and wit, this is a delightful exploration of growing up, the power of family, and how sometimes the best things in life happen when you least expect them.
Internationally bestselling author Daniel Pinkwater (The Big Orange Splot) brings his zany wit and wisdom to the magical adventures of a clever girl and her brave dog. Told with warmth and wit, this is a delightful exploration of growing up, the power of family, and how sometimes the best things in life happen when you least expect them.
“Hilarious and surprising.” —Mel Gilden, author of The Fifth Grade Monster books,Dr. Big, and The Coincidence Couch
Jules McShultz was promised a dog. Supposedly, she’d get one once her family moved from the city to the suburbs. But then her parents decided it still wasn’t the right time.
So Jules does what any intelligent girl would do. Instead of sulking, she enters an essay contest and wins first prize: A purebred Collie. And no one—not even Jules’s parents—can resist Penny, who is Jules’s perfect new canine pal.
Jules and Penny are ready to spend the summer exploring the woods by the house. But the woods are not at all what they seem to be. Magic and adventure await them just on the other side of an old stone wall.
“A young girl named Jules wins a collie dog under mysterious circumstances. Things get stranger yet when her family moves to Bayberry Acres, a new development way out in the boonies. Jules and her dog, who she calls Penny, explore the nearby forest, which they soon learn is enchanted. Typically for Pinkwater, what follows is both hilarious and surprising. Surprising even though I have been a Pinkwater fan for decades. Jules, Penny & the Rooster did not disappoint. I had a great time reading it!”
—Mel Gilden, author of The Fifth Grade Monster books, Dr. Big, and The Coincidence Couch
“The main thing is, you don’t have to be a student of Medieval science to absorb the themes of transcendence and astral signposts provided in this great man’s work. Just read it like an eleven-year-old. In fact, that probably makes it better.”
—Green Man Review
“A pure delight. It might be illegal for Daniel Pinkwater to keep getting better with every book, but he’s done it again. This is his funniest, loveliest story yet. We are lucky to have him.”
—Christopher Farnsworth, author of Reunion
“‘We’re taking pie to a witch, now what could be more fun than that?,’ they ask in Jules, Penny & The Rooster, and the only possible answer is the entirety of Pinkwater’s book itself—girl adepts, telepathic dogs, largehearted aunts, dancing fauns, magic museums, characters named Hamantaschen, and all.”
—Mark London Williams, author of the Danger Boy series and Max Random and the Zombie 500
“Nobody can tell a story like Daniel Pinkwater. Nobody. His books are populated with the sweetest curmudgeons and the wisest children in all of kidlitdom. In Jules, Penny & the Rooster, a young girl recently relocated to the country, missing her city friends and family and jonesing for a dog, unexpectedly wins a rare, beautiful, and mysterious collie in an essay contest. Soon they are swept up in a magical quest involving the titular rooster, several old people, and a bunch of wild coincidences. As always, Pinkwater’s brand of gentle Yiddish-inflected humor pulls the reader along to a satisfying conclusion. With its perfect blend of fantasy and everyday wonders, Jules, Penny & the Rooster is a read-aloud/read-alone treasure sure to please kids and adults alike. Pinkwater fans will be squealing over this one.”
—Kathy Ceceri, STEAM author and homeschooling consultant
Daniel Pinkwater is the author and sometimes illustrator of more than eighty (and counting) wildly popular books, including The Hoboken Chicken Emergency, Lizard Music, Fat Men from Space, Crazy in Poughkeepsie, and the picture book The Big Orange Splot. Pinkwater has also contributed to the New York Times Magazine, OMNI, and many other fine periodicals. He has been a commentator on National Public Radio’s All Things Considered and appeared regularly on Weekend Edition. Pinkwater lives with several dogs and cats in a very old farmhouse on New York’s Hudson River.
Praise for Daniel Pinkwater
“Daniel Pinkwater is so obviously the funniest writer of children’s books that he should be made a Living National Treasure.”
—Washington Post Book World
“I do believe that Daniel Pinkwater is my favorite writer, living or dead.”
—Cory Doctorow
“Daniel Pinkwater is, in my opinion, not only one of the best YA writers ever, but also a life-changing force in the life of a reader.”
—Leah Schnelbach, Tor.com
“The most perfect manufacturer of weird and absurd stories this side of Karel Čapek (with whom he seems to share a thing for lizards) or maybe Douglas Adams (with whom he shares an interest in sardonic aliens and travel through spacetime).”
—Forward
“Daniel Pinkwater helped to shape me as a storyteller and his books have delighted generations of young readers. We’re so lucky to have him as a guide to all the realms of the beautifully weird and whimsical.”
—Charlie Jane Anders, author of The City in the Middle of the Night
Jules, Penny & the Rooster
Daniel Pinkwater
“Daniel Pinkwater is so obviously the funniest writer of children’s books that he should be made a Living National Treasure.”
—Washington Post Book World
Internationally bestselling author Daniel Pinkwater (The Big Orange Splot) brings his zany wit and wisdom to the magical adventures of a clever girl and her brave dog. Told with warmth and wit, this is a delightful exploration of growing up, the power of family, and how sometimes the best things in life happen when you least expect them.
Jules, Penny & the Rooster
by Daniel Pinkwater
ISBN: 978-1-61696-432-0 (print); 978-1-61696-433-7 (digital)
Published: 11 March 2025
Available Format(s): digital, trade paperback
Internationally bestselling author Daniel Pinkwater (The Big Orange Splot) brings his zany wit and wisdom to the magical adventures of a clever girl and her brave dog. Told with warmth and wit, this is a delightful exploration of growing up, the power of family, and how sometimes the best things in life happen when you least expect them.
“Hilarious and surprising.”
—Mel Gilden, author of The Fifth Grade Monster books, Dr. Big, and The Coincidence Couch
Jules McShultz was promised a dog. Supposedly, she’d get one once her family moved from the city to the suburbs. But then her parents decided it still wasn’t the right time.
So Jules does what any intelligent girl would do. Instead of sulking, she enters an essay contest and wins first prize: A purebred Collie. And no one—not even Jules’s parents—can resist Penny, who is Jules’s perfect new canine pal.
Jules and Penny are ready to spend the summer exploring the woods by the house. But the woods are not at all what they seem to be. Magic and adventure await them just on the other side of an old stone wall.
“A young girl named Jules wins a collie dog under mysterious circumstances. Things get stranger yet when her family moves to Bayberry Acres, a new development way out in the boonies. Jules and her dog, who she calls Penny, explore the nearby forest, which they soon learn is enchanted. Typically for Pinkwater, what follows is both hilarious and surprising. Surprising even though I have been a Pinkwater fan for decades. Jules, Penny & the Rooster did not disappoint. I had a great time reading it!”
—Mel Gilden, author of The Fifth Grade Monster books, Dr. Big, and The Coincidence Couch
“The main thing is, you don’t have to be a student of Medieval science to absorb the themes of transcendence and astral signposts provided in this great man’s work. Just read it like an eleven-year-old. In fact, that probably makes it better.”
—Green Man Review
“A pure delight. It might be illegal for Daniel Pinkwater to keep getting better with every book, but he’s done it again. This is his funniest, loveliest story yet. We are lucky to have him.”
—Christopher Farnsworth, author of Reunion
“‘We’re taking pie to a witch, now what could be more fun than that?,’ they ask in Jules, Penny & The Rooster, and the only possible answer is the entirety of Pinkwater’s book itself—girl adepts, telepathic dogs, largehearted aunts, dancing fauns, magic museums, characters named Hamantaschen, and all.”
—Mark London Williams, author of the Danger Boy series and Max Random and the Zombie 500
“Nobody can tell a story like Daniel Pinkwater. Nobody. His books are populated with the sweetest curmudgeons and the wisest children in all of kidlitdom. In Jules, Penny & the Rooster, a young girl recently relocated to the country, missing her city friends and family and jonesing for a dog, unexpectedly wins a rare, beautiful, and mysterious collie in an essay contest. Soon they are swept up in a magical quest involving the titular rooster, several old people, and a bunch of wild coincidences. As always, Pinkwater’s brand of gentle Yiddish-inflected humor pulls the reader along to a satisfying conclusion. With its perfect blend of fantasy and everyday wonders, Jules, Penny & the Rooster is a read-aloud/read-alone treasure sure to please kids and adults alike. Pinkwater fans will be squealing over this one.”
—Kathy Ceceri, STEAM author and homeschooling consultant
Praise for Daniel Pinkwater
“Daniel Pinkwater is so obviously the funniest writer of children’s books that he should be made a Living National Treasure.”
—Washington Post Book World
“I do believe that Daniel Pinkwater is my favorite writer, living or dead.”
—Cory Doctorow
“Daniel Pinkwater is, in my opinion, not only one of the best YA writers ever, but also a life-changing force in the life of a reader.”
—Leah Schnelbach, Tor.com
“The most perfect manufacturer of weird and absurd stories this side of Karel Čapek (with whom he seems to share a thing for lizards) or maybe Douglas Adams (with whom he shares an interest in sardonic aliens and travel through spacetime).”
—Forward
“Daniel Pinkwater helped to shape me as a storyteller and his books have delighted generations of young readers. We’re so lucky to have him as a guide to all the realms of the beautifully weird and whimsical.”
—Charlie Jane Anders, author of The City in the Middle of the Night
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