By Donna L. Sadd
28 pages (ebook reviewed) – ages 3+
Published by Donna L. Sadd on January 8, 2012
A family adopts two little puppies, Zoe and Lucci. The family showers the poochies with hugs and kisses. They soon realize Lucci is not fond of being snuggled and kissed. They try even harder to show Lucci they love him, but it doesn’t work. The Poochie Lucci doesn’t want any smoochies! All the other dogs in the family love to be hugged and kissed, so why didn’t Lucci? Finally the family gives up trying to smooch the pooch and what they find is that Lucci just needed a little less fussing over him… SMOOCH! 😉
This is a cute story. I like the message about how different people…ERR, I mean dogs can show love and affection. Not all doggies like to be hugged and kissed a bunch but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t feel loved. It is a good message about everyone being different and it is OK to be that way. The story is told in kind of a prose that rhymes and is fun to read. The illustrations are made to look like a kids drew them and that went nicely with the story. At one point there were illustrations of kids (the author’s nieces and nephews) but the heads were actual pictures of the kids on cartoon bodies. It is a cute idea, but the quality of the photos took away from the illustration. I found an editing error in the text and the formatting for the book on the Kindle and Cloud Reader left some blank pages scattered in the book and that broke up the flow of the book. I think the book would make a nice bed-time story that teaches a good message.
Three out of five bookworms for the nice story “Lucci the No Smoochie Poochie”.
To learn more about Ms. Sadd and Lucci, please visit her blog by clicking HERE.
Categories: Age 1-5
Love the concept, Erik, and can so picture this pooch frustrated by too much physical affection, but I find the front cover looks a little amateurish.
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I did have problems with some of the formatting and illustrations but the story has a great message to it!
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Loved reading your honest and fair assessment, Erik. Too bad some of the illustrations and formatting errors took away from a potentially good idea.
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Thanks Ms. Rattigan! I am happy you like my review!
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I have a No Smoochie Kitty, lol. Good job, Erik. Cute story idea, Donna.
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Maybe a no Kissy Kitty? 😉
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Great review, Erik. It sounds like a sweet story and your experience with the illustration and formatting just proves how important it is to get the art as perfect as the story!
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I think art is very important especially in a PB! Thanks Ms. Newman!
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Very cute. I would say one of my kids is smoochie and the other, not so much. You are right. People and pups express affection in different ways.
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Thanks Ms. Larson! Should I guess which kid is smoochie? 😉
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I like this idea for a book. This is really a big issue for dogs! And I’m sure that the author used a dog to get the attention of kids, but it really is a frustrating problem for dogs! Who doesn’t want to hug and cuddle a cute little dog? And cute little kids. I personally can do without all the hugging, but have learned to tolerate it because I really like being with people, but people just don’t get it. Thanks for the review. And thanks for a good honest review!
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It must be hard to be a cute pooch Rhythm! Everyone must want to smooch you! 😉
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yes, I get that a lot! It’s a tough job, and I do what I have to do. Do you get the same thing as a kid?
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Sometimes… but I’m not a real smoochie kid… more of a hug kind of kid. 😉
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This is such a cute story, isn’t it? You did a great write-up of it, Erik. Happy New Year!
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Thank you Ms. Davidson! The story is a very nice one with a great message!
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It is so difficult to format these little books for kindle. What a shame about the error. Requires lots of knowledge in HTML…not something that authors know about usually. But it doesn’t seem to have spoiled your enjoyment!
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It did break up the flow of the book some. I have an older kindle, maybe that is a problem, but it also happened on the cloud. Thanks for your comment!
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Erik, thank you for taking the time to write an extremely honest and helpful review of LUCCI. I have been working with an illustrator to replace the photo heads of the children and will be revising the book. This is the first I’ve heard of any formatting issues, but I will look into correcting any errors promptly. Erik, thank you again for doing great work, and friends, your kind comments are greatly appreciated.
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Thank you for taking the time to comment Ms. Sadd! I think the story message is great – and who doesn’t like reading the words “Lucci smoochie poochie” out loud? I think the changes you are talking about will make your book even better! 😀
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I’ll send you a revised copy of the book as soon as it’s completed Erik. There was a lot of constructive criticism in the comments as well, and I took it all in. :0)
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Thanks! 😀
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I should read this book. A dog that doesn’t want to be hugged and kissed? OMGoodness – that is the exact polar opposite of me. Mom should write a story called Cupcake: The TOTALLY, COMPLETELY, RIDICULOUSLY ALMOST-TO-THE-POINT-OF-BEING-ANNOYING Smoochie Poochie.
Love and licks,
Cupcake
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I thought you looked like a smoochie poochie Cupcake! I bet your mom gives you lots of kisses and hugs!
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I like the idea of this book, Erik – you know you’ve always got me with a book about dogs 🙂 And it’s so true – dogs and people are different in how they like to give and receive affection and some just aren’t cuddlers 🙂
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Thanks Ms. Hill! I know you like a good dog story and I thought this one has a neat idea to it. 🙂
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Never nbeen a dog owner, but as we have dog-sat so many, I can attest to the difference in personalities too! I don’t care for the cover illo, and my guess is because someone TRIED to make it look like children’s art. But in my opinion, children’s art is some of the best there is, and there is NO imitating it! I’d like to read the story though – it does sound good!
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I never thought about that, but I think you are right – you can’t make kids drawings look like a kid did it! Maybe that’s why I didn’t think it was quite right. 🙂
Thanks Ms. Zoch!
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🙂
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Perfect lesson for everyone and I love that title :0) Thanks Erik!
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The title is great! It is the reason why I wanted to review it! 😉
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Nicely done, honest review that helped the author.
This is one reason why “negative” reviews should not be shunned by review sites.
You did a great job Erik. The story seems pretty good. I’ll give the author time to make the corrections she spoke of–thanks to you–and then check it out.
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The story has a great idea and I hope I let everyone know that. I try to tell what I really think about a book but also to be helpful. Thanks Ms. Morris!
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Great idea for a picture. Enjoyed your cute book review. My dog love hugs and smooches from me, but with my husband he prefers playing hard with his ball.
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I think it is a great idea for a story. My Dad doesn’t like dogie kisses either. 😉 Thank you Ms. Tilton!
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Hi there Erik. I like how candid you are in your reviews – so refreshing, but always tempered with grace and honesty. I’m afraid my kindle fire has been lying unused for months now. maybe in time id pick it up again. 🙂
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Thank you Ms. Bascal!
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