Yay for Vaycay!

Pug Pals #2

by Flora Ahn

A hilarious, highly illustrated chapter book series from talented author illustrator, Flora Ahn. The pugs are packing their bags!Sunny and Rosy's human is going on vacation and it's NO DOGS ALLOWED. But they don't mind -- they're headed to Grandma and Grandpa's house for unlimited snuggles and as many pug snacks as they can eat.But when a mystery animal destroys Grandma's garden, the pugs get blamed. It's all paws on deck to clear their names. If they don't, their pugtastic vacay will be ruined!

Genres: Animals, Childrens, Juvenile, Dogs

128 pages, Hardcover

Published January 29, 2019

About the author

Flora Ahn is an attorney by day and an author and illustrator by night. Her work includes A Brush with Magic (Quirk), A Spoonful of Time (Quirk), The Golden Orchard (Audible Original), a children's chapter book series, Pug Pals (Scholastic), as well as her popular blog, Bah Humpug. Raised in California by her Korean immigrant parents, Ahn lives in Virginia with her two pugs and practices law in DC. She is always looking for opportunities to further pursue her love of food, books, drawing, and writing, and is especially excited to find ways to combine them.

Reviews

[jv poore · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sunny and Rosy are a couple of content canines. They enjoy time with their human and time together. The pugs are particularly fond of their daily routine.

So, when their lady came home early and began packing, they were puzzled. When she put them in the car, they were not pleased.

But Sunny soon recognized the route to “Grandma and Grandpa”. She could not wait for Rosy to meet them!

Romping around Grandma’s garden was simply spectacular. Rosy and Sunny tuckered themselves out, then slept soundly in sun. When Sunny awoke, it felt like she was having a bad dream.

Angry Grandma glared at the pair and pointed to her half-eaten garden. Even though they didn’t do it, there will be no more gardening for them.

Unwilling to be punished for someone else’s crime, the pups decide to be dog detectives. They even include their new friend, the gopher. Can they catch the thief and prove their innocence to Grandma?

I loved Sunny and Rosy so much in Ms. Ahn’s Two’s a Crowd (Pug Pals #1), I immediately donated my copy to my favorite elementary classroom library. Students were fast fans, so I’ll follow up with my copy of Yay for Vacay (Pug Pals #2).

[Aimee Dars · Rating 5 out of 5]

In Vay for Vacy! pugs Sunny and Rosy stay at their grandma’s house while their human is out of town. They are enjoying lounging in the yard while grandma gardens, but when the vegetables are all stolen, grandma blames them and banishes from the garden. Sunny decides they need to solve this mystery and even remembers they have Sherlock and Holmes costumes from a past Halloween. Can they solve the crime before their human returns so they can get back in grandma’s good graces?

A beginning chapter book, Vay for Vacy! is the second book in Flora Ahn’s Pug Pal’s series. In the first book, Sunny met Rosy. Now, Sunny has grudgingly accepted little sister Rosy but is sometimes exasperated and impatient with her, often to comic effect.

Ahn’s line drawings are delightful and capture a wide range of expressions on her pugs which are amazingly realistic, as I know from recognizing them on my pups! She puts the dogs in several situations that require “costume changes” which are adorable, and the dogs even meet a new friend while solving the mystery.

A must for pug lovers, young and old alike, this book will also appeal to children who like cute mysteries to read by themselves or who who like to be read to.

You'll also want to check out the real Sunny and Rosy, plus Monkey, the newest grumble member, on Instagram!

...aka darzy... | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram

[Leslie Goddard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Totally adorable. Ahn has the perfect eye for both pugs and for sisters. The starring pugs in this book have the cutest adventures (the main plot is solving the mystery of the garden-produce thief, but they have equally cute fun floating around in a fountain, playing Twister and Battleship, and watching movies in their jammies.) Totally relatable for kids but also loads of fun for anyone who has dogs. Especially pugs.

[Christina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Once again, super cute and super fun!

[Joshua Glasgow · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh. 2.5 stars. I liked that the groundhog didn’t know he was the villain, and that he and the pugs remain friends. I also thought it was interesting that no humans appear in the book despite being major characters. Other than that, yeah: meh.

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

In this follow-up to the previous title featuring two adorable pugs, Sunny and Rosy, readers will follow them while they're on vacation. Their human companion can't take the dogs with her while she's away so they have to stay with her parents. The grandparents are glad to have the pugs with them, and they enjoy leisurely days in the sun and shade, noshing on whatever foods they want. But when Grandma's well-tended garden is wrecked, she blames the dogs for the mess. After all, they were the only ones in the garden. The pups decide to figure out who's to blame and redeem their reputations. Readers will get a kick out of the interactions between them and Clover, the groundhog who is the actual culprit, and how trusting the dogs are. They'll also enjoy the black and white illustrations and how everything is resolved so that Clover doesn't get in trouble and the three can remain friends but that Grandma knows the truth about what happened. The idea of two dogs growing their own garden and then preparing a gift basket of produce is just so absurd as to be charming. This one will appeal to young readers who will wish that they, too, had a pug of their own.

[zapkode · Rating 5 out of 5]

{My thoughts} – This is a really fun book series. I enjoyed this book as much as the first. Sunny and Rosy get to go on a trip to visit with their humans mom and dad for a couple of weeks.

While they are there they make a new friend Clover. However, they don’t realize that Clover is causing a lot of mischief in grandma’s garden. Sunny and Rosy are the one’s that end up being blamed for the disaster. That is until, they are able to convince Clover to clear their names. After that they all have a really nice visit.

This book is perfect for children that are beginning to read and have been reading for awhile. The illustrations and the text go together nicely. The story is easy to understand and fun to read. I really hope that there will be more books in the series in the future.

[Becky B · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sunny and Rosy's owner is going on vacation so they get to go stay with her parents. Grandma promises them a special barbecue if they are good outside. The pugs are good as gold, but someone has eaten huge swaths of Grandma's garden and she thinks it was them. Can they catch the culprit and clear their names?

A cute, light mystery with two mediocre, though well-meaning and definitely cute detectives. A fun little story with lots of great illustrations. I don't think real pugs are cute, but Ahn's illustrations of these two are. Hand this to dog lovers, kids just getting into mysteries, and readers ready to venture into chapter books.

[Deborah Horton Core · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute book with simple graphics that are easy to figure out. Great for reluctant readers and a great moral ending so a teaching tool again in that aspect. Could be used in upper grades to encourage creativity by enticing students to draw and create their own graphic novel. I can see so many ways to use this in a classroom setting. Looking forward to more Flora Ahn and Rosy and Sunny.

[Elan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this book for the reason that it was just funny, creative and a good read but I would have loved this book a few years back but I think it is a bit to childish for my age but that does not mean it was not a creative book which a child would love to read. Mostly it was a quick read that only took about thirty minutes Nonetheless a nice pocket read and a decent book.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Adorable! I love that these stories are based on real-life pugs, Sunny and Rosy! :)

[Gail · Rating 4 out of 5]

8 year old rates it 4.5
We read it in one sitting. Cute little story. Clover the ground hog is introduced.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute and goofy, with a good lesson about asking for permission. There's also a very, very light mystery.

[Jaymie · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars - DARLING! Loved the pugs. The illustrations are a ton of fun. Cute story.

[Emily Masters · Rating 5 out of 5]

SO STINKIN’ CUTE. Adorable illustrations, story, and characters. I love these pugs and I wish I could kiss them all over. Perfect 1st-2nd grade not-quite-novel.

[Samantha Small · Rating 5 out of 5]

THIS IS SO CUTE AND FUNNY!

[Marcie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Second in series of this laugh out loud dog pair Sunny and Rosie spending a week with their grandparents. Love this series for high 1st reades.

[Brenda Kahn]

This was quite adorable. I missed the first installment, but #2 stands alone. A must for your pug-lovin' readers.

[Tara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Silly. Adorable. Simple- " This is downright rude. I'm not a thief," Clover said, trying to squirm out of their hold. Let's talk like civilized groundhogs."

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked meeting Clover.

[T. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Adorable and easy to read. Perfect series for readers starting chapter books. Did not feel as strong as the first book, but the pugs are still enjoyable.

[Amaya · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s funny! The pugs are smart and cute.

[Lisa D · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it! Too cute!

[Chelsea Heath · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very cute. Love the illustrations.

[Amanda Patrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

So cute!

[Christine · Rating 5 out of 5]

So cute! An absolutely adorable little story. The illustrations are perfect to help tell the tale and I love how similar the story felt to my own experience as a pug owner.

[Jia Hu · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a cute groundhog 😍 Rosy and Sunny are both cute too 😍😍😍

[Satu · Rating 5 out of 5]

So adorable

[LYLA✨ · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved it!! ❤ It was a quick read and I enjoy the topic of animals. I also really liked the first one too!!

[Suhasa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pugtastic!