Book Description
for Smelly Peggy by Helen Stephens
From Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC)
Pie, the narrator of this rollicking picture book, introduces the reader to their rescue dog, Peggy, a curly-haired thing not much bigger than a loaf of bread. “What do you think of her? Do you think she looks nice? Well, she’s not. She’s naughty.” In fact, Peggy’s naughtiness knows no bounds. In the morning, Mom gets “an extra-slobbery lick,” and Dad gets the other end—dog butt to the face—before Peggy makes off with Mom’s underwear. But there’s more. “So, when we first got Peggy, she didn’t even know what a stick was. And now? She LOVES sticks.” What does she do with them? Mows down her family as she runs past with an extra-large one. “PEGGGY!” Of course, there’s also the habit that results in Peggy’s titular moniker: She loves to roll in smelly things, especially “POOP! Rabbit poop, seagull poop, all the poops! Can you believe it? SMELLY PEGGY!” Once Peggy is sufficiently stinky, she brings the odor home and rubs it all over the carpet before being forced into the bathtub (to be followed by “the big shakedown”). “But do you think we love her? Do we? Of course we do! No one is perfect.” It’s impossible not to laugh at the protagonist’s eager, childlike voice. Despite the complaining, Pie’s love for Peggy is obvious. Appealing crayon-and-watercolor illustrations depict Pie with light skin and red hair, and carefree Peggy with irresistibly cute charm.
CCBC Choices 2026. © Cooperative Children's Book Center, Univ. of Wisconsin – Madison, 2026. Used with permission.

