The 101 Dalmatians

By: Dodie Smith

Narrated by: Martin Jarvis

Length: 4 hrs and 33 mins

Publisher's Summary

Puppies and more puppies! How will they escape the evil Cruella de Vil?

When the Dearly's Dalmatians have their first litter of puppies (fifteen in all) everyone is delighted. But their joy is shattered when the pups are kidnapped! The humans don't have a clue as to who the culprit is, but the smartest dogs in London are on the case, and on the trail of fur-loving Cruella de Vil, who will stop at nothing to have a Dalmatian fur coat!

©1956, 1984 Dodie Smith (P)2002 Random House, Inc. and CSA Telltapes Ltd., Listening Library, An Imprint of Random House Audio Publishing Group

Sweet.

I love the story so much. Not a compliment or concern or comment, just saying in most of the books your Mrs. was actually Pandita. I don't care though, the classic tale! I love this!

great book. if you love the movie, this is a must

we love the movie and love dogs so we thought this might be a fun car trip pick. we enjoyed it so much more than we thought we would. great book. better than the movie.

Always have enjoyed this book

I have loved this book since I was a child. I frequently read it at Christmas time, as it takes place in the days just before Christmas. The narrator does a very good job and the story is wonderful. A good book for all ages.

Very good

I like it very much! Dodie smith did a good job I think it’s a good book.

A Charming Classic

This lovely classic is a charming addition to any library. It is wonderful for all ages. If you love (or even like) the Disney movie, you need to read this original telling of Pongo and Missis's adventures through England to find and rescue their kidnapped puppies (That's right. Pongo's wife in the book is named Misses. Though Perdita is also in the story and becomes part of the family quickly - 15 puppies is a lot for one mother, after all!). The narrator was perfect. His voice lent just the sort of charm that this story deserved. The characters all came to life wonderfully, including the handful of puppies that were actually named (It would be impossible to name them all in one book, of course). I would have given this story a perfect score if not for two points, which parents should consider before letting their youngest children listen to it. The first is that there is mention of drowning kittens. That's right. Cruella was already a cold-hearted animal murderer long before the dalmatians were involved. In this original rendition, she owns a white persian who has had multiple litters with "alley cats" and since the kittens weren't valuable pure-breds, they were taken away from their poor mother and drowned. The cat does get her revenge and a happy ending in the finale, though. The second is that this book does use the g-slur when referencing the Romani people as well as uses harmful stereotypes when describing them. As the book was originally published in 1956, this could be a product of the time, but nevertheless should be noted. Other than those two things, the book is absolutely fantastic, and it more than holds up. I highly recommend it, both for adults and children. It is definitely one that can be listened to over and over again.

Great for Christmas and a fun adventure

3.5 star

This would have been the perfect book to read nearer to Christmas. The snow and warm fires with dinner parties. I love the great adventure. Also how the rules work in how dogs could understand some words of humans but not much the other way around. Everything brought magic to the story.

The cows taking care of the puppies transported me right back to my childhood as I watch the animated movie. I will say it was a little harsh in some spots for children I think. Apparently Cruella has drowned many cats in her day.

I thought the story very charming with a slew of fun characters. Martin Jarvis did a great job narrating especially the Colonels voice. The puppies had fun and quirky characteristics that made certain ones stand out. The only thing I wasn't too fond of was the prejudice against Gypsy's. They seem to always get a bad rap.

An enjoyable listen

I liked the story! Though the thing I didn't care for was how some things seemed to repeat. Just something in the author's style I didn't care for.
I wish the Author named more of the puppies though. There are 15 original pups, but only 4 were identifiable at all.
But it was worth the listen! And I loved how the narrator tried to vary the voices!

Totally Loved This Book!!!

I loved this audiobook experience with this classic. My brother loves the Disney movie so I’ve always known about the book, but hadn’t been super interested in reading it as I felt I already knew the story. I was wrong, and offer my apologies to Dodie Smith. Her writing drew me in and kept my attention throughout the book. The plot isn' exactly the same as Disney is known to change things and they definitely did for this book. Even though I grew up with the movie, I greatly prefer the book over the movie. In the future, I'm going to look into her other works because I was hooked throughout the book. I ended up buying my own audio copy so I can enjoy the story anytime I want. The narrator was the perfect choice. He added some liveliness and sensitivity that was required for some of the character's and iciness that goes with Cruella.

A beautiful story with a warm heart

I read this book as a child decades ago and loved it then. I listened to it now and found that the story and style held strong. I still loved it. Yes, the story is a little dated, but it works well as is. I don't think it would work as well if it were modernized.

This book should be a childhood staple everywhere, even though it is EXTREMELY British. I strongly recommend this book for anyone with, or ever has been a child. It is very sweet.

AMAZING

I love the movie and thought the story could get no better, boy was I wrong. The twists and turns, the challenges Pongo and the Mrs have to go through kept me on my seat. A would read again kind of book. If you liked the movie you will love this book.