Bedtime Stories for Dogs

If you have a dog or just love dogs, this re-telling of classic fairy tales using dogs as main characters (dachsunds, chihuahuas, etc) is hilarious and so much fun to read. Saw this one at a friend's house, read it to my kids and knew we HAD to have a permanent copy.

Colter: The True Story of the Best Dog I Ever Had

"How we fall into grace. You can't work or earn your way into it. You just fall. It lies below, it lies beyond. It comes to you, unbidden," writes novelist and essayist Bass (Where the Sea Used to Be, etc.) of the arrival of his "goofy little knot-headed" genius of a pointing dog. As they roam the remote western Montana valley where Bass lives, and hunt the golden autumn plains in the eastern part of the state, Colter unfailingly ushers Bass into "an unexplored land" where the two become "as alive as we have ever been: our senses so sharp and whittled alive that we could barely stand it." Their prolonged hours of "wanting only one thing, a bird, wanting it so effortlessly and purely that [we] come the closest [we] will ever come to a shared language" are a blessing. But always, for Bass, there is the undertow of paradox: of living for the hunt but being a comically rotten marksman; of being a hunter yet an environmentalist; of his tendency to love with "a passion so intense it borders on gluttony," inevitably followed by the crushing numbness that marks the loss of what he loves. Bass's exhaustless appetite for natural beauty and his propensity for "bragging on" his dog occasionally lead to exuberant repetition ("It was just so damn great to be out in such open country with my dogs"), but more often result in luminously transcendent passages on the education and sorrowful loss of a brilliant and mischievous chocolate brown pointer that will transfix anyone who has ever loved a dog. (June)

The Canine Connection: Stories about Dogs and People

Grade 6-9-Dogs have a central part in these 12 stories, but they rarely occupy the spotlight. As in life, these canines take on a subordinate role, offering up their devotion. Several of the selections explore life situations in which a pet displays extraordinary companionship, intelligence, and instinct. In "Lab," Willa, 16, is fed up with her annoyingly big, happy family, plus another baby on the way. She strains at civility toward her fertile mother while she pampers her own brood of abandoned dogs, ducks, and kittens, until she's the only one around to help her mother give birth. Her witty sarcasm sparks this eventful journey. In "The Boss," a street kid adopts a canine guard as a shield against the world. It's a gritty read about an abused and needy boy teaming up with a similarly afflicted dog. Probably the most creative piece is "A Grave Situation." What begins as a typical retelling of an unbelievable animal trek across improbable odds shifts subtly into a poignant story of reconciliation. Beginning in narrative form, then changing to e-mail correspondence, this contrasting communication provides a perfect backdrop to a surprising and heartfelt story. Hearne doesn't load up on overly sentimental situations; instead, she creates empathetic realities. From hopeful and heartening to tragic and heartrending, these stories are well drawn, told with refinement, and enlivened with credible characters, both human and canine.
Alison Follos, North Country School, Lake Placid, NY
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

It Takes a Dog to Raise a Village: True Stories of Remarkable Canine Vagabonds

This collection of true stories celebrates the lives of a handful of vagabond dogs who spurned confinement and one-family ownership. Each dog's tale is unique: Boozer had his own bank account and appeared on Good Morning America; Owney spent his life riding U.S. mail trains and can now be seen in the Smithsonian Institute; Greyfriars Bobby snuck into the cemetery every night for 14 years to sleep on his deceased master's grave; Lampo became famous for riding the railways of Italy but always returned to the same station; Tricksey offered companionship to the residents of a nursing home; Patsy Ann watched the shores of Alaska and knew before all others that a ship was arriving even though she was stone deaf. These atypical dogs all share the same independent spirit that inspires human admiration and devotion. It Takes a Dog to Raise a Village is a tribute to their spirit and their unusual bonds with the humans who knew them. The text is highlighted by pen and ink drawings.