Speaking Volumes

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MARCH 2, 2009

Frank(ly) Speaking ~ Literary Dogs

Megan's last post about her dog in-training, Frank, got me thinking about all the wonderful books featuring man's best friend. Just this past year alone we've added these best sellers to our collection:

The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein F STEIN
Together a story of a Shared Vision by Tom Sullivan F SULLIVAN
The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski F WROBLEWSKI (audio also)
Dog Named Christmas by Greg Kinkaid LARGE PRINT F KINCAID

Art of Racing in the Rain is a delightful story. It's a hard story to describe without giving away the plot so here's what I said about it on our reader reviews...

This is one you need to read for yourself. The story is narrated by Enzo, a lab-terrier mix and is delightful. It's not all happy but the overall effect is a feel good, imaginative novel. Don't miss it!

Izzy & Lenore " Two dogs, an unexpected journey, and me
   by Jon Katz 636.7374 KATZ
Merle's door: Lessons from a freethinking dog by Ted Kerasote 636.7 KERASOTE
Walking Ollie or Winning the love of a difficult dog
   by Stephen Foster 636.7532 FOSTER PBK
Dog Man: An uncommon life on a faraway mountain
   by Martha Sherrill 636.76 SHERRILL (audio also)



Dog Man was cativating. During World War II when war breaks out in Japan, food becomes scarce and having a dog as a pet is not only forbidden but also a crime. The beautiful Akita is in danger of becoming extinct. Morie Sawataishi chooses to break the law by keeping an Akita dog hidden in a shed on his property. The survival of this breed becomes his life's passion and it changes his life and that of his family forever.

and of course everyone's waiting for the dvd version of John Grogan's 2005 runaway hit Marley & Me (expected the end of March).

The aforementioned titles don't even include all the new children's stories that bark!

So what is it with our fascination with dogs as literary subjects? This was just the question put to Dr. Bryan Cummins, an expert on dog books in the most recent Avid Reader Newsletter published by Abebooks. Cummins is a professor at McMaster and Trent Universities in Ontario, an avid collector of dog books, an author, and has been selling on AbeBooks since 1999. Read this informative and fun interview The Dog and the Novel: Loyal Companions for a bit of insight.

In the meantime I'm curious to know...What's your favorite dog story?

Mine, hand's down is Old Yeller (the book) by Fred Gipson! Read it many, many years ago (published in 1956). It's a Newbery Honor Book and was made into a classic Disney film. This heart warming s

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Comments

Mercedes said, on Mar. 2 at 6:38PM
I can't think of a book with the dog as the main character in particular but I've enjoyed several of Robin McKinley's novels where the main character has a dog companion that features prominently. When I think of literary dogs, my mind always goes to the wonderful books of James Herriot. There are some absolutely, hysterical accounts of dealing with dogs large and small. Fun to read but makes me glad I am not a country vet!

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Megan Q. said, on Mar. 3 at 10:49AM
I was OBSESSED with dogs (and reading) when I was little, so I have a lot of favorite dog stories for children. For one, I have to second Mercedes comment, I always liked James Herriot’s animal tales. I also always liked the Pinkerton books by Steven Kellogg, and I read Where the Red Fern Grows over and over and over as a child. I have some new favorite children’s stories as well – Hachiko; the True Story of a Loyal Dog, by Pamela Turner tells the amazing story of a famous, and very loyal, Akita from Tokyo. And for the 100th time I’ll plug The Two Bobbies; a True Story of Hurricane Katrina, Friendship, and Survival, it’s a beautiful and touching picture book. Right now pet stories are on display in our Children’s section, so if dogs aren’t your thing, stop by to take a look at our cat, snake, chinchilla, guinea pig, goldfish books!