In 2017, I'm going to run a series called "Paws & Books." I'll post about works of dog literature -- poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and maybe a few doggy-user manuals, too, because we all need help being properly trained by our dogs. My longtime dream is to write a work of dog literature, so I'm collecting an annotated bibliography of my research, and these posts will be part of that process.
If you have ideas about what you would like to read or learn about these books, please let me know in the comments! If you have dog-book suggestions -- even if you think I know them -- please let me know.
To start, I'll share with you one of the first books I ever read about a dog: Harry the Dirty Dog.
Harry the Dirty Dog is essentially about how you can be seen as two dogs, and how because of how you're seen, you can be lost (and found), unknown (or known), but that inside you're essentially the same dog. After a bath, Harry runs away, and gets all sorts of dirty, so when he comes home his family doesn't recognize him. What is Harry to do? The book asks an essential question: if your appearance changes, are you still the same dog?
Did you know that you can listen to and watch Betty White reading Harry the Dirty Dog online? Here's the link.
Sometimes when I get all muddy, Gail just pretends she doesn't recognize me 'cos she is hoping that someone else might take me home and adopt me...
ReplyDeleteOr so she says.
Toodle pip!
Bertie.
PS from Gail - love the review (and the book's cover picture). Looking forward to more.
that's the book for me... I dug a tunnel in flowerpots and I was the only black weimaraner of the world for a moment :o)
ReplyDeleteI remember this book from when I was little! What a nice memory to think of it again. Thanks!~
ReplyDeleteI read so many dog books! I did a post on my favorites in 2015 (https://barleythebordercollie.blogspot.com/2015/06/tuesdays-tomes-quick-lit-dog-books.html) if you need more ideas! I don't know that I've ever read Harry the Dirty Dog (but I did get my sister, who teaches kindergarten, a tshirt with an image of the cover on it!).
ReplyDeleteLove this book and the illustrations are fantastic.
ReplyDeleteWell, I'm sure you've read "The Art of Racing in the Rain." A wonderful novel. There is also an excellent book of dog-focused poetry by Mary Oliver. Looks like Harry may be a metaphor for race in America...
ReplyDeleteVery nice post. Sounds like a very nice book to read. Thanks for sharing:)
ReplyDeleteDot
I think I had a Harry book when I was a kid - something about him living in a barrel? Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteMonty, Harlow, and Ramble