Fiction Picture Books
Bogart and Vinnie: a Completely Made-up Story of True Friendship by Audrey Vernick, ill. by Henry Cole
Vinnie, a hyper-active dog who loves everyone gets lost and wanders into a wildlife park. There, he befriends Bogart, the grumpy rhino. What will happen to their friendship when Vinnie's family finds him?
This had me laughing quite a bit. Vinnie reminded me a bit of a family dog (and also the dog from Up). Cole worked comedic magic with his illustrations in this. And Vernick's twist in the way the story ended was unexpected and more humorous. Lots of fun. A must for animal lovers. Do a fiction/nonfiction reading pair by combining this with a real life interspecies relationship story. There's lots out there. You can also check out kids' observation skills and have them debate whether Bogart is happy with the way things turned out or not; see if they can find clues in the text and illustrations to back up their opinion.
A Dog Wearing Shoes by Sangmi Ko
Mini and her mom find a lost dog wearing shoes. They take him home and try to care for him until his owner can be found. When the little dog is claimed, there's only one thing for Mini to do.
This is a shameless plug for animal adoption, but it is cute and animal adoption is noble (as long as the family is ready for it). The illustrations are charming in their black and white with splashes of color.
Extraordinary Jane by Hannah E. Harrison
Jane is a glaringly normal dog in a family of extraordinary circus dogs. She can't do the things her parents or her siblings do, so she tries to find her special talent. The results vary from humorous to disastrous. Eventually, Jane and the circus master realize that Jane is best just being herself.
A spectacularly illustrated book about being ok with being "normal."
Fetch by Adam Glendon Sidwell, ill. by Edwin Rhemrev
Where do pet dogs come from? According to this book they come from a place at least nine sunsets away where dogs can do whatever they dream of doing. But if they get too adventurous and stray from home, some find they don't want to leave our world.
A cute and imaginative story about the life of dogs. It looks like a movie-tie-in book but as far as I can tell, it isn't linked to any movie.
A Greyhound a Groundhog by Emily Jenkins, ill. by Chris Appelhans
A celebration of sound with a greyhound and groundhog discovering friendship along the way.
This is one whopper of a tongue twister in text. In introducing the characters and telling of their romp, Jenkins has fun with the assonance and consonance of greyhound, groundhog and these compound words' word parts along with a few other similar starting or ending words. The illustrations are cute, and I'm sure kids will love hearing adult readers get tongue-tied reading this aloud.
Harold's Hungry Eyes by Kevin Waldron
When Harold's favorite chair goes missing, he goes out to rescue it and ends up lost. Besides being lost Harold has one more big problem, he is always super hungry. As he tries to find his way home the city starts turning into food items before his starving eyes.
A curious art style that combines ink illustrations with a collage of food photographs makes Harold's hungry journey home quite humorous for readers as normal things turn into food items of a similar shape. Definitely an imaginative and unique book.
I Love Dogs! by Sue Stainton, ill. by Bob Staake
A simple, colorful book that celebrates dogs of all kinds.
The repetitive refrain of this book, and abundance of things to look at in the illustrations make this a good one for beginning readers. Of course, it'll also be a hit with dog lovers, and language arts teachers could use it when teaching about adjectives. There's way too much going on in the illustrations to take in during just one reading. This is a book to be looked at again and again. Could also be used in an I-spy game.
Learning to Ski with Mr Magee by Chris Van Dusen
Mr. Magee decides that he and Dee should try skiing. He rigs up a basket for Dee to ride in on his back and heads for a small hill near their home to try things out before driving to the mountains. Skiing proves a bit challenging for Mr. Magee, especially when a moose and a ravine get in his way.
This book is in here for the sake of Dee. I could've chosen any of the Magee stories, but faithful Dee makes it through a lot in this story. Van Dusen's illustrations in this are amazing and hilarious, and it's all about the way he uses perspective. Keep an eye out for the milkman's truck, it likes to sneak into Magee & Dee's adventures.
The Perfect Dog by Kevin O'Malley
A little girl tries to decide which kind of dog would be perfect as her new pet.
The book repeatedly uses superlative adjectives with illustrations demonstrating these comparisons well. Great book when covering this in language arts. Also a good pick for families adopting a dog.
The Great Puppy Invasion by Alastair Heim, ill. by Kim Smith
The people of Strictville have an unprecedented emergency on their hands when puppies start showing up in town.
If you want to teach irony or hyperbole or farce to kids, this is the book to use. The people of Strictville are horribly afraid of the cute creatures invading their town and think the cuteness is all a ploy. And they take it so seriously, it is quite humorous. Of course, there's one brave boy in the town who shows the rest that they're blowing the situation way out of proportion. Lots of fun if you understand the way this is poking fun at juxtaposing cute puppies into a typical monster/alien invasion plot and the illustrations are fantastic.
Twinky the Dinky Dog by Kate Klimo, ill. by Michael Fleming
Twinky is a teeny dog and he's treated more like a toy or accessory than a dog. Twinky dreams of running with the big dogs at the dog park, but it isn't until he proves his ferocious heart that his owner starts to treat him like a real dog.
A sweet little story that shows that stature has nothing to do with heart, and ponders what it's like to be a dog treated like an accessory. Super cute illustrations and a fun concept. For a fun similar read of a misunderstood pet who saves an owner from would-be thieves, read this one with Crictor by Unger.
Lower Grade Fiction
Captain Pug: the Dog Who Sailed the Seas (Pug, #1) by Laura James, ill. by Églantine Ceulemans
Pug and Lady Miranda are going to a boating birthday party at a lake. Lady Miranda dresses Pug like a captain, but Pug is a bit afraid of water. He decides he needs to overcome his fear to make Lady Miranda proud, but first he needs to fortify himself with some courage in the form of food...preferably jam tarts. And while in search of victual fortification, Pug inadvertently sets himself on a seafaring adventure with Lady Miranda trailing behind trying to find him.
A cute animal story for lower grade readers. It's a little silly at times but also cute. Lady Miranda is a character and has two porters dressed in olden clothes in tow everywhere she goes. They all provide plenty of entertainment when Pug isn't on the page. Pug has further adventures as a cowboy and I hear he's going on safari soon too.
All Paws on Deck (Haggis and Tank Unleashed, #1) by Jessica Young, ill. by James Burks
Haggis and Tank are two dogs with grand imaginations. To beat boredom they climb aboard their pirate ship and let loose their imaginations on a grand pirate adventure.
Wowsers was this story loaded with homophones (aka puns)! If you're not into puns steer clear, but I've been noticing a resurgence in pun popularity with kids so I think the target audience will love it. They'll also love the abundance of full color illustrations. (One could argue that the extensiveness of the illustrations turn this into a graphic novel, but one could also argue that the layout of the text is in more traditional illustrated book format. Whatever it is, it's got lots of pictures.) Haggis and Tank's imaginations are grand things and take readers on one wild and crazy pirate adventure. It's a fun chapter book for kids just branching off into the chapter book world.
Comics
Copper by Kazu Kibuishi
Copper is an adventurous human and Fred is a cautious canine. Together they have all sorts of adventures, both mundane and out of this world. This is a collection of a bunch of short comic adventures, the longest only being a few pages long. The end of the book also has a step-by-step look at the way Kibuishi creates comics from rough sketched idea to digital files.
Kibuishi is better known for his graphic novels, but this collection of comics is great too. There's plenty of material both fun and whimsical, and sometimes even a little philosophical (I think Fred and Calvin would have quite interesting conversations). And the little piece at the end about how Kibuishi creates his comics is super interesting and informative. A nice guide for kids interested in making their own comics as it gives a healthy reality check along with great advice. Probably best enjoyed by middle grade on up though there's nothing in here bad for lower graders.
Middle Grade Graphic Novels
Laika by Nick Abadzis
This graphic novel fictionalized version of the story of Laika is told focusing on two people and one dog. First it focuses on Laika (originally called Kudryavka) from birth, to an unhappy adoption, to life on the streets, to life as a test dog for the Soviet space program. Secondly, it focuses on the man who designed Sputnik and Sputnik II. And thirdly, it focuses on a lady named Oleg who works for the Soviet's space program as the dog handler, who is brokenhearted when Kudryavka is chosen because she knowns that Sputnik II has no re-entry option other than burning up in the atmosphere and Kudryavka will not return from this mission.
Abadzis includes much fact and obvious research in this graphic novel. The only reason it gets fiction status instead of pure history is that he also imagines thoughts for Laika and some of the people involved. I have noticed quite the drop off in historical fiction interest among our students, so I'm quite happy to find good graphic novel historical fiction books, as those they will read. I can see this as being a great discussion starter with kids about whether animals should be used as test subjects. Both sides of the issue are somewhat addressed in the book. Obviously, those who don't like books in which the dog dies should avoid this one. But it is a good option for those studying the space race and the Cold War who want a Soviet perspective.
Robot Dreams by Sara Varon
Dog makes a robot friend for himself and takes him on a beach vacation. They both have fun until robot gets stuck laying on the beach after the water fun. Dog can't budge the robot, so he has to leave him. So we get to see what happens to the robot over the course of a year, and when things aren't really happening, what the robot daydreams happens. Meanwhile, the dog is doing his best to get the robot back, but circumstances are definitely against him.
This is practically wordless, the story is almost entirely told through pictures. Which is not a problem. They are a great way to get beginning and reluctant readers into reading habits. This is a cute story, and surprisingly doesn't quite end the way I expected. We'll just say it is bittersweet. That doesn't seem to be a problem with the student readers, though. This is constantly checked out. I'm pretty sure students would read Sara Varon's grocery list as long as she illustrated it. They LOVE her stuff.
Middle Grade Fiction
Frogkisser! by Garth Nix
Anya is the younger princess in the kingdom. She aspires to be a sorcerer when she grows up and delights in days burying her nose in books in the library. But when her evil step-stepfather turns her older sister Morven's beloved Prince Denholm into a frog, Anya promises to get him changed back. That becomes a bit more complicated when Morven switches her affections in the time it takes Anya to fetch the right frog from the castle moat. Soon the matriarch royal dog is sending Anya on a Quest to both find the ingredients necessary to change Prince Denholm back into a human and to seek aid in getting rid of her evil step-stepfather who obviously has designs on the throne and has just informed Anya he's shipping her off to boarding school...on the other side of the world and which requires an almost certainly fatal journey. With Ardent, one of the faithful royal dogs, Anya sets off with nothing but a recipe and some hastily packed items chosen by the royal dogs (who are loyal and loving, but not the best packers). As Anya heads out, word of her quests soon spread and she gathers a posse of creatures hopeful that the "Frogkisser" can change them back into their own shapes too and others eager to see the Kingdom of Yarrow's rights restored. But is a second princess whose education has been neglected up to such big jobs?
This has been slightly mis-marketed. It was being touted as a YA fairytale. But it 100% feels like a good ol' middle grade-aimed fantasy quest, not really anything in it that would push that up to young adult. Not to say that teens couldn't like this, just that it feels...umm safer than most YA. (And there's no mushiness at all. This is not a happily ever after with a prince kind of fairy tale.) It actually reminded me quite a bit of The Wizard of Oz and Wrede's Calling on Dragons in that a rather straightforward quest soon gathers a very hodge-podge group of travelers seeking help from the first quester's goal. There are also nods to various fairy tales along the way, most notably The Frog Prince and Snow White and the Seven Dwarves and Robin Hood (the Snow White twist was hilarious). Nix even mentions in the back that old classic fantasy tales by those such as Lloyd Alexander and Diana Wynne Jones were heavy inspiration for this. It shows. So go in expecting a middle grade fantasy quest with some fractured fairy tales along the way and you should enjoy it. It's fun and lighthearted. Yes, Anya's sorcerous step-stepfather is quite nasty but you're never overly worried. Ardent reminds me of Doug from Up and he provides much of the comic relief. He was definitely my favorite character, though Smoothie the otter who has been turned somewhat human is a close second. (And if Moatie the monster in the moat had gotten more time, he'd have been top. He was unforgettable.) I appreciate the growth Anya goes through along the way. She isn't a fluffy, overly sweet and naturally loving princess just throwing around niceness everywhere and has some realistically honest selfish desires, but she grows through the book. She's a refreshingly honest and more realistic princess. I also liked the concept that the royal dogs were the main guards of the royalty and the kingdom and were immune to magic (and can communicate with humans if they choose to) and that the otters are the royal guards of the waterways. (And the cats claimed to be independent but often helped protect the royalty too. How true to cat nature.) That was a fun new concept. Finally, I'll never think about magic carpets the same way again after the treatment Nix gave them. Don't take the magic carpet ride! All around, highly recommended to quest fans and fractured fairy tale fans. (And just tell the boy fantasy fans to ignore the cover and give it a shot.)
Duke by Kirby Larson
Hobie, a 5th grade boy in Seattle in 1944, is really plagued by the question of whether he is doing all he can to help the war effort. So far he's had to take over being the man of the house so Dad could go fly fighter planes in Europe, and he's just had to say goodbye to his best friend Scooter who is moving so his Dad can help build ships in Portland. Hobie makes sure to buy war stamps and help out with his little sister at home, but when someone suggests that maybe he should donate his beloved dog, Duke, to Dogs for Defense, Hobie thinks that may be too much. But the idea keeps plaguing him everywhere he turns. Mom says he's made enough sacrifices for the war, but Hobie starts to feel that maybe Duke could help make the war end faster. So he donates Duke, and immediately starts having second thoughts. In between plotting ways to get Duke back, Hobie gets to deal with normal 5th grade stuff...making friends, dealing with the class bully, and trying not to be annoyed too much by his little sister. Life isn't always easy, especially when you get telegrams saying your dad is now a Prisoner of War or letters saying that your best four-legged friend might be going into danger. Hobie finds he has some things to learn over that year about attitude and motives, sacrifice, and just a tiny bit of what it really means to be a man.
I completely devoured this book in one afternoon. It does have a slightly larger than normal font, but Hobie's day to day experiences on the home front keep you reading. He is impeccably normal, flawed, and sometimes awkward (all in lovable ways) driving you to want to know what this 5th grader (eventually 6th) gets himself up to and how he grows along the way. You also want to keep reading to make sure his dad and dog make it through the war ok. And I have to admit, Ms Larson surprised me with the outcome of the book on both those points. We'll just say she didn't take the typical route with the return of Dogs for Defense animals. (This is mostly based on a made for TV movie my siblings and I LOVED as kids called Chips the War Dog. And by the way, if you want more of a flavor of the Dogs for Defense program by following what the dogs went through this would be a great resource...if you can even find it around any more.) I loved many things that Ms Larson managed to work into Hobie's life to give a good picture of many aspects of life in America during WWII. A great historical fiction pick, and super pick for animal lovers. Note: If you are the easily moved to tears type, you may want to keep a box of tissues nearby while reading this. No dead dog…but, well, you just might need a tissue or two. If you like this story, Larson has several other WWII dog stories.
Jubilee by Patricia Reilly Giff
Judith was dropped off at her Aunt Cora's house on the island when she was quite young. Her aunt is loving and wonderful and calls Judith Jubilee, her celebration. But ever since then she has hardly ever spoken. Only in her special place can she say anything aloud. Which makes it hard to make friends. As the summer wraps up, Judith will find her life unexpectedly impacted by a dog, an unexpected friend, a new teacher, and her mother.
This is a short, simple but moving read about an upper elementary girl with selective mutism who loves nature and lives on an island off the coast of Maine. The island setting and her love of nature give this a comfy outdoorsy feel. The book makes it into this post for the dog who touches Judith's life. I absolutely love Judith's Aunt Cora. She is a wonderful woman. Judith's new teacher is pretty great too. The changes that come to Judith's life aren't quite as big as some may hope for, but they are moving her in a healthier direction mentally and socially so there is a sense of peace about the ending. Make sure you read the author's acknowledgements page. It is touching to hear that this is an ode to many of the students who stood out in Giff's years of teaching and helped her love doing what she did. That's pretty cool.
The Poet's Dog by Patricia MacLachlan
Two children are taken in by an Irish wolfhound at the start of a horrible winter storm. The dog has the unique ability to communicate with certain people - poets and kids. The children are delighted to meet this talking dog and take shelter in his master's house with him for the days the snow endures. As they get to know each other, the children learn about the dog, why his master isn't at home, and a little about themselves too.
This is a quick but poignant read (the dog would approve, he likes the word poignant). It tugs at the heart strings and manages to say a lot in less than 100 pages. It's a tiny bit sad, a tiny bit survival story, a tiny bit nostalgic, and a lot sentimental sweetness. Would be good for reluctant readers (since it is short), those who like winter survival stories, those who like feel-good stories, and of course, dog lovers.
Juvenile Nonfiction
Gobi: a Little Dog with a Big Heart by Dion Leonard, ill. by Lisa Manuzak
Gobi, a little stray dog is excited by all the people passing who want to play chase. She adopts one of them men running in a race through the Gobi Desert, and keeps up with him through the multi-day race. The two form such a great team she goes home with him to Scotland after the race.
What a crazy and touching true story about a little dog adopting a man! I don't think he could have asked for a better pet, either. He definitely needs a dog who can run long distances, and Gobi proved she can do that. The illustrations are the perfect blend of cartoon and realism; kids should be drawn in by both them and the sweet story. I can see the animal fans eating up the story. And of course, definitely the perfect read for dog lovers. (But parents beware. Your kids may start encouraging you to go run an extreme race in the Gobi in hopes of getting their own new pet.) There are adult and young reader chapter book versions of this story too for those who want to find out more details.
Stubby the War Dog: the True Story of World War I's Bravest Dog by Ann Bausum
Stubby is a tough little dog who adopted American soldier J. Robert Conroy during basic training. When Conroy deployed to Europe for WWI, Stubby snuck over with him and quickly earned his stripes by helping the unit as only a canine could.
Everyone loves a hero, especially one that's furry. One century later, Stubby continues to be a great WWI ambassador. This book is a nice "light" way to educate kids and preteens about WWI. It covers the basics but keeps the gore to the minimum. The dangers of war are kept real, as Stubby didn't even make it out unscathed, but kids shouldn't walk away traumatized. I really appreciate Bausum's honesty in the way she wrote this. With a famous canine veteran who enjoyed the spot light for years, all sorts of stories are out there about Stubby's exploits, both true and fictional. Bausum does a great job on outlining what is known for sure and what is conjecture, a fantastic model for an audience in the formative process of learning how to write reports and essays. (The author's Research Notes in back of the book are worth a read too. She tells how she first came across Stubby, and how she maneuvered the minefield of research with so many myths about Stubby circulating out there.) A good pick for lessons on WWI, or a non-fiction read for animal lovers.
Adult Nonfiction
The Dog Who Could Fly: the Incredible True Story of a WWII Airman and the Four-Legged Hero Who Flew at His Side by Damien Lewis
Robert Bozdech, a Czech airman flying with the allies, and his French pilot, had just escaped a crash into no-man's land between France and German lines when he stumbled across a starving little puppy in an abandoned farm house. Afraid the whines of the puppy would give away their position, Robert smuggled the puppy to safety with them and found himself a best friend for the war. Ant (later renamed Antis) was loyal to a fault. He and Robert had all sorts of escapades and adventures during WWII, and they both managed to survive to see the end. This is the story of their incredible friendship.
Antis is quite the adventurous canine and likely to melt more than a few hearts even from the distance of the past. His crazy loyalty to Robert is endearing (though sometimes frustrating). I felt there were a few times when the author went a little overboard in putting thoughts into the dog's mouth, but that was really my only issue with the book. It's a nice, heartwarming story about a guy and his faithful doggy.
I, Toto: the Autobiography of Terry, the Dog Who Was Toto by Willard Carroll
A look at the life of the iconic dog who appeared in The Wizard of Oz movie as Toto.
Ok, so I haven't read this one yet. However, I'm including it here because it is the most popular nonfiction dog story in our library. Toto, or Terry, is a winner with the students.
Bonus Brainstorm: Five foxes, a coyote, and two wolf books.
Fiction Picture Books
Ooko by Esmé Shapiro
Ooko is a fox. He doesn't have any friends though, and he notices that other foxes have things called Debbies. He finally finds himself a Debbie, but Debbies aren't as fun as he thought. But never fear, Ooko does find a friend.
Ooko is a cute little fox who just wants a friend. I love how he mistakenly dubs all humans as Debbies and thinks all dogs are foxes. And the friend he eventually finds is quite cute too. Cute and fun for animal lovers.
Read the Book, Lemmings! by Ame Dyckman, ill. by Zachariah O'Hara
Foxy reads a book on lemmings and finds out they don't really jump off cliffs. Unfortunately, it seems the lemmings didn't read the book. Foxy tries to explain things to them, and tries to get them to read the book. But there is a problem.
I know, lemmings are not wild dogs. But Foxy is one of the kindest foxes you'll ever meet. He's a patient and caring fox who is continually rescuing the lemmings and trying to help them out. Kids will be delighted by the silly antics of the lemmings. You'll learn what ditto means if you didn't know. Oh, and you'll also learn that it is important to know how to read and discover that lemmings don't usually jump off of cliffs (despite the common misconception). An educational and fun book featuring some cute little lemmings in an arctic sea port also being visited by a sailor fox and bear.
Nonfiction Picture Books
Coyote Moon by Maria Gianferrari, ill. by Bagram Ibatoulline
Follow a coyote mother one night as she tries to find food for her cubs.
Ok, let's put this right out there. Yes, the coyote gets a turkey dinner but all you see are feathers in her mouth. Some may want to avoid this book for that reason. Otherwise, it is a beautifully illustrated book about a nocturnal critter most kids in the United States will probably see in their lives regardless of where they live (I've personally seen more than one beside a major highway in a city). The back of the book includes further information about coyotes, where they live, what they eat, and life cycle patterns. I learned more than one thing about coyotes in this quick book. And the text flows beautifully. It reads much like a poem. Hand this to the animal lover who is ok with the predator/prey thing, and mentioning that, this would be a good book to use when talking about predators and food chains.
The Secret Life of the Red Fox by Laurence Pringle, ill. by Kate Garchinsky
Follow a vixen for one year to find out about the life cycle, habits, and habitat of the red fox.
This is GORGEOUSLY illustrated. It also has good information on red foxes for kids but the highlight is definitely the illustrations.
Graphic Novel
The Big Bad Fox by Benjamin Renner
Fox is a horrendously unsuccessful raider of the farm. To the extent that instead of stealing chickens he usually gets beat up by chickens and the other farm animals give him pity turnips as he hightails it out of there. Wolf can't get anywhere near the farm because the dog actually goes after him (the dog ignores Fox). So Wolf gets the grand idea to have Fox steal some chicken eggs, raise them for a few months, and then they'll split a meal of the tender chicks. The first part goes ok, Fox manages to get and hide the eggs from the farm residents. The second part also goes well, Fox hatches and raises the three chicks. But therein lies the problem to part three, Fox becomes a bit attached to the three chicks in the process. When Wolf tries to hold Fox to the deal things get interesting.
This was hilarious start to finish. From the way the farm animals treat the fox to Fox's mothering adventures to the mother hen's fox elimination training with the other chickens, it's super fun and quite entertaining. So entertaining in fact, the hilarity should stand up to multiple re-readings. And the humor is such that it should appeal to anyone from 5 to 95.
Middle Grade Fiction
Pax by Sara Pennypacker, ill. by Jon Klassen
As the war approaches, Peter's father is headed off to the front, Peter is headed to his grandfather's, and Peter's fox Pax is headed to the woods. Peter's father says that's what's best. But after abandoning Pax on the side of the road and arriving at Grandpa's, the guilt starts to overcome Peter. He realizes he can't just leave Pax alone in the wilderness. He's raised him from a kit. What chance does a tame fox have in the wild with a war closing in on his location? So instead of heading to school the next morning, Peter sets out to traverse the 300 or so miles to where they left Pax. But Peter's plans get waylayed by an accident, and he finds himself recovering under the care of an amputee former-soldier, a woman who has sequestered herself in the wild to find herself after PTSD. Healing from his injury, both Peter and Vola find the chance encounter also addressing injuries in their hearts. Meanwhile, Pax is trying to wait for his boy he knows will come back. He runs into a group of wild foxes who have their own opinions of humans. And the foxes know that the war is edging ever closer to their location. Will the boy and his fox be reunited before war tears them both apart forever?
The setting of this book takes some close observation and a bit of time to figure out. I eventually figured out it is set in a near future fictitious war over water between two nameless sides. So it is actually a very light dystopian/scifi futuristic read. The presence of coyotes (which only live in the Americas) and the mention of encounters with Arctic creatures eventually helped narrow down the location to somewhere in present day Canada or Alaska. I read one review that said this was historical fiction, but the presence of Ziploc bags and the location means it isn't any past war. This is speculative fiction. But speculative fiction so lightly and covertly done that it takes close observations to figure out it is such. The chapters alternate between Peter and Pax's points of view. Peter has a LOT of baggage from his past to work through. He's dealing with the death of his mother about five years before, a father who has anger issues (and the fear that he has the same), the coming war, and guilt over abandoning Pax. Any one of those things would have been plenty to work through in one book. It only works because Vola, the woman who takes him in after his injury, also has a mountain of baggage she's working through. She's a teensy bit ahead of him, and they are able to help each other sort some things out. There's a whole bunch of potential topics of discussion from their interactions from debating whether or not Vola did the right thing in not sending Peter immediately back to his Grandpa to which of them benefitted more from their time together. Vola's issues and the time with the foxes also brings up discussion topics related to war and its affect on everything from environment to animals to people. That said, the time with Pax is a bit lighter and gives readers a bit of reprieve from the intensity of hanging out with Peter and his issues. On the surface, this is a simple tale of a boy and his pet trying to find each other. Under the surface, it tries to tackle a whole slew of deep, hard topics from the ethics of war to how we avoid our own potential to hurt others. It doesn't promise to have all the answers, but it should get kids thinking. This is a good one to read with kids if you want to have some deeper discussions. So far students seem to struggle to finish this one on their own, but with some guidance I think it would be better. If you want a more light-hearted middle grade fox story, you might want to try Cinnabar, the One O'Clock Fox by Marguerite Henry.
Juvenile/Young Adult Nonfiction
Once a Wolf: How Wildlife Biologists Fought to Bring Back the Grey Wolf by Stephen R. Swineburne, photos by Jim Brandenburg
A look at the common perceptions of wolves in history, how the wolf was hunted out of much of the USA, and then how scientists started to study wolves and their impact on the ecosystem and changed their policies, moving towards reintroducing the wolf to Yellowstone Park.
I would love to see a revised edition of this with notes from the almost 20 years the wolves have now had at Yellowstone. Not that this isn't a good read as it is. It is a fascinating read. The historical notes on how rangers and scientists viewed wolves in the past and how their change in understanding came about was so well explained. There are great photographs and the text is very readable. It provides a very balanced view of predators and their importance in the ecosystem even though we sometimes view them as mean since they kill other animals. This moved up to one of my favorite Scientists in the Field books.
Note: Click on the title to see why this is probably best for middle school on up.
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