This book contains five short stories about famous dogs. There is Balto who led the sled to save people in Nome, Alaska. There is a Swiss Saint Bernard that saved many people in the snow in Switzerland - even the man that stabbed him because he thought he was a wolf. There are three other stories in the book about famous dogs. They are fairly short and good for kids interested in dogs.
Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo
Winn-Dixie was a dog causing a ruckus in the Winn-Dixie grocery store that was adopted by the narrator of the book. The girl was living in a poor southern neighborhood with her father (who she usually refers to as "the Preacher".) Her mother had left the family earlier. She meets many people in the community and befriends many of the "oddballs". She learns many of their backstories and gains respect for them. Inspired by Gone with the Wind, they decide to hold a big outdoor party with everyone invited (even her "enemies"). It seems to go well, but then a thunderstorm hits. They go for cover, but lose track of the dog. After trying to find the dog, they find out the dog had never left. They all learn that nobody is perfect and understanding can go a long way.
The Call of the Wild by Jack London
A pampered dog is stolen from his home in the Santa Clara valley and sold to become an Alaskan sled dog. He becomes increasingly "wild" and becomes the leader of the pack, but remains loyal to good humans. He finds himself pulling the sled of some idiot humans who disregard advice from others and try to travel in luxury. Buck escapes from them just before they end up killing themselves. He befriends the man that helped him escape. After this man is killed by natives, Buck seeks revenge. After that, he has no more humans to be loyal to and answers the "call of the wild". I liked this book a lot better than I did when I read it in school. The "dog narration" works well here. (I happened to read it and Socks, back to back to keep an animal narration scheme going.)
In the dead of winter, a Diptheria outbreak occurred in Nome Alaska. They did not have medicine there. They hoped to get it from Anchorage. However, the train it was sent on got stuck in the snow. The best solution was a dogsled relay. Balto was the lead dog in the second to last crew. He helped the team avoid falling through cracked ice and was able to guide them through whiteout conditions during a blizzard. He also continued to lead the dogs on, even when they were cold and tired. The last dog crew was nowhere to be found, so Balto's crew ended up doing two segments and helped get the medicine to Nome early. The book is an easy to read telling of the story of Balto that does just enough to bring out the drama.
Andrea enters a writing contest for young pet lovers and comes in second place. First place was the neighborhood bully, Jerry Gordon, which made it worse. To make up for this, her brother works with her to make a movie for another dog contest. They end up becoming a finalist, along with another girl at the school. At first, they think the girl is a girlfriend of Jerry (thought they later learn otherwise.) When they go out to the studio, they also meet a talking dog. Unfortunately, the video is not able to be shown because Jerry appears in it and refuses to sign a release form. Eventually, they discover from a jilted girlfriend of Jerry's cousin that Jerry's book was just copied from an old book. Andrea wins the prize. The talking dog also stops talking and they end up getting it from the other contestant. (This dog makes a great therapy dog.)
This book rehashes much of what was in the other books in the series. It starts to get a bit predictable.
George is a dog that doesn't do much of anything. When the family leaves and some music plays nearby, he dances. By the time the family returns, he is exhausted and doesn't do much of anything. I'm not a fan of the illustration style in the book. The story itself is meh, but has a bit of charm.
This sequel to Hotel for Dogs was written a few decades after the original. It has the kids and dogs progressing just a few months after the previous book, but is now set in more modern times with technology such as cell phones. The kids decide to create a newspaper about dogs. They find that the gossip attracts the most attention and sales. However, they do take things to far. They also "doctor" some items (such as making a meat loaf recipe more 'dog appropriate') They get in trouble for some of these actions. Their parents make them shut down the paper. Then they discover that dogs are being kidnapped and the owners are asked to leave ransom in library books. With their aunt they trace the perpetrators of the crime. The bully's cousin, who appears so nice on the surface, is in town doing community service at the library to atone for previous fraud crimes. They use detective work to find the dogs and capture the bullies. The author of the book is known for crime books and has combined that interest with this late-career Hotel For Dogs sequel. It is engaging, though I cringed at some of the stupid things the kids did with their paper.
Hotel For Dogs by Lois Duncan
Some kids move from New Mexico to the east coast. They start by living with their Aunt, who is allergic to dogs. This saddens the kids, especially the girl who misses her dog at home. Nearby, there is an empty house as well as the house of a spoiled bully. The bully has a nice dog who he treats poorly. A stray dog sneaks into the house. The girl takes care of her for a bit as she discovers she is having puppies. They need to get her out, so they decide to create a "hotel" in the abandoned house. Later after the bully really mistreats his dog, the dog runs away and wants to die. The kids rescue him and bring him to the hotel. Other kids and dogs eventually assist with the hotel. The kids also work jobs to help support the dogs. One night they plan to scare the bully with slides of a "ghost dog". Shortly after, the realtor is showing the parents a house, which happens to be the "hotel". They are afraid all has gone wrong. However, it ends up working out. The bully confessed to his cruelty, the parents are interested in buying the house and to cap things off, the girl gets a poem published (at an age younger than Shakespeare's first publication.) It all makes for a very happy ending.
This book contains a series of stories related to the dog Lad. He is a smart dog that respects his "master" (as opposed to an owner.) The dogs help protect the land from criminals. The dog also enters a few contests. In one case, a wealthy city man rigged a contest so that he would win. However, it backfired and Lad won. Lad also had an experience in New York City wearing a muzzle - he did not like that.
The stories portray Lad in a very positive light. It feels like Lassie and many future dog stories, though Lad predates almost all of them.
Lad was based on a read dog that lived more than a century ago.
The puppies dig a hole under the fence and explore the wide world. One poky little puppy is behind them. At dinner time, the race back. They get in trouble for going under the fence and don't get dessert. The poky puppy shoes up at home later and eats all the dessert. This repeats a few times. Then one time, the puppies get home quickly and do get dessert and the poky puppy gets nothing. I'm not sure what message this book is trying to show. Perhaps "being slow means things will happen in a different way for you."
Buddy does all sorts of ruckus. He doesn't seem to listen to anybody except for the boy. After a few episodes of this, he runs away and only the boy can get him back. Pictures are fun and story is just goode enough.
Three is a three legged stray dog that wanders around exploring the world and viewing animals with different numbers of leg. He eventually finds his way to the country where there are many different legs he hasn't seen before. He gets adopted by that family and lives happily ever after. He is a cute little dog, but the story is lackng.
The family lives close to a mean man. The man likes to hunt, but also likes to bully the kids and dogs and accuse them of doing anything that negatively affects them. He chains his dogs and is distraught when they attack others and have to be tested for rabies. One day he gets in a big drunk-driving car crash. Shiloh the dog helps notify everyone so he can get rescued. We learn that he had grown up in a horrible family with plenty of beating going on. We also learn that one of the kids had seen the man do illegal hunting. The family decides to try to support the man as he recovers, even if they don't really like him.
The book identifies some of the trials of modern rural America. The dogs play a role, but it is mostly about the relationships with the others. The narration has a bit of a drawl that takes some getting used to.
The dog Biscuit does ruckus around the time of Halloween. Most of the pages show "normal" scenes with a flap to lift to see what Biscuit is up to. It is easy to forget what is happening in the book. At least the book is short and can be read with or without the flips.
Bob's family lives near the zoo and he is excited to take trips there. While they are there, the weather turns ominous and a tornado strikes. Everything goes flying through the air. Other animals mention that they did not know that dogs can fly. Bob starts to turn into the hero as he helps assist some other animals (including a puppy that he realizes is his cousin.) There are also some interesting interactions with the wolf and hints at a doggie romance.
A family with a child and deaf dog gets a new child. However, instead of a baby, the child is a 5 year old deaf Korean orphan. The family and dog grow together. On the camping trip, the 5 year old is stranded by a flash flood. He and the other child are rescued by the dog.
A dog and some dolphins. Do you even need a a plot to have a popular kids movie? The plot has someting to do with some scientists, some kids and some adults getting together. There is some hokey ending where a woman gets trapped in a little submarine and a man goes to rescue her. (Why didn't he use one of the scuba tanks? And why did she try to open the lid?) Oh well, it makes for some drama. The real point of the movie is all the dolphin and dog shots.
