A World of Dogs: A Celebration of Fascinating Facts and Amazing Real-Life Stories for Dog Lovers — Review

Thought for the Day:

“After nourishment, shelter, and companionship, stories are the thing we need most in the world.”

~ Philip Pullman ~

Gifts for My Writer Friends:

Dialogue, when written well, adds much to our stories. It’s so important to make it clear who is speaking without littering our writing with he said she said. HERE is a really good article by Jan Fields writing for The Institute of Children’s Literature.

Nobody gets through writing a novel without some subplots, but they need to be done well. HERE K. M. Allan has a great post with Subplot Do’s and Don’ts.

I always get great comments when I post a good article on the agent search. HERE Anne R. Allen has a great guest post by Natalie Aguirre with Tips on Finding the Right Agent and a Secret Way to Discover Agents You Don’t Know About. We can all use a secret way to find more agents!

Some of you have asked how things are going with my rescue dog, Mango. She has had quite a week. When the SPCA did her dental work before I could adopt her, they discovered a cyst on her back. They tested it and said it had cancer cells. They said it should have been discovered earlier, so they would cover the surgery necessary to remove it. The cyst was about the size of the tip of my pinky finger, but the incision is about 2 1/2 inches long! And she has to wear a cone for two weeks. She is quite frustrated by not being able to get through the dog door and banging her cone into just about everything she normally would slide right by. The medication kind of knocked her for a loop, and she didn’t eat for a couple days, but now she seems just about back to normal. She seems to get more comfortable here every day and is more comfortable with other people with every visit. She’s a real trouper. Thanks for asking.

I did a series of blogposts not long ago that were all picture books for middle graders. Somehow I forgot to include the wonderful A World of Dogs: A Celebration of Fascinating Facts and Amazing Real-Life Stories for Dog Lovers written by Carlie Sorosiak and illustrated by Luisa Uribe. It is one of my favorite picture books for middle graders to come out this year. I didn’t realize until I was preparing for this post and went to Carlie Sorosiak’s site that she has written a couple of my very favorite MG novels as well. I have reviewed three of her novels — Leonard (My Life as a Cat), I, Cosmo, and Always, Clementine. If you click on the titles, you can read those reviews. She is a terrific writer, and this book is evidence of her chops in non-fiction. Lisa Uribe’s illustrations are enchanting and the perfect completion to Sorosiak’s fine writing.

Here is my review.

Kids love books about animals, and what animals have more young fans than dogs? Probably none, so a good book about dogs is one that will appeal to most kids. This book is chock full of great information. Each spread (there are 44 of them) focuses on a different aspect of dogs’ lives such as The Origin of Dogs, Doggy Language, Important Breeds of the Past, Rarely Seen Dogs, War Dogs, Dogs with Jobs, How to Train Your Dog, and so many more. Each spread has several sections that answer different questions about the main topic of the spread. There are illustrations aplenty to support the text. The text is conversational and filled with engaging facts, but author Carlie Sorosiak uses her storytelling skills to keep this from becoming didactic. It is clear she has done her research as the amount of information is astounding. The illustrations by Luisa Uribe are charming and perfectly support the text. She fills the pages with wonderful details that will help keep young readers engaged. A good 2-page glossary and an index of dog breeds round things out. If you have a reluctant reader, this might just get them reading. Middle-grade readers will read this one over and over.

Please don’t forget to check for other Marvelous Middle-Grade Monday posts at Greg Pattridge’s blog HERE.