Books Featuring Dogs Often Make Fun, Inspiring Reading
Dog stories have existed for centuries. From magazine articles to books, stories about humankind’s best friend have graced pages and touched hearts. Classic stories like Jack London’s Call of the Wild and White Fang, published in 1903 and 1906 respectively, intrigue readers to this day. Such books, as well as countless others like Lassie Come Home (1940), The Pokey Little Puppy (1942), Old Yeller (1956), and The Incredible Journey (1961), engaged countless readers, and came to movie and television screens as well. Did you know that Lassie started as a short story in 1938? Therefore, that manuscript had an incredible journey of its own!
The popularity of dog books remains strong. Stories for kids, such as Clifford The Big Red Dog, Shilo (both of which can be considered classics as well), The Stray Dog, Because of Winn Dixie, Madeline Finn and the Library Dog, are not only entertaining, but subtly teach important life lessons. That’s what I envisioned doing when I first became an author and published Sage’s Big Adventure: Living With Blindness – I hoped children would find in Sage’s story, as I did in her life, courage and perseverance, traits to employ when they encounter challenges in life.
Authors like Jon Katz and W. Bruce Cameron write engaging dog stories that are also popular. In fact, some of Cameron's stories also hit the silver screen. The late Captain Luis Carlos Montalvan, whom I had the honor of meeting in person once, also wrote several stories for adults and children about his service dog, Tuesday, showcasing the importance of such canines for veterans and others who struggle physically and emotionally.
Dogs appear in genres other than children’s books and memoirs. Many romance books, thrillers, and cozy mystery stories also bring dogs (and other animals) into the story line. I recently read a cozy mystery titled No Good Deed Unpunished by C.H. Sessums with a one-eyed cat and a pig for pets, and the pig helped foil an attempted murder. LOVED IT! I have several more cozies on my To-Be-Read (TBR) list that feature dogs and/or cats in the story, and I look forward to diving into those this winter.
Pets in romance and romantic suspense are quite popular. K-9 dogs are often represented in romantic suspense, including a line of Love Inspired Suspense from Harlequin. Dana Mentink is one of the most popular authors in this arena. Two of her books are on my TBR list. She also writes cozy mystery.
My romance stories, as you may know, feature pet rescue and adoption as part of the love story. My first series is known as Yellowstone Country, with each book set in Wyoming or Montana near Yellowstone National Park. I also have stand-alone stories with the same theme also set in one of those states. I plan to expand my writing endeavors in 2025 to the cozy mystery genre. One planned story will be set in the world’s first national park (Yellowstone) and the other in Arizona, a state I’ve visited several times and plan to do in the future. The Arizona-based cozy will feature a dog (a cocker spaniel) and though the Yellowstone mystery will not have a dog, other animals, in particular the wild ones found in the park, will be part of the story. I’m also considering having my heroine and hero taking at least one horseback ride, likely together as part of the romance subplot in the mystery.
One dog story set in Yellowstone, Bring Jade Home, is the true story of a dog lost in the wilds of the national park. I purchased a copy a few years ago, autographed by the author. It’s still in my TBR pile, and since I’m planning to write a cozy mystery set in America’s first national park, I plan to read the book this year. I well-remember the national attention this story received, both as it unfolded and then after the book was published.
There are also many wonderful books about rescue/shelter dogs (and cats) that positively impact their humans’ lives. I have some of these on my bookshelf as well, including Pawprints on Our Hearts, Pawverbs for a Dog Lover’s Heart: Inspiring Stories of Friendship, Fun, and Faithfulness, and Rescue Road: One Man, Thirty Thousand Dogs, and a Million Miles on the Last Hope Highway
Whatever genre you read, from nonfiction and memoir to romance and mystery, or if you want to add to the shelves of young readers in your life, you’ll find many dog (and other animals) stories to enjoy.
Happy Winter Reading!
