Dog Driven by Terry Lynn Johnson - Book Review

  

Dog Driven by Terry Lynn Johnson

 

Fourteen-year-old McKenna accepts the challenge of a three-day dog sled race across the Canadian wilderness. Hiding her deteriorating vision from all, she takes herself and her beloved dogs into danger on the trail. Written as an adventure for middle schoolers the story is too interesting not to be read by anyone interested in sled dogs.

Terry Lynn Johnson is an experienced musher who bases her books on her own experiences. She owned a dog-sledding business with eighteen huskies and taught dog-sledding near Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada and served as a conservation officer and backcountry canoe ranger. Loving outdoor adventures, she brings that knowledge to her writing for young readers. Johnson, who now has one Border Collie, is also the author of “Ice Dogs” and “Sled Dog School.”

The Book of Dog Magic - A gift for dog lovers with New Age spirit

The Book of Dog Magic: Spells, Charms & Tales

by Sophia with Denny Sargent, (Llewellyn, 2016)

Dogs have long been important in folklore and mythology. Many claim dogs can see ghosts and strange energies that  we cannot. Therefore, it's not surprising that dogs are associated with magic. Sophia and Denny Sargent’s how-to-manual of charms, chants, meditations, and stories provides background into dogs and spirit and a guide to magical techniques and exercises to connect you with your dogs on a deep psychic level.

First , every dog lover can find their inner canine and mythic dog spirit. Next discover your dog's astrological sign, as well as suggestions of complementary dog breeds based on your astrological sign.

Fortune telling? Yes, your dog can be your psychic. The authors offer the meaning of cards your dog steps on (and hopefully doesn't eat).

Use The Book of Dog Magic to find a spell to choose the perfect dog for you. Then look up a meditation to identify the right name for your new dog. Next, chant a spell to housetrain the puppy and another to make your dog more obedient.

To keep your dog from roaming try the practical "Always Come Back to Me" spell:

Tyr, hear, always stay.

You will never run away.

Always be by my side,

Never vanish, never hide.

If you do someday run free,

Always return to me.

Most comforting are the spells and meditations to help your beloved dog pass into the afterlife.

The Book of Dog Magic includes a glossary of dog spirits and dog-loving gods and goddesses.

A wonderful gift for the dog lover with New Age spirit.

Sophia and Denny Sargent - 

Sophia is an animal intuitive, professional psychic, teacher, and bestselling New Age author. She's a traveler with the ability to call wild animals to her wherever she goes.

Denny Sargent is a writer, artist, and university instructor, specializing in ancient cultures and folklore.  He has been initiated in several esoteric, western Hermetic and Tantrika traditions. He helped found, write, and edit esoteric journals of contemporary mythology and magik.

Both love all animals, especially canines.

Animal Stories Make Great Gifts for Dog Loving Kids

Sashi and the Puppy Mill Girl by Linda Greiner
Illustrated by Morgan Spicer.
(Brown Books Kids, 2016)

A fast-paced story about breed rescue filled with charming drawings.

Sashi, the bossy Sheltie, lives with a liitle girl named Anna and her mother who fosters Shelties. Cinnamon arrives as a dirty and frightened foster. The story explains what a puppy mill is and how fostering and adoption works with an emphasis on the patience needed for rehabilitation. Fostering is defined as "helping dogs find a home where they will be loved forever and ever."

The "For the Adult Reader" page discuses choosing a family dog from a rescue.

A picture book for 5 - 8 year old children, kindergarten through 3^rd grade.

Linda Grainer adopted the real Sashi in 2001 from the Shetland Sheepdog Placement Services of New Jersey and started fostering in 2003. She is the author of two previous Sashi books. A portion of sales from Sashi benefit SSPSNJ.

Morgan Spicer, a self-proclaimed dog-and-cat-lady, hopes to one day open an animal sanctuary and rescue where she will continue to educate youth about the importance of compassion and the magic of animal companionship.

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The Shelter Pet Squad series
by Cynthia Lord. Illustrated by Erin McGuire.
(Scholastic Press, 2014, 2015, 2016)

A series of three (so far) short chapter books about 7-year-old Suzannah, who can't have a pet - but desperately wants one. She volunteers at her local animal shelter and becomes part of the shelter ‘s Pet Squad, a group of children who learn about animals, make toys, and have fun caring for the shelter animals.

The first in the series features “JellyBean” the guinea pig. The second is about a ferret named “Merlin” and the third stars “Paloma” a satos puppy from Puerto Rico.

Each book encourages volunteering and friendship, explains how shelters work, and stresses the need to understand the type of animal you adopt. They include suggestions how children can help shelter animals in their own area, craft projects to make toys, and advice for caring for a pet and help your local shelter. Each one asks the child to sign a Pledge to become an Honorary Shelter Pet Squad Member.

Especially fun for 7-10 year old children, 2^nd - 5^th grade.

Cynthia Lord is a prolific award-winning children’s author of many books about animals and pets as well as Rules, a Newbery Honor Book. Lord is a shelter volunteer, works in a writing shed, and has a collection of rubber duckies, as well as Milo her dog, Cookie the guinea pig, and two bunnies.

More Dog Book Reviews

Dog Crazy: A Novel of Love Lost and Found by Meg Donohue

(William Morrow, 2015)

Maggie Brennan is a gifted pet bereavement counselor for patients who’ve lost a a four-footed friend. She has a gift for guiding others through difficult situations.

Leaving a job and a relationship, Maggie moves from Philadelphia to San Francisco, but when her retriever mix dog Toby dies, she becomes unable to leave her home. Suffering from agoraphobia, fortunately Maggie’s living in the same building as her old friend Lourdes and Lourdes’s family, including two daughters and their poodle Giselle.

Maggie’s troubles threaten the success of her counseling practice but for a while she is able to hide her condition, see clients, and volunteer for SuperMutt Rescue, a dog rescue organization without leaving her home.

Everything changes when Maggie meets Anya, an eccentric young woman convinced her stolen dog Billy is alive. Anya’s family, including her elderly grandmother and intriguing brother Henry, want her to face the truth that Billy is dead. In order to aid Anya search the streets of San Francisco for the missing dog, Maggie is forced to leave her house with the support of Giselle, her friend’s poodle. But when she needs go out without Giselle to rescue another dog, Maggie must face her demons and bravely venture out alone.

Dog Crazy blends the mystery of a missing dog with the importance of baby steps and courage in overcoming a disability as Maggie finds herself entangled in a mystery that forces her to face her biggest fear. And open her heart to new love.

This sensitive women’s novel demonstrates how dogs help people and people help dogs, while incorporating a sweet love story into a feel good dog story.

Meg Donohue is the USA Today bestselling author of Dog Crazy, All the Summer Girls, and How to Eat a Cupcake. Born and raised in Philadelphia, she now lives in San Francisco with her husband, three young daughters, and a dog.

Killing Trail by Margaret Mizushina
(A Timber Creek K-9 Mystery) Crooked Lane, 2015
First, the title is a lot grittier than this fast paced dog-centered mystery, which combines K-9 work with elements of a small town cozy.
Sheriff Deputy Mattie Lu Cobb has a new partner.“[He] was a handsome guy: straight black hair, intense brown eyes, and white teeth that flashed when he grinned…the only one in the department who could outrun her in a cross-country foot race.” He is her German Shepherd K-9 police dog Robo.
Both new to their jobs and both highly driven to succeed, the Mattie-Robo team must figure out why a 16-year-old girl was killed. As it becomes clear the murder may be just the beginning, Mattie and Robo never loose focus.

The case rocks the small Timber Creek, Colorado community where Mattie was once known as a bad kid. Cole Walker, local veterinarian and single father assists, while Mattie and Robo track down the truth and uncover her hometown’s secrets, including those of Cole's daughter, who may know more than she's saying.

The appealing Robo knows what he’s doing, he just needs to train his new partner to trust him. Mizushima treats Robo as an important character, but never uses anthropomorphism to enhance his personality. Mattie honors the human-dog bond with respect. Filled with realistic veterinary procedure and police K-9 team work. Killing Trail features quirky local characters like Mattie’s co-workers at the sheriff's department, all who certainly will turn up in subsequent books.

A suspenseful, well-crafted mystery featuring a caring and relentless heroine, outdoor action, and a dog you’ll fall in love with. Killing Trail is an exciting debut that will have readers waiting for the next book in the series.

Margaret Mizushima balances writing with assisting her husband with their veterinary clinic and Angus cattle herd. She enjoys writing mysteries, reading, and hiking. Mizushima lives on a small ranch in Colorado where she and her husband raised two daughters and a multitude of animals.

 Reviewed by Amber Polo