Barking Planet Children's & YA Books

Dogs Can See In The Dark

The Wonderful Nose...

The wonderous ability of dogs to trace multiple scents, enabling them to "see" in the dark, plays a major role in all the books in the Planet Of The Dogs series.

A dog's perception of the world around them incudes acute hearing and eyesight with special features that enhance their ability to hunt. Their eyes, for instance, are exceptionally good at seeing movement.

However, it is their sense of smell that is truly extraordinary and provides them with an ongoing multi-dimensional picture of their world. We wanted children reading our books to get an understanding of this sense and the amazing things that dogs can do. 

As the adventures unfold in our books, children learn how the dogs sense of smell allows them to follow a trail, find and rescue a King lost in a snowstorm, and see danger in the darkness. 

As an example, in Castle In The Mist

, when night falls, and with fog rising in the forest, only the dogs have freedom of movement; only the dogs know where the warrior hunters are located; and only the howling dogs can give hope to the kidnapped children held prisoner in the castle.

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The illustration of Billy, above, is from Castle In The Mist. The photo, below, is of my wife, Stella Mustanoja-McCarty, and our family dog Dafi.

Dafi is the model and inspiration for both Buddy in the Planet Of The Dogs and Snow Valley Heroes, A Christmas Story, as well as Billy in Castle In The Mist. 

When he was younger, Dafi was trained in search and rescue. Like all shepherds, he is always aware of where his people are and taking care of them.

Walking with Dafi is a reminder of how interesting things can be in the natural world and an education in how dogs use their amazing sense of smell. 

A dog's sense of smell allows them to sense an odor at nearly 100 million times lower concentration than we humans. No wonder that life is so interesting for dogs.

                                               

************************************************************************************************************************or For sample chapters and more information on the Planet Of The Dogs book series, please visit our web site: http://www.planetofthedogs.net

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If you are a librarian in Massachusetts...

Please visit the IPNE (Independent Publishers of New England) book exhibit at the MLA conference, May 6-8, where a diverse selection of excellent books are on display including our illustrated fantasy-adventure first chapter books from the Planet Of The Dogs series. 

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Therapy Dogs Update...

Ruth Dyer teaches second grade Western Academy for International Studies, a magnet school in Danbury, CT.

Students who are reading with therapy dogs in her classroom are mostly struggling readers working on fluency...they are "reading the Just Right Books in order to progress and pracice the strategies." She tells us that Planet Of The Dogs and Castle In The Mist are enjoyed as a "read alound"..."I have have many students with dogs so we love the characters..."

Pages For Preston...

 Julie Hauck, the second and third grade teacher who developed the Pages For Preston Progam at the Longfellow Elementary School, in Shebygan, WI, is also a certifed therapy dog trainer.

Julie has now trained Frankie, the Walk 'n Roll Dog and  Frankie's mom, Barb Techel, has written a new Frankie book based on her therapy dog experiences. The book will be released later this year.

Julie's students are enthusiastic about Pages For Preston and often quite insightful. Here's a quote from Caroline, "The dogs calm us down when we pet them so that we can read better."

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"What's so good about uncritical, uncomprimising, unconditional love? Speaking for myself, if anyone, or anything, loves me, I'm only going to feel good about it if I'm loved for my qualities -- or anyway, a quality."

Daniel Pinkwater -- A Walk With Jacques

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Healers and Dogs that Heal

Since the dawn of history...

Healers have played an important, often vital, role for people everywhere. Their influence has varied with their ability to to heal people within a community or culture. Healers have often been a resource for knowledge and guidance.

Healers play an importand role in our series of books. Long, long ago, when dogs first came to  planet earth, it was the healers and the children that welcomed them and understood that the dogs had come to help people. Like the children, the healers were able to communicate with the dogs.

In our books, as in life, the healers have the ability to calm and heal the frightened, the old, and the sick..."Bella (the healer woman) told everyone she met to open their hearts to the dogs and good things would happen. People learned that the dogs were visiting the sick and the unhappy, and soon they began to hear of people getting better..."

Read sample chapters of the Planet Of The Dogs series by visiting our website: http://www.planetofthedogs.net

Therapy Dogs Today

In the current era, the healing abilities of dogs have produced a nationwide therapy dog movement wherein both children and adults benefit from the unconditional acceptance, loyalty and love of dogs.

Therapy Dogs United, based in Eirie,PA is a first class example of a comprehensive program; the headings on their website establish their philosophy..."A Loving Dog is Good for the Soul, and There is no greater Therapy than the Love of a Dog."

They describe their mission, their work, in this way..."we impact the quality of life for thousands of children, adults and seniors...Our therapy dogs provide the catalyst for positive change by motivating emotionally and physically challenged individuals...the abused, disabled, sick, lonely, injured, or depressed...our certified therapy dog teams are personally committed to bring joy and inspiration to every human life we touch..."

(Barking Planet supports TDU programs.)

Pages For Preston

Julie Hauck, an elementary school teacher at the Longellow School in Sheboygan, WI, developed a very successful therapy dog reading program -- Pages For Preston -- for her second and third grade students. It was Julie who provided us with an introduction to the wonders and practical success of therapy dog reading programs.

In this excerpt from her article in doglivingmagazine.com, she describes a classroom reading session with Preston..."When Tuesday morning arrives, we divide into two groups and make circles on the floor. Each group has a therapy dog and enough books for student and teacher. The students take turns reading a page of the book as they sit in the middle of the circle, next to Preston. Preston sits on his "magic carpet", a blue crate pad that earned its name when Emily, a 3rd grader, announced that "Preston is magic when he listens to me read." The reading circle continues for approximately 30 minutes, with each student receiving several turns to read to Preston."

All of the children have increased their reading skills and their enthusiasm for reading. Preston is especially fond of dog stories.

(Barking Planet supports Pages For Preston.)

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"You can say any fool thing to a dog, and the dog will give you this look that says, "My God, you're right ! I never would have thought of that." -- Dave Barry

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