Forests In Winter...
The forests in winter here are quite incredible.
They were a large part of the inspiration for Castle In The Mist. We live
in Finland during the winter, where seventy percent of the land is covered in forests. Moose, bear, wolves and even wolverines live in these forests. They are obviously a haven for wildlife.
Dogs, with their adaptability, their endurance, and their incredible sense of smell are also at home in the forest. And most working dogs are well adapted to snow and cold weather. Walking in the forest with our dogs and seeing them run through the snow has been a wonderful experience for Stella and me.
Many story ideas for Castle In The Mist came from imagining the frustration of Prince Ukko, tyrannical leader of the Black Hawk tribe, trying to destroy dogs in the forest, especially the winter forests. The dogs always evaded the hunting parties, using the mist, fog, darkness and snow to their advantage and later howling their victory messages to everyone within the castle walls.
Children can read how the winter forest gave the dogs an opportunity to combine their natural abilities, intelligence, and courage to find non-violent solutions to the ruthlessness of Prince Ukko and the threat of violence and war.
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Let kids read dog books to dogs...
Therapy reading dogs open the doors to the world of books and reading. We support therapy dog reading progams in 12 states. If you are a librarian, teacher or owner of a therapy dog, we will send you a copy of Castle In The Mist or one of the other books in the Planet Of The Dogs series...simply email us at [email protected]
A Dog Walks Into the Room...
Therapy dog owners find gratifcation and even joy in working with their dogs. Our focus here is on reading programs; however, most therapy dogs also visit hospitals, nursing home and even hospices where they bring solace, friendship and even joy.
The dog in the photo is Lily, a West Highland Terrier. We asked her owner, Nina
Mortellito, to tell us about some of their work with children. Here is part of their story..
"I am one of the lucky people who has a therapy dog...for five years she has been working at a school for challenged children, The Gillen Brewer School in New York City. (she and I go alternate weeks to the New York Presbyterian Hospital). Once a week, she is read to by a challenged child who found it difficult to read to adults. He also had a fear of dogs. He went from reading 3 pages, and sitting out of reach of Lilly, to reading 30 pages at a sitting and letting Lily kiss him. They are best friends now and he adores playing with her after our reading sessions...At the hospital she soothes patients that are depressed and anxious and brings comfort to patients that are missing their own pets..."
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Forget the Treadmill. Get a Dog...
A recent comprehensive, research-based, New York Times article by Tara 
Parker-Pope discusses the positive effects of taking dogs for walks..."If you’re looking for the latest in home exercise equipment, you may want to consider something with four legs and a wagging tail.
Several studies now show that dogs can be powerful motivators to get people moving. Not only are dog owners more likely to take regular walks, but new research shows that dog walkers are more active over all than people who don’t have dogs."
To read the article,which includes information on several recent studies, go to:
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/03/14/forget-the-treadmill-get-a-dog/
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The unique qualities of dogs are helping returning veterans in multiple ways. The proven ability of these wonderful creatures to help, to heal and to motivate is being applied in multiple ways by America's Vet Dogs. In their words...
"America’s VetDogs uses guide dogs, service dogs, and innovative technology to help disabled veterans once again live the lives they used to. Not only does a VetDog provide assistance with daily activities, the dog provides the motivation to conquer new challenges. People focus on the dog, not the disability. With a VetDog by his or her side, a veteran is not alone.
VetDogs trains and provides& assistance dogs for veterans who are blind or visually impaired; have disabilities other than blindness. We train physical, occupational, and emotional therapy dogs to work with wounded soldiers and active duty personnel. For a dog to become a VetDog, it must meet our health, safety, and training standards, and must be trained for and matched with to meet the needs of a person with disabilities...
Combat Stress Relief
These specially trained canines are deployed in theater for active military personnel. They offer emotional support for servicemen and women dealing with combat stress, homefront issues, and sleep disorders."
http://www.vetdogs.org/Content.aspx?id=54
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CELEBRATE CHILDREN'S BOOK WEEK!...from CBC
"The 92nd annual observance of Children's Book Week will be May 2-8, 2011. A celebration of the written word, Children's Book Week introduces young people to new authors and ideas in schools, libraries, homes, and bookstores. Through Children's Book Week, Every Child a Reader (the CBC Foundation) 
encourages young people and their caregivers to discover the complexity of the world beyond their own experience through books... visit www.BookWeekOnline.com for more information, ideas, and materials for Children's Book Week 2011."
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Funny Video with Harvey the Dog...
This was created to promote originality by Thinkbox.tv...it does that and much more! A must see for dog lovers, kids, and people who could use a smile.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSnUlcHvdqA
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Operation Baghdad Pups
The SPCA has an important program to help reunite returning troops and their dogs from the war zones.
"U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan befriend local animals as a way to help cope with the emotional hardships they endure every day while deployed in a war zone. The Operation Baghdad Pups program provides veterinary care and coordinates complicated logistics and transportation requirements in order to reunite these beloved pets with their service men and women back in the U.S. These important animals not only help our heroes in the war zone, but they also help them readjust to life back home after combat."
Visit the SPCA website for more infomation and excellent videos of veterans and their dogs
:http://www.spcai.org/baghdad-pups.html.
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Lit World Read Aloud Day is a Success!
"Over 200,000 people in at least 58 countries around the globe brought their voices together on World Read Aloud Day as representatives of the Global Literacy Movement and the power of Words to Change Worlds."
However, more readers are needed...Visit:www.litworld.org
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Yellow Doggie's Creator speaks out...
Here is a photo of Cayr Ariel Wulff, with her beloved Dylan...Cayr is the multi- talented, passionate dog lover, dog rescuer, dog artist (yelodoggie), dog blogger, dog book author (Born Without a Tail), and Cleveland Examiner Pet Columnist.
Cayr writes with a fresh voice and passion on dog related issues on her blog, Up On The Woof. Here is an excerpt from a recent post on "Dealing With Cause Snobs"...
" Why do these cause snobs always presume that because a person has compassion for animals that it automatically precludes them from caring about other issues? It’s been my experience that people who have compassion for animals — who work in rescue, are often the first people who step forward when help is needed in any area. I’ve seen them volunteer at food banks, homeless shelters, nursing homes, and hospitals. I’ve known them to write letters to congressmen, senators and presidents about human rights issues. I’ve known them to drop everything in order to hold fundraisers for victims of crime or natural disaster..."
Read more at: http://thewoof.wordpress.com
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All books in the Planet Of The Dogs series can be purchased at your favorite
bookstore or on the internet through Amazon, Barnes & Noble , Powells and others...
For cups, hats, shirts, dog shirts and other gift
items...Visit our store at Cafe Press.
Read Sample Chapters of all our books on our website:www.Planetofthedogs.net
Librarians, teachers, bookstores -- order our books directly from Ingram...professional discount, of course
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Japan's Earthquake Animals, "Safe or Not?"
Dog lover Nancy Houser writes about her concerns for the over 12 million dogs and 12 million cats in Japan..." According to the Globe and Mail, how the nuclear crisis, earthquake and tsunami in Japan are affecting the area’s plants, animals and fish is still in question. So far, the main focus has been the safety of the people — while attempting to decrease massive nuclear threats. The only dogs seen through the media in Japan have been international search-and-rescue teams working at finding victims. Everything else has been mass chaos and the terrible destruction of nature with few plants remaining in the path from Japan’s massive earthquake and tsunami."
Included in this post is a list of, "Essentials to have for pets, children and elderly for emergancies". To read the entire post visit Way Cool Dogs:
http://www.waycooldogs.com/japans-earthquake-animals-safe-or-not/
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Look for us at the London Book Fair
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Deanna Leah, of HBG Productions and the International Publisher'sAlliance, will be repesenting us (translation rights) at the London Book Fair, April 11-13. Location: Stand Y460 (near the Literary Cafe). We are pleased to be represented by a top professional who is also a dog lover. That's her dog, Izzy, on the left
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Emotional Problems, Animals, and Therapy
Jane E. Brody, award winning New York Times writer and columnist on health issues, has written an article entitled "Easing the Way in Therapy with the Aid of an Animal". She presents an overview of the healing power, primarily of dogs, but also of cats and even rabbits. Here is an excerpt: "...But the use of animals to enhance health can go well beyond individual cases and group settings. A growing number of psychotherapists are using therapy animals to facilitate treatment, especially treatment of children with emotional, social and even physical problems.
Among the pioneers is Aubrey H. Fine, psychotherapist and professor at the California State Polytechnic University in Pomona, whose extensive successful use of therapy animals in treating children is documented in “The Handbook on Animal Assisted Therapy” (Elsevier/Academic Press, 2010)..."
To read more visit:http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/15/health/15brody-animals.html?ref=health
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What Do Dogs Do All Day..?
Dogs in our books search, rescue, guard, defend, shepherd, protect, warn, bond, help, carry, play, sleep, sense, find, detect, trick, fool,entertain, hide, teach, inspire, heal and love...
How Does Their Behavior Affect Kids..?
"We have read Planet Of The Dogs during our reading time with the dogs and my students are absolutely enthralled with the book! It was wonderful to witness them applying character lessons from the book to their own peer interactions. We started reading Castle In The Mist and my students beg to read these books during free time. What great motivators to encourage reading in young children." -- Julie Hauck, teacher, devloper of the Pages for Preston reading program, Longfellow School, Sheboygan, WI
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Kindness of Strangers...the Sunbear Squad
"In late 2007, as his train rolled through western Utah, freight conductor Ken VanMoorhem saw a stray, mangy dog, lost in the desert. He was affected by her pathetic appearance and thought about her. He watched for the dog each time he traveled the route"...You can find the rest of this true life story and many, many others by Sunbear Squad contributors at: www.sunbearsquad.org/storie.shtml
Do you know what to do if you see a dog in trouble..? Visit Sunbear Squad for info and quidelines!
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It takes a certain kind of person to love a dog...
...It takes a person who understands that throwing the yellow ball is far more important than the program you are trying to watch on TV, the book you are trying to read or the telephone conversation you are trying to have.
It takes a person who is willing to be worshipped and adored for the next 10-15 years despite all of their personal faults and shortcomings...
It takes a person who can laugh at the chaos, shrug off the messes and embrace the joy.
--This is an excerpt from Cayr Ariel Wulff's blog, Up on the Woof.
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