Texana Going to the Dogs

Book Featuring Rescued Texas Dog Published

July 5, 2008 : Proceeds will help to fund various animal welfare organizations.
[Newsrelease begins]
"Dingo has traded his status from a lonely stray adopted from the Galveston Island Humane Society to a beloved family member, featured as the lead character in his own children's book, Where Do Dingos Come From. The Labrador/chow mix now has a fictional counterpart, who helps to teach children about adopting pets and kindness and compassion to animals.

Tracy and Bascom Bradshaw, authors of the book and Dingo's guardians, note, "This book is the first in a series that introduces our characters and how Dingo the dog meets Cricket and their pet-loving Mom, Sophie. Our books are really a medium for us to provide a face to our Dingo the Dog Project which funds trap-spay-neuter [TNR] programs in our Doha, Qatar neighborhood and donations to shelters, as well as the lesson plans we are developing for teaching children about responsible pet care and pet adoption.""
READ MORE ABOUT http://network.bestfriends.org/texas/news/26875.html

Savage Sam - Fred Gipson

Savage Sam. By Fred Gipson.

NY: Harper, originally 1962. Pbk. With a serialization in Colliers Magazine. Still in print after decades. http://www.harpercollins.com/

You remember Old Yeller. Well, Savage Sam is his son. I found an old, clean copy of Sam at St. Vincent de Paul’s Resale, and wondered; I’d never read it. Gipson’s simple eloquence picks up the now 16-year-old Travis and Little Arlis in Central Texas in the 1870s. After a brief introduction to Savage Sam, the boys and Lisabeth, a neighbor’s daughter, get captured by Apaches and a lone Comanche. And the chase is on. It’s a quick read and well written. Troubles and hardships are mixed with learning and character development (Travis comes to respect and even admire the Indians).

Travis even knifes one of their captors to protect Lisabeth and joins the final battle. Sam, of course, tracks down the band and young trio. Travis is shown on the edge of manhood in the rough times. Shelves are better with a little sentimentality mixed with realism. How’s your shelf? Recommended by Kay Caruthers. - WH