A Child Of The Wild

Canines, as their human companions can affirm, have a super sense of smell.  Their noses tend to assist them in avoiding dilemmas but can, when combined with curiosity, get them in less than desirable situations.  Emergency trips to the veterinarian to remove porcupine quills and more than normal cans of tomato juice in home pantries to combat skunk odor are evidence of inquisitiveness gone wrong.

This desire to know beyond their normal day-to-day realm is not confined to dogs but is found in their relatives living in the wild.  A Pup Called Trouble (Katherine Tegen Books, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers, February 13, 2018), a new novel written by Bobbie Pyron, follows a coyote youngster that has an extra dose of curiosity coursing through his body.  He may have been the last of his siblings to be named but his antics and over-zealous desire for adventure spell trouble.

1
Eyes Wide Open
On an early spring day, in a den tucked beneath the roots of an old oak tree, four coyote pups were born.
During the first week, they nursed and slept just like all newborn puppies do.
All except one.

As the weeks passed this pup got himself into one difficulty after another but his interest in humans, called the Makers by the Singing Creek Pack of the Coyote Clan, proved to be a serious mistake. With the confidence of youth, Trouble figured watching the farm and home of the Makers and the Beast's (their truck) daily trips he knew everything he needed to know to put an idea into motion.  One morning before the rest of his family was awake; he left the den, traveled to the farm and hopped into the back of the Maker's Beast.  What Trouble did not know was the truck filled with produce and eggs was on its way to a farmers' market. . . in New York City.

His arrival and discovery at the farmers' market left him shaken to his core and running loose in a space more foreign than he ever imagined.  Every place he looked there were towers of stone and little sky.  He was hungry and frightened.  And he caught the attention of a crow known by the Furred and Feathered as Mischief.

In short order Mischief lived up to his name enjoying every wild moment Trouble caused among the Makers in a particular office building and a subway car. On the train a specific opossum named Rosebud was failing miserably at being brave.  How would she survive being trapped inside the rocking train with a coyote?  And what was a crow doing here, too?

Taking up residence in Central Park Trouble's life took on a routine of discovery, close encounters and nighttime conversations and play.  Mischief and Rosebud were his companions but others, a fox and an owl, soon joined the group.  A poodle named Minette and her poet human enlarged Trouble's circle as did one small human, a nature lover, named Amelia. 

While Trouble seemed to be unconcerned, his cityborn friends knew disaster was a dark cloud looming over the pup, ready to burst at any time.  Officer Vetch of the Greater Manhattan Animal Control and Care was determined to capture Trouble and Trouble's status in the man's mind had changed.  In what can only be described as an action-packed, life or death scenario, a foiled plan and convergence of characters take readers toward a true hold-your-breath conclusion.  Look toward the North Star.


From the beginning with each short, descriptive chapter Bobbie Pyron builds her narrative with wit, humor and mounting tension.  The premise of curiosity over caution is one in which readers can easily identify.  The commentary of the characters and the situations in which Trouble finds himself will have you smiling and laughing out loud but underlying both the curiosity and humor Trouble's inexperience places him in increasingly dangerous situations.

Each chapter end leads flawlessly to the next chapter with sentences which heighten our own curiosity as new elements in the plot and characters are introduced. Bobbie Pyron has a gift for enveloping readers in the surroundings of her stories with her choice of words.  Her knowledge of the animals is evident in the realistic situations portrayed.  Here are a few of the many passages I tagged.

He could just make out the sleeping forms of his mother and father lying close together beneath the wide branches of an evergreen tree.  And there, beneath a rock outcropping, slept Twist.  His chin rested on the strip of deer hide he and Trouble had played with the night before.
For one heartbeat Trouble questioned what he was about to do.  Oh, how he loved his family and the den and the ancient oak and the meadow and the creek.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't a member of the Coyote Clan," the crow said.  "This ought to be rich."
Mischief watched with delight as the humans shouted and waved their arms and ran about like panic-stricken pigeons as they were prone to do when faced with something unfamiliar.

Rosebud realized through her keen sense of smell that this was a human.  Her heart pounded.  Her blood froze.  She could feel a faint coming on.
Although Rosebud was not the bravest of creatures, she was practical.  She decided the best course of action was to assure this human that 1) she was not a threat, and 2) she was not a rat.
Rosebud stood on her hind legs, pulled back her lips in an enormous smile, revealing all fifty of her gloriously sharp teeth.
Without a sound, Verla Trumpowski fainted onto the floor.
Mischief croaked in disbelief.  "How did that beady-eyed little thing do that?"

"I think," he said carefully, "that sometimes you have to take risks to see something beautiful."
Finally, the moon rose.  Trouble watched it slowly climb, not above the jagged tops of trees like at home, but above the jagged New York City skyline in the distance.


Without a doubt A Pup Called Trouble written by Bobbie Pyron is going pass from reader to reader wearing a well-loved look in no time at all.  Readers can't help but be captivated by the adventuresome episodes of Trouble and the cast of characters.  The manner in which Bobbie Pyron weaves them all together is pure storytelling enchantment.  I highly recommend this title for your professional and personal bookshelves.  At the close of the book, Bobbie provides six pages of Critter Notes on coyotes, crows and opossums.

To learn more about Bobbie Pyron and her other work please visit her website by following the link attached to her name.  (If you have not read her The Dogs of Winter or A Dog's Way Home, remedy that as soon as you can.)  At the publisher's website you can read a sample or listen to a sample of the audio.  At Coyote Yipps Bobbie Pyron talks about her inspiration for this title.

If Not For The Dogs

There is no sense of peace or security that can compare with the presence of a dog.  To feel their nose nudge your hand, to have them pause on a daily walk to listen or smell, to hear their soft doggy snores, to watch their legs move in their running dreams or to have them lie down next to you, their body curving in comfort and protection, is as if heaven has come down to Earth.  Always companions but more times than one can imagine, they are our rescuers.

This past summer I discovered an author truly gifted in her ability to capture the essence of the relationship between humans and dogs when I read A Dog's Way Home (Katherine Tegen Books, 2011) by Bobbie Pyron.  I could hardly wait for the publication of her latest title, The Dogs of Winter (Arthur A. Levine Books) based upon the true story of Ivan Mishukov, a homeless boy who lived alone for several years with a pack of dogs on the streets of Moscow.  A single newspaper article read in 2005 compelled Pyron to spend years and years of research and writing to bring this story to readers.


The first chapter, a single page, is a reflection by an older Ivan.  It closes with the following sentence.

My dreams begin and end with the dogs.

Ivan's story starts with him, his mother and grandmother, Babushka Ina, living in a small apartment in Ruza.  For him this life is stable, secure, closing each day with fairy tales read to him from a cherished book.  The sudden death of his Babushka Ina brings about devastating change.

Unable to cope with her grief, his mother begins a downward spiral, forgetting to care properly for her son, losing her job and bringing an abusive man into their home.  One evening, having been relegated to the pantry, the sounds of a physical fight are heard, thuds, crashes and a moan, through the door. The next day Ivan is told by this man, his mother is simply gone.

Stunned by this turn of events the boy searches for any signs of his mother's probable return, not believing she would leave him.  What he discovers is a single button from her coat and a smear of red next to it.  Taking a train to Moscow, Ivan hopes they are going to find his mother but instead he is to be taken to an orphanage.

Thinking he hears his mother's voice urging him to run, he does, avoiding that particular nightmare.  Escaping to the railway station Ivan ends up living with a group of hardened, streetwise homeless children.  As weeks pass he no longer looks for his mother's red coat in the crowds.  He starts to watch the dogs.

A single dog, named Lucky by Ivan, leads him to a pack of six others. (All given names by Ivan.)  These dogs become Ivan's family, each depending on the other for survival.  From the streets, to abandoned buildings, riding the trains and sheltering in the forest, at the mercy of the seasons and weather, they eke out an existence.  There are more who would do them harm than those who wish to help.

The dogs protect Ivan from homeless gangs of older children, the ever present danger of ruthless police, other wild dogs and creatures in the woods as he looks to their safety and care as best as a small child can.  The threat of starvation and the bone-chilling cold stalk them relentlessly.  As one year blends into another, Ivan becomes more dog than boy.

Despite his becoming a part of the pack, it's his need for human contact that ultimately causes him nearly unbearable pain.  Once invisible he has now become hunted. For readers the tension of him and the dogs living from one day to the next is replaced with heart pounding fear and heart-wrenching consequences.


Bobbie Pyron's descriptions of life in Russia during this time period are so finely wrought your senses are awakened to every nuance of Ivan's life with these dogs.  We are in his mind watching him change from an innocent child on his own, thrust into horrific circumstances, to a valued member of a canine family.  Their plight and fight become ours.

She divides the story into two parts with chapters numbered to fifty-three creating for readers the many moments in their days, making it more intimate.  Her technique of ending a segment or chapter with a telling sentence or remark propels the tale forward with an increasing intensity.  Nothing is spared in her gritty revelations of the truth for hundreds of thousands of children living on the streets.

Here are several passages from The Dogs of Winter.

On a hard day, a bitter cold day, I sat huddled next to a steam grate in the sidewalk.  The cold made my eyes stream tears.  I told myself they were not tears for my mother.  They were not tears for the weeks it had been since I had slept in a bed or taken a bath.  Perhaps it had been months or only days.  I didn't know or care anymore.  The tears were only for the cold.  I bowed my head and rested it on my knees.
Something warm pressed against me. Warm breath stroked my cheek.  I lifted my head.  There beside me stood a large brown and black dog.

I gasped.  There, at the bottom of the bag, glowing like the sun setting in the winter sky, was an orange.
I held the orange under my nose and drank in the wonderful smell of its orangeness.  "Oh, he must be a very rich man," I said to the dogs.  They sniffed the orange and turned back to their bread.  I smiled.  The orange would be just for me.  I had eaten an orange only once or twice in my life.  This one, I would make last for many days.


There are those books that hook you from the very first page, taking you into a world you have never known, leaving you with a greater understanding of what others have endured.  The Dogs of Winter by Bobbie Pyron is one of those books.  It is a one of a kind title which will leave no reader unaffected.  Unforgettable.

Please follow this link for an outstanding interview of Bobbie Pyron.

Always Connected...

I may or may not have mentioned before that upon entering my home through the back door, hangs a frame picturing Xena in winter; a snow dog at heart.  Beneath these three photographs are words credited to Richard Caras,

Dogs are not our whole lives, but they make our lives whole.

 To me that wholeness comes in the form of unconditional love, loyalty without limits and unquestioning devotion.  Dogs teach us lessons that no other can; making us better than before.  We humans have much to learn. (Truth be told...my life is pretty much, books, reading, students and one very special dog.)

In March of 2011, author Bobbie Pyron penned a story, A Dog's Way Home (Katherine Tegen Books) which moves readers beyond the love between a girl and her dog.

It was a near-to-perfect fall day.  The late October sky was so blue and crisp, it made my eyes hurt.  And the Virginia hills, all colors with their pretty fall leaves, humped and folded around us like one of Meemaw's patchwork quilts.

Abby Whistler and her Shetland sheepdog, Tam, have completed the Southeast Virginia Junior Agility Championship and won first prize. Tam has been placed in a crate in the back of her Mama's pickup truck to protect its newness.  Setting out for home in Harmony Gap, North Carolina fate intervenes, as it is so often apt to do, in the shape of a deer running in front of their vehicle.

Tam is thrown, still in the crate, from the truck down a hillside into the rushing waters of a creek.  Abby and her Mama, after more than a day in the hospital, at her Daddy's arrival go back to the site only to find no sign of Tam.  Deeply missing his human, Tam's internal compass points him south. 

Over the course of three parts, three seasons, told in alternating chapters moving between Abby and Tam, readers follow as they create a path back to one another. Tam's journey over hundreds of miles through the Blue Ridge Mountains is arduous, painful and yet filled with determined hope.  Your heart will soar as Tam encounters friends in the wild and within civilization but it will plummet as he fights starvation at every turn, the natural elements, animal foes and cruel humans. 

Though in travels not measured so much by miles, Abby's obstacles,  parents who do not share her convictions, a move to Tennessee for her Daddy's musical career, her age, money and time, never sway her belief that Tam is alive and making his way back to her.  Like Tam she finds support, an old friend, her grandmother with the "Sight" and an unlikely new friend.  Through separated by distance each feels the tug, the thread of love, which binds them together.

Bobbie Pyron's writing is magical. Her ability to tell Tam's story would leave one to believe she might have Shetland genes hidden somewhere in her DNA or at the very least the gift of "Dog Whisperer".  Clearly she has not lost touch with her younger self; skillfully portraying the emotional ups and downs associated with Abby's life, her sense of loss and longing.

Her pacing is impeccable; creating chapter lengths appropriate to move the narrative forward attaching readers to the story as Abby and Tam are to each other.  Her knowledge of the wilderness area, flora and fauna, family life set within a small mountain community, shifting to the world of music in Nashville and the ins and outs of days spent in a middle school is sharply realistic.  Details, fully descriptive, coupled with meaningful dialogue depict a sense of place and characters fully human.

Here are two examples of her writing.

She sat down in the old rocking chair Grandpa Bill made for her when Daddy was born.  She closed her eyes and held Tam's collar against her chest.
I held my breath and watched her face.  Snow ticked against the windowpanes.
Just when I was beginning to think it wasn't going to work, a little "Oh my!" escaped her mouth.
And like shadows slipping across our pond, alarm, fear, sadness, determination, and love flowed one to another across her face.


Suddenly the log began to rock back and forth.  Tam scrambled to keep from being thrown from his hiding place.  Sick fear flooded every inch of his body.  In his three years of life, he had never known fear.  He had never known hunger.  He had only known what every well-loved dog knows:  comfort and security.  This new life of constant danger was beyond his experience. 
But deep within every dog is a bit of the wolf from which he descended. And that wolf gives the dog keen instinct.  As the bear rocked the log harder and harder, Tam shot from the old tree like a cannonball between the bear's legs.

Gripping, heartwarming and ultimately satisfying, A Dog's Way Home by Bobbie Pyron is a classic as time will reveal.  For dog lovers it is a must read but anyone will be held spellbound from beginning to end; it making a mark on their heart.  Do I love this book? ...without reservation.

I don't know how I missed this last year.  It is now out in paperback and the film rights have been sold.  Please go to Bobbie Pyron's website linked above for a study guide made for teachers and librarians.