Roguish Rabbits On The Rampage

When you and your four-month-old canine companion are the first two beings to walk the park after a snowfall you are both taking in the messages left by the wild inhabitants.  You can see the tracks of many deer, rabbits, birds and paw prints looking suspiciously like those of a fox.  Nose to the ground your furry friend is zig-zagging all over the path inhaling the scents left behind by those very animals.  Over and over her nose sticks into a deer track like its ambrosia, then she'll lift her head to perhaps get a whiff of the same smell on the breeze.

On February 9, 2016 readers met a happy-go-lucky Jack Russell terrier and his short human girl.  Fenway and Hattie (G. P. Putnam's Sons, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC) written by Victoria J. Coe with spot interior illustrations by Kristine A. Lombardi gives readers insights into the mind of this dog through the story told from his perspective.  Both Fenway and Hattie are challenged by their move from the noisy city to the quiet suburbs in this first book.  In a companion title, Fenway and Hattie and the Evil Bunny Gang (G. P. Putnam's Sons, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC, January 24, 2017), Fenway's vigilance and professionalism are tested constantly as he tries to protect Hattie and her family from new nasty intruders.

I'm out in the Dog Park behind our new
house, enjoying a refreshing roll-around in the grass
when I pick up the despicable smell of rodent.  It can
only be one thing---a squirrel.

First chasing a pesky squirrel from their Dog Park, Fenway is now happily engaged in play with Patches and Goldie, the dogs of Muffin Lady, Tool Man and Angel, their next door neighbors.  While Hattie and Angel are chatting about Angel's new jacket and tickets to Fenway Park (which momentarily intrigues Fenway), he decides to take a short cut through the vegetable garden to get an edge on Goldie and Patches but stops dead in his tracks.  What is that terrible stench?

Not only is the smell hideous but something has been digging in the dirt and has ruined all the new little plants.  There's only one dog for the job of discovering these villains and it's Fenway.  As he sets out to track down the culprits, the damage is discovered by Food Lady.  She is not happy at all.  Fenway gets blamed for the mess and Hattie is scolded for not watching her dog.  Hattie lifts him up just as he locates some tiny pellets.

Relegated to the front yard, Hattie and Fenway notice their neighbors, Whisker Face and Round Lady, coming home across the street.  Hattie bounds over to them and seems excited by the result of their conversation.  Fenway, on the other paw, smells that particular foul odor all over the couple.  It would appear there is a gang of these evil creatures throughout the neighborhood.

Fenway keeps pursuing the smell in the garden and discovers more damage, a hole under their fence. He's even more determined to protect his family and the yard even though Goldie and Patches tell him the critters are called bunnies and supposedly harmless.  It hardly seems like they are harmless when Fenway keeps getting blamed for their destruction.

Just when Fenway thinks it can't get any worse it does.  The object of the happy conversation with Whisker Face and Round Lady ends up in their home.  Fenway does not believe what Goldie and Patches tell him.  It just can't be true.  On top of all this Hattie seems more distressed than she should when she looks out her bedroom window and into Angel's back yard.  What is going on in Fenway's humans' home?

Several disasters set events in motion which only Fenway (and Hattie) can fix.  Fenway knows he must do that which goes against his most basic desires.  But...he will do anything for the happiness of his human.


When Victoria J. Coe writes about dogs for dogs, readers are inside the dog's skin, living their lives and thinking their thoughts.  She seems to have an almost supernatural connection with them sensing the world as they do.  Each situation is viewed, smelled, tasted, touched, and heard as only a dog can.  She ties us so closely to the character of Fenway we find ourselves wondering how his humans could fail to understand what he has to do.

In this particular story Fenway shines brighter than ever but Coe deftly weaves other elements into his narrative.  She addresses human responsibility for completing tasks, jealousy between pets and humans, the give and take in relationships and the value of differing personalities.  Both Fenway and Hattie are growing as individuals.  Here are some sample passages.

Panting wildly I chase him through the grass.  My sides are heaving, but I will not give up!  I'm gaining on him!  I'm about to grab his flouncy little tail---
But that nasty squirrel hurls himself onto the side fence.  He scurries to the top and dives into the Dog Park next door.
"And don't come back!" I bark, thrusting out my chest in victory.  Ridding the Dog Park of squirrels is a tough job.  But luckily, I'm a professional.
I rush back to Hattie, who's headed toward the porch.  I jump on her legs.  "Great news!" I bark.  "The nasty squirrel is gone."
She scoops me into her arms, showering me with kisses.  She must be awfully grateful I saved her from the dangerous threat.  Again.

"Hattie!" Food Lady sounds upset.  She
sprints across the porch, nearly tripping over Hattie's
tangled jump rope.
"FEN-way!" Hattie cries, her voice high with alarm.  She charges at me right toward the danger!
I free my hind leg and dart around the ripped zucchini leaves.  That nasty creature could still be at large.  Anything could happen!  "Nobody panic.  I'll find the troublemaker!"  I get back to sniffing like crazy.
Food Lady speeds through the grass.  "FEN-way!" she snaps.  Her arms wave.  Her eyes bulge.  She's clearly even more upset by the danger than Hattie is.

How can I play at a time like this?  That Evil Bunny Gang might be plotting their invasion.  They could be tunneling into the Dog Park at any moment.  I have way too much work to do.


The action is nonstop.  The humor will have you laughing out loud.  The love will have you looking for the nearest dog to hug.  Fenway and Hattie and the Evil Bunny Gang written by Victoria J. Coe with spot interior illustrations by Kristine A. Lombardi will have you flipping pages as fast as you can wondering how this bundle of energy is going to prove to his humans how professional he truly is.  You will be talking about this book as often as you can to readers.  I would plan on multiple copies.

To discover more about Victoria J. Coe please visit her website by following the link attached to her name.  If you follow the link to my blog post about the first title you can view many more additional resources.  On July 21, 2016 Victoria J. Coe was interviewed at It's All About the Journey.  Both the cover reveal for this title and the premiere for the book trailer were unveiled at Scholastic's Ambassador of School Libraries John Schumacher's blog, Watch. Connect. Read.  You'll enjoy the conversations and glimpses into this book.  Teacher librarian Jennifer Reed writes on her blog, Reederama, about an activity she did after sharing portions of this book with her students.  Educator Michele Knott shares her thoughts about this book on her blog, Mrs. Knott's Book Nook.

Rescued

For those who know me personally and for those who only know me virtually my love of dogs is apparent to all.  When I say I love dogs, I mean there has never been a human being as wonderful as any of my four dogs.  If I should meet a human who surpasses the pure generosity, compassion, loyalty, love and joy of a dog, then surely there is reincarnation.  A dog must have been sent back in the form of a human to show us how to better live our lives.

Even before I read the first page of the first chapter of Patricia MacLachlan's new title, the book found a permanent place in my heart.  Here is what I read:

Dogs speak words
But only poets
And children
Hear
---P. M.

If I never went on to read the rest of The Poet's Dog (Katherine Tegen Books, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers, September 13, 2016), I would have been satisfied with those four lines.  But I did read the book...again and again.

I found the boy at dusk.

The individual speaking to us is a dog.  The boy he found is lost in a blizzard; so is his younger sister.  They were left in a car by their mother who sought help.  Someone else told them the car would be towed for the plows.  Frightened they venture out looking for their parent.

The dog goes on to tell us about Sylvan, a poet, who saved him from a shelter.  Sylvan read to him and talked to him until he understood words.  Now it's the dog's turn to save the children.

Teddy, an Irish wolfhound, leads them from the pond, past a large rock and along a path to a cabin sitting in a clearing in the woods.  A light, always lit, shows them the way.  Flora and Nicholas, Nickel, understand words too.  They understand the words Teddy utters.  Now my friends you have the perfect setting for a book you will never forget; a blizzard, two lost children, a lone cabin in the woods and a dog who talks.  But remember only poets and children can hear him.

Over the course of several days as the wind howls, snow falls and the power flickers off and on, through the conversations between Flora, Nickel and Teddy, we come to understand how the relationship grew between Sylvan and Teddy.  We are intimately aware of the special qualities of each child.  We follow along as the three work to navigate this thing we call life.  And what of the poet Sylvan you ask?  You simply must read this book.


Every time I read this book I can feel the sheer beauty of every single line fill my soul with hope, a hope that stays.  (I have always believed everything in our futures depends on children.)  Chapter by chapter you can sense love growing; love between a poet and his dog, love between a poet and one particular student and love between two children and a dog who finds them.  Every word written by Patricia MacLachlan provides an exquisite connection to the next.

Her descriptions of the storm raging outside and the quiet haven created by the children and the dog take you deep into this story.  After a particularly poignant portion (more than one) you will find yourself stopping and thinking about relationships and what makes them endure.  You will also realize if you have not already done so, a single individual, dog or human, can make a difference.  Here are some passages.

"Poets and children" said Sylvan.  "We are the same really.  When you can't find a poet, find a child.  Remember that."

Or was it four days?  Being alone confuses the truth about time.

In the night I got up once to push up the door lever with my nose and go outside into the wind.
Nickel raised his head.
"Where are you going?"
His voice sounded frightened.
"I'm going to pee," I said.
I heard Flora's sleepy, comforting voice in the dark.
"He's a dog," Flora said softly.
"Oh, right," said Nickel.  "I keep forgetting that."
I came back to my red rug next to Nickel.
His arm went around me again.
"Sometimes I forget, too," I said to Nickel.

There was no silence in the cabin, even at night.  The wind was like a wild song that pushed away the quiet.


The Poet's Dog written by Newbery Medalist Patricia MacLachlan with dust jacket artwork by Kenard Pak is one of my favorite books of 2016.  It is a book I will read over and over.  I will read it aloud to anyone who will listen.  It is distinguished.

To learn more about Patricia MacLachlan enjoy this video interview released by the publisher three years ago.


At the publisher's website you can read and listen to an excerpt from the book.