Darling, Mercy Dog of WWI ~ Blog Tour!

Welcome to Day 1 of the Blog Tour. Check out the other stops ~ schedule below.

Darling, Mercy Dog of World War I

by Alison Hart; illustrated by Michael G. Montgomery

160 pages; ages 7-10

Peachtree Publishers, 2013

“Darling is going to be a nurse,” Mistress Katherine said. I felt a tug on my collar as she pulled me toward her.

“Darling is going to be a soldier!” Master Robert declared. A harder tug yanked me toward him.

Escaping from the tug-of-war between her doting humans, Darling squeezes under the fence and into the freedom of the village of Cosham, England. She meets up with her street-wise pal, a terrier named Rags, for a day of running across meadows and chasing sheep.

But 1917 is a tough year for Darling’s family. Father has gone off to war, and the dog tax keeps rising. When the British military put out a call for service dogs, Darling is volunteered. She is trained as a messenger dog, but when one of the soldiers is injured during a training mission, Darling’s real talents come to the fore: she gets help.

Soon Darling is sent to the front as a Mercy Dog, to lead rescue teams to soldiers wounded on the battlefield. She is skilled at her job – but will she ever make it back home, to her loving family?

Alison Hart has created a heartwarming adventure that brings the reader onto the battlefields of World War I and into the life of a military dog. At the back, she’s included lots of resources for the history buff: maps, battles, and facts about dogs serving in today’s military.

But the cool thing: one gets introduced to the history of Mercy Dogs through the eyes – and nose – of Darling. I wanted to know more … and Alison was gracious enough to answer three questions:

Sally’s Bookshelf: You’ve written many horse stories. What inspired you to write a story about a WWI military dog?

Alison with assistant, Fang

Alison: I am a dog lover, so dog books have always been part of my repertoire. I wrote several books for Steck-Vaughn about dogs, but Darling is the first historical fiction. Dogs were almost as important as horses in shaping our history… but there are already a lot of dog books and series, so I needed to come up with a unique idea.  There are no books on Mercy dogs in WW1 for young readers, and I hope I was able to capture an exciting and fresh story with Darling.

SB: What sort of research did you do for this book?

Alison: I'd love to say I flew to England and Belgium and spent weeks traveling, but alas most of my research involves reading, reading and more reading. I did visit a 'trench' and WWI museum exhibits, and used online photos, newsreels, blogs and websites – all crucial for ferreting out tiny details.

SB: So how does one get inside a dog's head to tell a story from the animal’s point of view?

Alison: Getting into the 'head' of any character is easy for me. I have written over sixty books and have “been” a police officer, a detective, a cat, dogs, horses, slaves, and children of different ages, sexes and in different eras. That's what being an author is about!

Darling, Mercy Dog of World War I is the first book in a new series called “Dog Chronicles”. Alison is busy writing book two, Murphy, Gold Rush Dog, which is set in Nome, Alaska. She struck gold when she dug up a book about the Alaskan Gold Rush that contained letters and photos from Nome. As she says – a “real treasure” for a writer.

 

 This is part of the Marvelous Middle-Grade Monday round-up. Check out more great reading here. Review copy from publisher.

Drop by the other stops on the Blog Tour & a chance to win a copy of the book!

Today you can drop by Blue Owl Reviews.

On Tuesday, stops are at Gidgets Bookworms and Maestra Amanda's Bookshelf

Wednesday stop by the Peachtree blog for the giveaway contest!

Thursday's stop is Kid Lit Reviews

and Friday  the bus stops at Good Reads with Ronna.

In the Trees, Honey Bees

In the Trees, Honey Bees
by Lori Mortensen; illustrated by Chris Arbo
32 pages; ages 3-8
Dawn Publications, 2009

Theme: insects; animal families and social relationships; ecological value of bees

Opening:  "Morning light. Warm and bright. In the trees, honey bees."

With simple, clear language, Lori Mortensen leads children into the daily lives of honey bees. Rhyming text in large fonts tells the bones of the story: when the sun comes out, the bees head out to collect nectar and pollen. Back at the nest - and it is a nest built inside a tree hollow - other bees are busy with housekeeping chores. Then there's the bear to contend with, and a thunderstorm.

Supplemental text at the bottom of the pages give more details about honey bee lives. There are cool facts, too. Did you know that the average colony can have as many as 50,000 worker bees but only a single queen? And did you know that, in addition to collecting nectar and pollen, bees gather sticky sap from trees? They use it as glue in their nests.

Why I like love this book: It's fun to read! The language is lively, and gets the facts across in short, accurate statements. It sings! Also, there's lots of good info at the back for parents and teachers - and kids who want to read further: details about the bee life cycle, how bees pollinate flowers, how honey is gathered, and lots of resources for further study. I'm not the only one who loves this book - it has won at least ten awards.

Beyond the Book: Head outside on a bee hike. Right now, the bees are busy stocking up on winter stores. We find lots of honey bees and native bees on the goldenrod and asters. How many bees do you find?

Do a Bee Dance. In the book, the returning scout bees do a waggle dance to let the other bees know where the flowers are. By the way they orient, and the number of waggles, they communicate direction, distance and quality of nectar and pollen. You can do a "traditional" bee dance, or make up your own to communicate where the "good stuff" is in your house.

Make a candle. Here's some simple directions. All you need is a sheet of beeswax and some wick.

Today's review is part of the STEM Friday round-up. Check out the other science books and resources reviewed this week. We're also joining PPBF (perfect picture book Friday), an event in which bloggers share great picture books at Susanna Leonard Hill's site. She keeps an ever-growing list of Perfect Picture Books. 

Review copy borrowed from a library.

Best Foot Forward - Nonfiction Monday

Best Foot Forward: Exploring Feet, Flippers, and Claws
by Ingo Arndt
36 pages; ages 3 - 8
Holiday House, 2013

Got feet? So do tigers and beetles and ostriches and monkeys. Feet made for walking. Feet made for climbing. Feet made for swimming, and digging, and leaping.

Photographer Ingo Arndt takes us on a tour of feet around the animal kingdom, starting with a photo of a furry foot with claws.

"Whose foot is this?" he asks. Turn the page and you learn that it's a Tiger's foot. Those soft, cushioned pads allow the tiger to creep up ve-e-ery quietly on its prey.

"Animals have very different feet depending on whether they are big or small, go fast or slow, or travel on the ground, in water, or high in the tops of trees," writes Arndt. He fills the pages with stunning close-ups of ostrich toes and gecko toes, kangaroo feet, lobster claes, starfish tube feet and even caterpillar feet.

Arndt ends with a photo of his foot, bringing the world foot tour back home where kids can take off their shoes and socks and take a closer look at their marvelous feet. From the endpages to the index, this is a fun book to browse and share with a curious young naturalist.

Today is Nonfiction Monday.  That means that bloggers who love children's nonfiction will share the cool books they are reading. It also means that teachers, parents, librarians and even older brothers and sisters can check out what cool nonfiction books are out there. Leave your links in the comments and I'll post 'em here as I get time.
Review copy provided by publisher. 

What others are reading for Nonfiction Monday:

Over at Archimedes Notebook, a review of Dawn Cusick's Get the Scoop on Animal Poop.

Jeff's got a review of  Ultimate Bugopedia by Darlyne Murawski and Nancy Honovich on his NC Teacher Stuff blog.

Check out Alice McGinty's newest book, Gahndi: A March to the Sea at Ms Mac's blog, Check It Out.

True Tales & a Cherry on Top is featuring a new writing book: Little Red Writing, by Joan Holub (and yeah, I wish I had a book like this when I was in 5th grade...)

Ms. Yingling Reads has posted a short review of David Macaulay's short book, Toilet: How it works.

Roberta's posted a review of Robots, Robots Everywhere by Sue Fleiss over at Wrapped in Foil. It may look like fiction, but it's not.

Carmen's posted a review of The Cart that Carried Martin by Eve Bunting over at  One Word at a Time.

Check out the review of Tapir Scientist by Sy Montgomery over at Jean Little Library.

If you're looking for the "truth of the matter", then hop over to Apples with Many Seeds for a thought-provoking review of Jemmy Button by Jennifer Uman and Valerio Vidali.

Anastasia Suen's posted a review of Meat-Eating Plants, Toothless Wonders by Ellen Lawrence over at Booktalking.

Janet reviews The Elephant Scientist by Caitlin O'Connell over at All About the Books.

Lynn and Cindy have posted a couple of reviews - along with how the books fit into common core standards - over at Bookends: Frog Song, by Brenda Z. Guiberson, and Best Foot Forward.


And lest we forget, Laura Purdee Salas has posted a reminder for people to nominate their favorite nonfiction books for the Cybils Awards.

Enjoy these, and other nonfiction books while reading to children... or to yourself!