My Life in Dog Years

Last updated
My Life in Dog Years
Paulsen - My Life in Dog Years Coverart.png
My Life in Dog Years first edition cover.
Author Gary Paulsen
Cover artist C. E. Mitchell (photo)
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Subject Dogs
Genre Children's
Publisher Delacorte Books
Publication date
January 12, 1997
Media typePrint (Hardback & Paperback)
Pages144 pp (first edition)
ISBN 978-0-385-32570-7
OCLC 37666415
813/.54 B 21
LC Class PS3566.A834 Z47 1998

My Life in Dog Years is a non-fiction book for children written by the American author Gary Paulsen, together with his wife, Ruth Wright Paulsen. It was published first by Delacorte Press in 1997. [1]

The book contains a chapter about each different dog in his life. As he goes through each chapter, he delves into the personality of each dog as companions and not just animals.

It begins with Cookie, a dog which rescued him from a fall through the ice while dog sled racing. Next he talks about Snowball, a dog he owned in the Philippines at age 7 (his first) who was killed in a military truck accident. It then discusses Ike, dog that became attached to him during a hunting trip. Ike continues to accompany him for about a year, but then disappears. Paulsen later discovers that Ike's owner had to leave him when he went to the war. When he returned with an injury, Ike returned to him.

Dirk, next, is a dog that he adopted during his adolescence, and served as a protector during a difficult period. While working on a farm, he met Rex, a rough collie, whom he considered one of the smartest dogs he ever knew after observing his activities for a day. He later adopted an exceptionally large Great Dane, Caesar (pronounced See-Zer) who was easily excited, but a gentle giant that loved hot dogs.

The author later became a dog sled racer. [2] [3] At one point, he traded one of his best dogs for Quincy, who was later to save his wife from a bear despite being only nine inches tall. The last chapter is about his current dog at the time, Josh. It is clear that Josh is one of the author's favorite dogs, as he has the most to write about him. At the time the book was written, Josh was about 20 years old. Josh was known as the smartest dog in the world.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race</span> Trail Sled Dog Race in Alaska

{{Infobox athletics race | bgcolour = darkred | image = | caption = | date = March | location = [[Anchorage, Alaska|States | type = Sled Dog Race | distance = 938 mi (1,510 km) | est = 1973 | edition = | record = Dallas Seavey, 7 d 14h 8m 57s (2021) | homepage = iditarod.com | participants = | previous = | next = | Prize_Money = -100$ | Champion = 2018 – Paige Drobny }}

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sled dog</span> Working dog

A sled dog is a dog trained and used to pull a land vehicle in harness, most commonly a sled over snow.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chinook (dog breed)</span> Dog breed

The Chinook is a breed of sled dog, developed in the state of New Hampshire during the early 20th century. The Chinook is New Hampshire's official state dog.

<i>The Call of the Wild</i> 1903 novel by Jack London

The Call of the Wild is a short adventure novel by Jack London, published in 1903 and set in Yukon, Canada, during the 1890s Klondike Gold Rush, when strong sled dogs were in high demand. The central character of the novel is a dog named Buck. The story opens at a ranch in Santa Clara Valley, California, when Buck is stolen from his home and sold into service as a sled dog in Alaska. He becomes progressively more primitive and wild in the harsh environment, where he is forced to fight to survive and dominate other dogs. By the end, he sheds the veneer of civilization, and relies on primordial instinct and learned experience to emerge as a leader in the wild.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dog crossbreed</span> Dog type

Dog crossbreeds, sometimes called designer dogs, are dogs which have been intentionally bred from two or more recognized dog breeds. They are not dogs with no purebred ancestors, but are not otherwise recognised as breeds in their own right, and do not necessarily breed true.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gary Paulsen</span> American writer (1939–2021)

Gary James Paulsen was an American writer of children's and young adult fiction, best known for coming-of-age stories about the wilderness. He was the author of more than 200 books and wrote more than 200 magazine articles and short stories, and several plays, all primarily for teenagers. He won the Margaret Edwards Award from the American Library Association in 1997 for his lifetime contribution in writing for teens.

<i>Hatchet</i> (novel) 1986 young-adult novel by Gary Paulsen, the first in the series of Brians Saga

Hatchet is a 1986 Newbery Honor-winning young-adult wilderness survival novel written by American writer Gary Paulsen. It is the first novel of five in the Hatchet series. Other novels in the series include The River (1991), Brian's Winter (1996), Brian's Return (1999) and Brian's Hunt (2003).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Albert Payson Terhune</span> American author and journalist

Albert Payson Terhune was an American writer, dog breeder, and journalist. He was popular for his novels relating the adventures of his beloved collies and as a breeder of collies at his Sunnybank Kennels, the lines of which still exist in today's Rough Collies.

<i>Snow Dogs</i> 2002 film by Brian Levant

Snow Dogs is a 2002 American comedy film directed by Brian Levant, and produced by Jordan Kerner. The film stars Cuba Gooding Jr., with a supporting cast of James Coburn, Joanna Bacalso, Sisqó, Nichelle Nichols, Christopher Judge, Michael Bolton and M. Emmet Walsh. The film was released in the United States on January 18, 2002. The film is inspired by the book, Winterdance, by Gary Paulsen.

<i>Dogsong</i> 1985 novel by Gary Paulsen

Dogsong is young adult novel by Gary Paulsen and a Newbery Honor winner.

<i>A Dogs Life: The Autobiography of a Stray</i> 2005 novel by Ann M. Martin

A Dog's Life: The Autobiography of a Stray is a children's novel written in 2005 by Ann M. Martin and is published by Scholastic Books. The target audience for this book is grades 4–7. It is written from the first-person perspective of a female stray dog named Squirrel. Ann M. Martin bases her books on personal experiences and contemporary problems or events.

<i>Guts: The True Stories Behind Hatchet and the Brian Books</i> Book by Gary Paulsen

Guts: The True Stories Behind Hatchet and the Brian Books is a non-fiction book by Gary Paulsen, published on January 23, 2001 by Delacorte Books. It is about some of Paulsen's life adventures, including dog sledding in blizzards, being in a plane stalling in the air in the arctic, watching as a little boy gets stabbed to death by a young buck, and eating bugs. He discusses the inspirations of his life and the way they helped to create events for his character Brian Robeson in his Brian's Saga series.

"North of the Yukon" is a 24-page Disney comics adventure story featuring Scrooge McDuck and his nephews, Donald Duck and Huey, Dewey, & Louie. It was written and drawn by Carl Barks. This was his last story involving Scrooge's adventures in Alaska. It was published in September 1965, and later reprinted in May 1993. Gemstone Publishing later reprinted the story again in 2005 for a Donald Duck/Uncle Scrooge graphic novel with another story inspired by this one called "Somewhere in Nowhere". The character of Barko was inspired by an actual sled dog named Balto, who participated in the 1925 serum run to Nome. Barks had read an article about Balto in an issue of National Geographic, and was inspired to create this character.

<i>Woodsong</i> Collection of memoirs by Gary Paulsen

Woodsong is a book of memoirs by Gary Paulsen. The first half consists of Paulsen's early experiences running sled dogs in Minnesota and then in Alaska, and the second half describes the roads and animals he faces in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.

<i>Harris and Me</i>

Harris and Me is a children's novel written by author Gary Paulsen. It was first published in 1993. The book is composed of a collection of vignettes with a subheading to preview each chapter. Based on a 2007 online poll, the National Education Association listed the book as one of its "Teachers' Top 100 Books for Children."

<i>Winterdance</i> Book by Gary Paulsen

Winterdance: The Fine Madness of Running the Iditarod is a non-fiction book written by Gary Paulsen. It was published on March 1, 1994 and it is also the inspiration for the 2002 Disney movie Snow Dogs.

<i>Canyons</i> (novel)

Canyons is a novel written by Gary Paulsen. It involves two boys - one lives in modern times (Brennan) while the other is an Indian boy living nearly two hundred years ago.

<i>Child of the Wolves</i>

Child of the Wolves is a children's novel, published in 1996, about a Siberian husky puppy that joins a wolf pack. It was written by Elizabeth Hall, wife of Island of the Blue Dolphins author, Scott O'Dell.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anthony McGowan</span> English author

Anthony John McGowan is an English author of books for children, teenagers and adults. He is the winner of the 2020 CILIP Carnegie Medal for Lark.

<i>Togo</i> (film) 2019 film by Ericson Core

Togo is a 2019 American historical adventure film directed by Ericson Core and produced by Walt Disney Pictures. The film centers on Leonhard Seppala and his titular sled dog in the 1925 serum run to Nome to transport diphtheria antitoxin serum through harsh conditions during an epidemic of diphtheria. The film stars Willem Dafoe, Julianne Nicholson, Christopher Heyerdahl, Michael Gaston, Michael McElhatton, Jamie McShane, Michael Greyeyes, Thorbjørn Harr, Shaun Benson, and Nikolai Nikolaeff. It was released on Disney+ on December 20, 2019. The movie received generally positive reviews from critics.

References

  1. ↑ Blasingame, James. Gary Paulsen. Westport, Conn: Greenwood Press, 2007. ISBN   978-0-313-33532-7
  2. ↑ Deveraux, Elizabeth. "Gary Paulsen: A Taste for Adventure and an Obsessive Work Ethic Are This Versatile Writer's Hallmarks." Publishers Weekly 241, 13 (March 28, 1994): 70-71.
  3. ↑ Buchholz, Rachel. "My Life's Work: Author." Boys' Life 85, 12 (December 1995): 28-30.


Euphlyctis hexadactylus 1831.jpg

This article about a book on zoology or animals is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.