A Dog's Life, by Ann M. Martin

(From December 7, 2011)
The book I’m currently reading is A Dog’s Life by Ann Martin.  It is the story of a dog’s life told by the dog herself.  I was a little skeptical of this book (really what story could a dog possibly share?), but it is a Battle of the Books book for this year and several of my students recommended it, so I had to give it a try.  I’m happy to report, my students were absolutely right about this book, I’m hooked!  Currently I’m almost halfway through the book (p.87) and Squirrel has just managed to survive a horrible dog fight.  After reading this scene I want to go out, buy a huge bag of dog food, go looking for stray dogs and feed them (and I’ve always considered myself a cat person).  I can’t wait to read more...

Note:  Yes, I did finish this book.  While I have always considered myself more of a "cat" person, I now have a new appreciation for dogs and what they mean to us.  I also found it fascinating to view the world through a dog's eyes.  I'm one of those people that always tries to imagine what animals are thinking (OK, even insects sometimes).  This could be a really neat creative writing activity (no groans from the peanut gallery please)!