Dear Prosper

by Paula Fox

A dog writes his recent master a letter to explain why he ran away, and in it tells of his life with different masters--a rancher, a shepherd, a wealthy Boston woman, a circus clown, an American boy, and a blind, elderly Frenchman.

Hardcover

First published June 1, 1968

About the author

Paula Fox was an American author of novels for adults and children and two memoirs. Her novel The Slave Dancer (1973) received the Newbery Medal in 1974; and in 1978, she was awarded the Hans Christian Andersen Medal. More recently, A Portrait of Ivan won the Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis in 2008.

A teenage marriage produced a daughter, Linda, in 1944. Given the tumultuous relationship with her own biological parents, she gave the child up for adoption. Linda Carroll, the daughter Fox gave up for adoption, is the mother of musician Courtney Love.

Fox then attended Columbia University, married the literary critic and translator Martin Greenberg, raised two sons, taught, and began to write.

Reviews

[Mercedé Khodadadi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful story narrated by a dog, yet it's sad as well.

[Lars Guthrie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Part of my ongoing mission to read and own the fabulous Fox's entire children's oeuvre. Not quite as impressive as other works, because she tries a little too hard for a shaggy dog story (told by the dog). But she does take us on quite a journey (America and Europe) with the independent Prosper in a rather short time.