Dash

Dog Diaries #5

by Kate Klimo, Tim Jessell (Illustrations)

A dog’s-eye view of the Mayflower voyage and the first Thanksgiving at Plymouth Colony!
 
English springer spaniel Dash and his furry friend Mercy—a mastiff—travel with their master, John Goodman, in search of the New World. Taken from the pages of history, this Dog Diary follows the story of the colonists whom we now call Pilgrims, from their sixty-six-day voyage at sea to the celebration of their first harvest with the Wampanoag Indians who become their friends and advisors. With realistic black-and-white illustrations by Tim Jessell and an appendix including information about the Mayflower, Plymouth Colony, springer spaniels, and the primary sources on which the book is based, this is historical fiction that dog-loving middle graders—and educators—can be truly thankful for!

Genres: Dogs, Animals, Childrens, Fiction

160 pages, Library Binding

First published January 1, 2014

About the author

Kate Klimo spent her early years amidst the cornfields of Iowa where the winters were prodigious. Often, when the snows flash-thawed in the spring, she would find her backyard filled with the flapping, resurrected bodies of fish her ice-fishing father had stored in the snowdrifts. Thus sprang into her young head the unshakable notion that, all winter long, fish escaped from the rivers and magically swum through the snow banks of Mount Vernon, Iowa.

When she moved to the little town of Sea Cliff, on Long Island Sound, she met her best friend Justine in the Stenson Memorial Library at the main desk, where they often checked out the same fantasy writers. Together, they read C.S. Lewis, E. Nesbit, Edward Eager, and George MacDonald and embarked on a tireless search for portals to magical worlds, extending from abandoned Victorian mansions to the decrepit local five-and-dime to the sandy cliffs sweeping down to the Sound.

With her propensity for magical thinking and long-standing love of fantasy, does it come as any surprise that Kate grew up to be in the book business? But after over 25 years of heading up Random House Children’s Books, with the publication of The Dragon in the Sock Drawer in March 2008, Kate began to ease over to the author’s side of the desk.

Now a full-time author, in addition to numerous one-off titles, she has written the middle-grade series The Dragon Keepers series and the Dog Diaries as well the Centauriad for young adults. Under the pen name Bonnie Worth, she has penned over a dozen books in the best-selling Cat in the Hat Learning Library. She lives in New Paltz, New York with her husband and two horses.

Reviews

[Alana Robinson]

This is a non-fiction book. I have read about the Plymouth Colony and the first Thanksgiving and Squanto in my History book I got for Fifth Grade. If you want a story about History but want to have a animal in it, get this book.

[Ellen]

I didn't like this one as much as I liked Barry or Togo, but the Dash is true to the series and brings the viewpoint of the first English springer spaniel in the New World to light. We see Dash and his lady friend, a mastiff breed guard dog working under John Goodman on the long voyage filled with illness. We see them working along side him in the new land with all its strange smells and dangers. We see them both in conflict and in peacemaking with the Indian tribes, including meeting the famous allies Squanto and Massasoit. It was a decent historical visit to this time period.

[MaryAnn]

Good dog story with insights into the different players in history and the nuances of dog breeds. This story is the settling of what is now America via the Mayflower and English Springer Spaniel. Again, there is a historical counterpart for the lead dog in the story.

The afterwords contained great information about the history and personality of the breed of the dog featured in the story. And also the historical back drop of the time of the story. Contrary to the fairy tale that I grew up with about the pious "Pilgrims" coming to America solely on the quest for religious freedom and were then saved by noble "Savages" out of the goodness of their hearts this book relates the truth of history in realistic terms. The story is fair; no good guys, no bad guys just people doing people stuff.

Also links to more reading and research.

[Jessica Higgins]

There once was a dog named Dash. He was going on the ship called The Mayflower. The ship took a lot of long nights twisting and turning in the waves. Dash is with his best friend Mercy.



Mercy is a guard dog. She guards the captain of the ship. Then the Mayflower reaches land, and the colonists begin to look for a place to make houses. While looking the colonists run into Native Americans. Then they find a place to build houses. But then everyone gets ill and only a few workers can work on the houses. The building stops. Then the colonists have an agreement with the natives. Then one of the natives wants the agreement to end so he runs away and gets an army to help him. Then Dash finds out Mercy is going to have pups. Mercy asks Dash to be the father of the pups.



I love this book because it gives you a lot of information about how the Mayflower worked its way to land. I would recommend it to anyone, and I would read it again. And it gives a lot of information about the natives, colonists and, springer spaniel dogs (The kind that dash is)

 

[Shelley]

I really like the books in this series for young readers. While "dog stories" are very popular always, the author Kate Klimo puts the dog in a significant situation in history so the reader not only finds out about a particular breed of dog and it's history but finds out about a historical event, in this case, the Puritans arriving at Plymouth.
Told in the dog's voice and point of view, this series Dog Diaries, is a good choice for elementary school libraries. Dash is my personal favorite as I have shared my home with Springer Spaniels for the last 30 years.

[Charissa]

An engaging historical fiction story that took us back to the time of the Mayflower and the pilgrims who made their way to America four hundred years ago now. We always enjoy the beautiful illustrations that accompany the Dog Diaries and Horse Diaries tales and we got a kick out of learning that the two dogs featured in Dash were based on a real Springer Spaniel and a real Mastiff that sailed along with John Goodman!

[DEBORRAH J SCOTT]

Voyage on the Mayflower

It was a good book, but I liked the other books I have read a lot better. This was almost like reading a history book. I think maybe a child that needed to know about the Mayflower and the pilgrim's, and the Indians this would be a great book for them to read.

[Tanya]

An interesting perspective on the Plimouth settlement. I appreciate the inclusion of some of the atrocities of the settlers on the natives, but it could have been touched on a bit more. The ending was pretty sappy, definitely not one of the best Dog Diaries.

[Katherine Patton]

Mayflower voyage and first year in Plymouth from the perspective of one of the dogs that was on the Mayflower. Great book written for 8-10 year-olds, but also for adults, giving an accurate depiction of early American history from written documents of the time.

[Leah]

4.5 stars - I would have loved this as a young girl.

A unique account of the Mayflower voyage and Plymouth settlement told through the eyes of a dog.

I recommend for dog-loving middle grade readers who also enjoy the Dear America or My Name is America series.

[Breanna Suhoversnik]

I was pleasantly surprised with this one. My younger kids loved this as our morning time read aloud.

Dash, an English Springer Spaniel, tells his story of life on the Mayflower and in the new world.

I'll definitely be looking to see if more Dog Diaries line up with our history cycles.

[Ava]

Very interesting, I love how it is told from a dogs point of view.

[Jennifer]

This book was okay. We wish it had been longer. It felt rushed, especially at the end. We don't wholeheartedly recommend it, but it is an okay introduction to the Mayfower pilgrims. Kids who have recently started reading on their own, like history and/or dogs might enjoy the story.

[Cat]

love this it is a good book for history for 8-10 year olds

[Allison Gendreau]

It's a really cute book about two dogs who were aboard the Mayflower. This book gives you an idea of the illnesses at this time in history and how colonization was a struggle.

[Katie Williams]

My daughter brought this home from the library and we read it together. It’s cute and a kid friendly way to understand how the pilgrims came to Plymouth.

[Lindsey Buhl]

So good I liked it and exciting

[Matthew Haley]

A wonderful story

[Simone Saragossi]

Pawsome


It was really good there is a lot of drama and action i say 5 stars for a book you can't stop reading

[Hillvan]

630L

[Eleana Springman]

With realistic black-and-white illustrations by Tim Jessell and an appendix including information about the Mayflower, Plymouth Colony, springer spaniels, and the primary sources on which the book is based, this is historical fiction that dog-loving middle graders—and educators—can be truly thankful for!

[Linda Roedig]

Dog Diaries Dash was viewed from the eyes of a dog about a very historical time with information about the Plymouth Colony. It is a chapter book written for 3rd -6th grade and is reasonably priced.

[Jessica]

See the first book in the series for a full review.

[Molly]

I loved the ending.Mercy has puppies!

[Raniafatima]

good book

[Tom brady]

English springer spaniel Dash and his furry friend Mercy—a mastiff—travel with their master, John Goodman, in search of the New World. Taken from the pages of history, this Dog Diary follows the story of the colonists whom we now call Pilgrims, from their sixty-six-day voyage at sea to the celebration of their first harvest with the Wampanoag Indians who become their friends and advisors.

this was a great book!!!

[Tricia Kipfer]

Enjoyable. Sweet. Innocent. Delightful.