The Canine Connection: Stories about Dogs and People

by Betsy Hearne

Meet Willa, a rebellious teenager who cannot resist adopting canine misfits, and Sam, who follows a dog and finds a girlfriend. Fiona's Border collie knows the secret her family has never guessed. Sly hopes his fierce Mutt will keep at bay the terrors of a dark city street. Betsy Hearne has skillfully crafted twelve short stories highlighting the special relationships that humans and dogs can share. Varied in tone and setting, her collection will make readers smile, cry, and keep turning the pages to see what happens in each new miniworld of real and imagined encounters.

Genres: Animals

160 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 2003

About the author

Betsy Hearne is the author of numerous articles and books, including Choosing Books for Children: A Commonsense Guide, the folktale anthology Beauties and Beasts, fiction for both children and young adults, and picture books—one of which, Seven Brave Women, won the Jane Addams Children's Book Award. The former children's book editor of Booklist and of The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, she has reviewed books for almost forty years and contributes regularly to The Horn Book Magazine.

Hearne was the former Director of The Center for Children's Books and a professor emerita in the Graduate School of Library and Information Science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where she taught children's literature and storytelling for many years.

Reviews

[Shirley · Rating 4 out of 5]

According to Follett Titlewave, The Canine Connection: Stories About Dogs and People is geared toward a 5th.-8th. grade audience with a reading level of 5.4. The story "Bones" has an eighteen-year-old who becomes pregnant. There is mention of a pregnancy test and possible abortion. Sly, a boy who is being terrorized by gang members, in "The Boss" uses crude language and has a major attitude. Under the circumstances, this attitude may be warranted. "Nameless Creek" may leave the reader feeling powerless, unsettled, and grieving. An earthquake blinds a girl and kills her brother in "The Canine Connection." Colin relates "A Grave Situation" from a wheelchair. Fiona, in the story "Fiona and Tim", is described as a slow child who is nonverbal and useless compared to her sisters. The twelve stories have an emotional depth that may appeal to older students.

[Calvin Glover · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a good book I liked it because it was fun for me to read. It was a very interesting book. When I first started reading the book I did not like it, but then it started to pull me in and I could not stop reading. I recommended you read this book if you like animals you will live this book

[Stephanie A. · Rating 1 out of 5]

My original reading list notation just says "dog stories." In mocking quotes. And I gave it a flat 1, which I almost never did, so I must have been really enraged by the lacking ratio of dog-to-people focus in these.

[Shazza Maddog · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very enjoyable for short stories, though I found myself wishing the stories were a little longer.