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Dog Diaries #11
Tiny Tim
Charles Dickens's Havanese sheds light on the writing of A Christmas Carol in this Dog Diaries Special Edition!
Like the Spirit of Christmas Past, Timber--aka Tiny Tim--journeys from Victorian England to the present to reveal what life was like for the man who "invented" Christmas!
Given as a gift to Dickens during a book tour, small, shaggy, "ridiculous" Timber became the great writer's constant companion. And whether sitting at Dickens's feet while the author acted out his stories before writing them down, or entertaining Dickens's vast litter of ten children before a blazing Yule log, Tiny Tim tells a tale as lively as a holiday jig!
Featuring an embossed cover with gold foil trim, plus sixteen pages of Dickens-inspired crafts and recipes, this Dog Diaries Special Edition makes the perfect Christmas gift or stocking stuffer. With realistic black-and-white illustrations throughout and a fact-filled appendix, this is the kind of historical fiction that reluctant middle-grade readers beg for!
Like the Spirit of Christmas Past, Timber--aka Tiny Tim--journeys from Victorian England to the present to reveal what life was like for the man who "invented" Christmas!
Given as a gift to Dickens during a book tour, small, shaggy, "ridiculous" Timber became the great writer's constant companion. And whether sitting at Dickens's feet while the author acted out his stories before writing them down, or entertaining Dickens's vast litter of ten children before a blazing Yule log, Tiny Tim tells a tale as lively as a holiday jig!
Featuring an embossed cover with gold foil trim, plus sixteen pages of Dickens-inspired crafts and recipes, this Dog Diaries Special Edition makes the perfect Christmas gift or stocking stuffer. With realistic black-and-white illustrations throughout and a fact-filled appendix, this is the kind of historical fiction that reluctant middle-grade readers beg for!
176 pages, Paperback
First published August 1, 2017
24 people are currently reading
166 people want to read
About the author
Kate Klimo
55 books138 followersKate 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.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
December 3, 2025
This was a really short fun and cute holiday read with dogs in the mix!Totally recommend for a light read!
February 27, 2025
Review from my 8 year old daughter:
“I like how it has Charles Dickens, someone who is on Xavier and the Secret Museum (a show she watches). My favorite part of the book is when a Saint Bernard helps Tiny Tim. It shows friendship. This book shows love between animals, not just humans.”
“I like how it has Charles Dickens, someone who is on Xavier and the Secret Museum (a show she watches). My favorite part of the book is when a Saint Bernard helps Tiny Tim. It shows friendship. This book shows love between animals, not just humans.”
December 28, 2024
I wanted to read this book just in time for Christmas. Tiny Tim is a Maltese puppy who was sailing from England to America and back. As Charles Dickens was working on his famous Christmas Carol book, he began to celebrate the more modern holiday festivities. Timmy traveled for as much as he could before he died in the end. I have kind of enjoyed this book and I’m planning on reading the Horse Diaries version soon.
Update: I think the Horse Diaries Christmas book was better.
Update: I think the Horse Diaries Christmas book was better.
November 23, 2019
Silly and Inspiring
This page-turner will not be easy to put down, giving you a first-person view of the famous writer Charles Dickens’ pet dog. The dog is a male Havanese dog, named Boz by an actor, after Dickens’ pen name. Later renamed Snittle Timbery by Dickens, next shortened to Timber, then nicknamed Tiny Tim by Dickens’ children. Tiny Tim tells his holiday-themed story from a dog’s view, explaining that their time together was anything but dull, whether encouraging his master to put pen to paper just by sitting at his feet, spending time with “the Great writer and his vast litter of offspring” or peering into a severe wild volcano. My favorite part of the book was when Tiny Tim’s mother explains to him right before he is given to Dickens’ that Havanese dogs have a special power; the power to read their master’s mind. And then later on in the book, Tiny Tim says here and there what’s in Dickens’ mind. All of the Dog Diaries stories are a first-person story of that dog’s life. One of them is about the first Seeing Eye guide dog.. Another one is one of the greatest dogs in military history. There is a story about a fire dog veteran of the Great Chicago Fire. There is a puppy-mill survivor and an “assistant” to President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and more. There is also a separate series called Horse Diaries, similar to the Dog Diaries, except in the first-person view of horses. This story is a special edition for Christmas, probably because the dog’s owner is the man who “invented” Christmas. This book is intended for 4th grade through 8th grade. The tone of the book is silly with Tiny Tim’s antics and wordings, with a holiday atmosphere. Each chapter is 17 pages long, A quote that stood out in this book is “Whether I shall turn out to be the hero of my own life, or whether some other dog will hold that role, these pages will show.” This is the first sentence of the book. This stands out because Tiny Tim is Dickens’ dog and Charles Dickens wrote the exact same sentence in his book. Charles Dickens’ wrote “Whether I shall turn out to be the hero of my own life, or whether that station will be held by anybody else, these pages must show.” On a scale of one through five, I would rate it 4.
This page-turner will not be easy to put down, giving you a first-person view of the famous writer Charles Dickens’ pet dog. The dog is a male Havanese dog, named Boz by an actor, after Dickens’ pen name. Later renamed Snittle Timbery by Dickens, next shortened to Timber, then nicknamed Tiny Tim by Dickens’ children. Tiny Tim tells his holiday-themed story from a dog’s view, explaining that their time together was anything but dull, whether encouraging his master to put pen to paper just by sitting at his feet, spending time with “the Great writer and his vast litter of offspring” or peering into a severe wild volcano. My favorite part of the book was when Tiny Tim’s mother explains to him right before he is given to Dickens’ that Havanese dogs have a special power; the power to read their master’s mind. And then later on in the book, Tiny Tim says here and there what’s in Dickens’ mind. All of the Dog Diaries stories are a first-person story of that dog’s life. One of them is about the first Seeing Eye guide dog.. Another one is one of the greatest dogs in military history. There is a story about a fire dog veteran of the Great Chicago Fire. There is a puppy-mill survivor and an “assistant” to President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and more. There is also a separate series called Horse Diaries, similar to the Dog Diaries, except in the first-person view of horses. This story is a special edition for Christmas, probably because the dog’s owner is the man who “invented” Christmas. This book is intended for 4th grade through 8th grade. The tone of the book is silly with Tiny Tim’s antics and wordings, with a holiday atmosphere. Each chapter is 17 pages long, A quote that stood out in this book is “Whether I shall turn out to be the hero of my own life, or whether some other dog will hold that role, these pages will show.” This is the first sentence of the book. This stands out because Tiny Tim is Dickens’ dog and Charles Dickens wrote the exact same sentence in his book. Charles Dickens’ wrote “Whether I shall turn out to be the hero of my own life, or whether that station will be held by anybody else, these pages must show.” On a scale of one through five, I would rate it 4.
February 1, 2025
The narrator of the tale is Timber, a dog owned by Charles Dickens. Timber is a small Havanese silk dog and is a companion to the author. Throughout the story we learn of some of the places to which Dickens traveled as the little dog gets to see sights such as Mt. Vesuvius and as he meets a Saint Bernard dog at a monastery high in the mountains of Switzerland. We also get to learn a bit about Dickens' life too and hear about some of the books he writes while Timber is still part of his life, including the classic Christmas tale featuring Ebenezer Scrooge.
At the back of the book there are extra chapters on Dickens and another about the Havanese breed of dogs. There are also a few recipes and a craft.
At the back of the book there are extra chapters on Dickens and another about the Havanese breed of dogs. There are also a few recipes and a craft.
December 22, 2019
An interesting biography of Charles Dickens, told from the perspective of his real-life dog, Timber. Beautiful illustrations throughout. The kids and I learned a few things about Dickens, his books, and his dogs, and we're anxious to try one or two of the Victorian Christmas project ideas in the back as well!
December 31, 2018
I was disappointed. Klimo didn’t make the relationship between the dog, Charles Dickens, and history come alive as illustratively as she has in her previous Dog Diary books. We still love them and are excited for Susan and Fido!
March 6, 2019
I read this book with my daughter. We both enjoyed it so much. The book seemed at times to be more about Charles Dickens than the dog, but that was okay. I always loved reading the fact section at the end. My daughter and I are excited to try the recipes that were included with this one.
November 24, 2020
This is a super cute, fictional story about Charles Dickinson’s dog. I really enjoyed the “behind the scenes of the author” element of this story and it was super fun reading a book from a dog’s perspective!
September 5, 2021
Like I said with my other review about Dog Diaries, it's a really cute and fun read. I like how it's not entirely fictional, but still intriguing to younger readers, and even for tween & teen readers!
February 5, 2023
A heart warming story about an havanese named timber and Charles Dickens. It was interesting to see how much Dickens traveled. It was also interesting to see the things that inspired him
June 28, 2023
Was a little hard to follow but got some interesting information
November 21, 2024
I saw this book on a list of reading suggestions from the library. Since I often buy books for my young nieces and nephews, I wanted to see what these books are like. It's a cute premise for kids' historical fiction. A famous person's dog or a dog that was part of a historical event, in this case, Charles Dicken's dog, tells you about the events from a dog's perspective. The book was packed with information about Dickens in a relatable way. Plus, there are many humorous parts as we view the world through a dog's eyes.
December 13, 2023
Great book but my daughter thought it was not very interesting and she hopes that the other dog diary’s will be more interesting and cool she likes cool books as she told me but I think it is a great book to read
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews