Can you imagine a dog carrying mail back and forth between towns? This one did!
Tricycle Press picks up the most interesting books/authors for children's picture books. This book will be coming out for sale at the end of this month, and I appreciate the opportunity to review it. Adam Gustavson illustrated the book. The book's subtitle is: Mail Dog of the Mining Camps. It's for ages 4 to 8.
Ms. Lendroth lives in Sierra Madre, California, not far from the mining town of Calico. That's what gave her idea for this book.
In 1885, Calico was a silver mining camp and bustling with activity. Two brothers lived there, along with a Border collie named Dorsey. Everett ran the post office in Calico, so his brother, Alwin decided to open a general store nearer the miners. It was a mile and half from Calico.
This is a true story, there is a photo of Dorsey at the back of the book.
As Dorsey ran back and forth visiting his friends in both locations, they suddenly came up with the idea of training the dog to carry the mail. The illustrations show the various challenges Dorsey faces on the trail (there are more interesting things than mail, you know), but the smiles on the miner's faces at the other end (and the biscuits) make Dorsey very happy.
This a delightful read and would work very well for reading aloud in a group. Share some local history with your child. If you live close enough, you can still visit Calico and see where the mining camp existed and check out a bit of history.
Visit your local bookstore and take a look at it - I bet you end up taking the book home with you!
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