Mushroom Hunting for Puppies

Hi!

     I've been here, I've been there - lately I feel like a pup always on the move! Sneak-up surprise visits to see Jacob and fantastic times trotting around the library's grounds have kept me busy. But do you know the best adventure I've had lately? I went on a Mushroom Hunt with Rachel in the Wilds of Slater Park!

     Imagine this: A forest setting with dusty leaves underpaw. There are gritty bits of branches painted with dew. Our canine explorer's nose snuffles across the morning-lit grass. See how wolfish his smile is? His tail waves, and his ears perk up to listen to the woods. With his faithful human by his side, he pads forward to seek...MUSHROOMS.

Unfortunately, Rachel never told me what a "mushroom" was (Allison calls something called oatmeal "mush," so I thought a mushroom might be a room filled with oatmeal), so I was looking in the wrong places...

     After a few false sniffs up trees, Rachel finally thought to tell me what a mushroom is. I wiggled my bum and sat back to listen to her explanation.

     "A mushroom is something called a fungus," she said. "It looks kind of like a little puffy umbrella, and it grows in dark, damp spots and eats dead things."

     Woof-roo? Why would anyone want something like that?

     Rachel continued, "There are lots of different colors and sizes of mushrooms; some are poisonous and some you can eat. I just want a few for an art project."

     Ah. Now that I understood. Thinking back to my humans' strange habits of crushing veggies and fruits and leaves for other painting projects, this didn't surprise me. After a quick stretch, we were off again. At last we found clumps of mushrooms (which - upon sniffing- I decided NOT to eat), and our quest was done! 

Rachel and I look at the mushrooms we found in the woods.

She's using the tops to make pretty designs on paper. Humans are strange.

      When I had settled back onto one of my favorite napping spots in Allison's room, Allison pulled out a book. Smiling, she told me that she was happy that I had been such a brave, smart adventurer. The following book tells the story of three adventurous pigs (one of whom travels especially far) and their own mushroom hunt. 

     In Holly Hobbie's Toot and Puddle: Wish You Were Here, Toot sets off for "Wildest Borneo," leaving his best friend Puddle and her cousin Opal at home in Woodcock Pocket. Much of the story allows readers to see both Toot's adventures in Borneo (through his postcards home) and Opal and Puddle's happy spring in Woodcock Pocket (through the narration). Toot discovers new plants; Puddle and Opal plant marigolds. Three very close friends with very different interests! Aroo!

Human-pups will gasp at what happens next! Toot comes home sick and the only remedy is a smelly mushroom tea. And these mushrooms may just be hidden somewhere in Woodcock Pocket...

I give this book two paws up and a tail wag. The book's wonderful message is that adventures are available even in your own backyard - and that friends may be very close even if they are like very different things. Be yourself! And always be open to adventure! Aroooooo! The illustrations too are funny and imaginative (especially the postcards from Toot), the characters' faces showing just what they are feeling. Recommended for human-pups Pre-K-3.

Allison and I would also like to recommend the other Toot and Puddle books! 

Oh dear. My family has just discovered that I had a nibble on Suz's rocking chair. I think I'm in trouble...have to go try the puppy eyes and woof a quick "sorry." 

Yours in feisty adventures and silly mushrooms,

Sam I Am    

   

      

The Bull and the Lion: Keeping It Real

Hi!

     Today my humans took me to something called an arts festival. There were lots of people for me to meet and lick and impress with my panting, tail-wagging charm. Even a few human-pups - including one in this wheeled thing called a "stroller" - stopped to give me a quick pet or a belly rub. I can't count the number of times I got called "adorable" and "cute." All for just being me!

     Be yourself. "Let it all hang out," as some humans say...

     Anyway, two storybook characters Allison and I read about yesterday try to understand the same idea: what it means to be yourself. One of them calmly shows others that he will not change to fit in; the other learns the hard way that being himself is best.

Click me for Disney's film short based on the story.

In The Story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf, illustrated by Robert Lawson, a bull named Ferdinand (but you guessed that, didn't you? Arf!) is different from the other bulls.

*You know, I didn't know what a bull was at first.* 

"Arooo," I woofed to Allison, pawing at the cover. 

Okay, so your name is Ferdinand, and you're a bull - but what is a bull?!

"A bull is a boy cow," Allison answered.

"Arooo?"

I stuck my tongue out and panted for a second while I thought about this. What was a cow?

"It's got four legs," Allison continued patiently. "It eats grass, it's black and white or brown, and it goes mooooooo!"

Then she told me that cows give us milk and ice cream. After that I decided I didn't care much what a cow actually is; if it lets Allison eat ice cream and occasionally drop a bit that I get to lick up, then cows and bulls are terrific!

So Ferdinand is different from the other bulls because he doesn't like to fight. Instead, he sits and smells the flowers (personally, I'll take a good bit of sniffing over a tussle any day). This goes okay for awhile, until some silly humans get confused. They think that Ferdinand is a ruff and tough bull - just because he runs around and snorts and yelps at a bee sting.

The humans bring Ferdinand to a big round ring to fight in front of an audience. Scary stuff those humans in Spain thought of...Allison says that Spain is a far-away place with different "traditions." That means they do things their own way. But Ferdinand refuses to fight - he knows he should still be himself and do things his own way! So this bull gets a happy ending when he shows the humans that he doesn't need to be what they want him to be.

Overall, I give this book two paws up. A good story with a lovable hero (though of course a canine hero would have been more lovable!). Allison and I agree that the illustrations (black and white drawings) show just enough detail and give the reader a wonderful sense of Ferdinand's world. Good for human-pups ages 4-8. 

Keep on sniffing, Ferdinand!

I didn't like the second story as much as Ferdinand, but I think human-pups will laugh at the silly lion in Don Freeman's Dandelion:

Click me for more on the author

This fluffy feline featured on the cover is invited to a party at his friend's house. Even though the invitation says to "Come as you are," Dandelion runs out to get a complete makeover. Curly mane, new sweater, a cane, everything! This part made me a little mad; why would he do all that? Just to impress the guests at the party? To keep up with "What Well-dressed Lions are Wearing This Year"? That's not what's important!

   

I might have tried to take my frustration out on the book..grrrr!

In any case, Dandelion learns his lesson when his friends don't recognize him, and he gets caught in a storm. ("I'll always be just plain me," he finally tells his friends.) Fancy clothes and haircuts don't mean anything. It's being you that counts! Woof! One paw up for this tale. I found the story's hero almost too silly (Allison says that Dandelion's so vain he probably thinks this song is about him...whatever that means.). The illustrations - pencil-drawing style with shading - are loosely done but interesting. The details in Lou's shop and the cap and cane shop are fun though! Good for human-pups ages 4-8. Laugh at the foolish cat!   

Good night! I'm just about to fall asleep on my pillow next to Allison's bed. Off to dream of kibble, art festival adventures, bulls, and cats.

                  The One and Only,

      Sam I Am



Sam I Am: A Dog's Dog, or Being True to YOU

Hi!

     Busy couple of days! Rachel, Allison, and Suz planted a vegetable garden today - Allison says it will be my job to chase squirrels away. Arf! I've got a real job now, paid in cookies and belly rubs...can't wait to get started! A lot of times my humans smile and ask, "Why do you do that, Sam?" Whether it's tearing apart a terrific clump of dried grass (Fun!), tunneling under the bed in my crate (Gotta dig!), or barking at a potted plant (I swear it was about to attack!), my humans are always laughing and trying to figure me out. Truth is, I'm a dog -  and I wouldn't want to be anything else. Even for all the Milkbones in the world. 

     I told Allison that sometimes I get nervous when I meet new pups or new humans. Last week I made a friend down the street, a Malkie (Maltese and Yorkie) named Chance. He likes to bounce and dive under bushes, yipping like he's hot on the trail of a chipmunk. Me? I don't like to bark so much. I could've tried to be like Chance and his half-brother Teddy and barked and dived and bounced. Just to impress them, you know? (Allison calls it "fitting in.") But I didn't do that. I showed Chance the way I race around and then flop over in front of the humans for an "awwww" or a belly rub. I was myself! And it felt good! Don't be scared to be true to who you are, human or pup or anything else.

It's good to be me...

      After I thought about this for awhile, Allison found a few books for me to read. So this entry and the next one will be for talking about those. The first is called Edward the Emu by Sheena Knowles, illustrated by Rod Clement:

     That sad-looking chicken on the cover is actually an emu like the ones I met in the park. Only this one has a name: Edward. This silly bird starts out very confused at the beginning of the story; he thinks being an emu is boring and so tries to act like some of the other animals at the zoo. Written in funny rhymes, the book shows what happens when you try to be something other than yourself. Human pups will love the emu's laughable expressions and the ending as well! Edward the Emu gets two paws up from this pup - and for the story of another emu, try Edwina the Emu (the adventure continues!). 

See Emus in Action

     Now I'm off to bed, to snuggle up with my squeaky duck and rawhide. Two more tales of learning to love being you to come soon! Woof!

                                                       A dog who loves being himself,

                                                                                     Sam I Am