One Dog Day - Hardcover

Lewis, J. Patrick

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0689318081 ISBN 13: 9780689318085

Publisher: Atheneum, 1993

Synopsis

With Abners Smalley's and Ned Durant's dogs participating in the upcoming Third Annual Coon Dog Race and Corn Feed, Jilly Hawkes feels that she and her collie dog will never be regarded as serious contenders.

About this title

From School Library Journal

Grade 3-6-- On a hot day in August, the aroma of corn roasting is in the air as people from all around Effingham, Illinois , gather for the third annual Coon Dog Race and Corn Feed. The contest has become a rivalry between Abner Smalley's pedigree redbone hound and Ned Durant's beagle. But the crowd hushes as a new contestant joins the competition--a collie named Poetry. While 12-year-old Jilly Hawkes patiently waits for the race to begin, she and her dog endure taunts and good-natured gibes. But the talk subsides when everyone sees Poetry slide into the water like a seal and they know that this year's contest will be the most exciting ever. Following the course of this single community event, Lewis takes readers on a lyrically descriptive ride. The young girl's remembrances are deftly blended throughout the events leading up to the race, and each major character is given more depth as the story progresses. Throughout the short chapters, black-and-white drawings are interspersed to add visual texture to this richly worded story. A rewarding read-aloud or read-alone choice in which the underdog definitely has her day. --Jana R. Fine, Clearwater Public Library System, FL
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews

A well-regarded author of poetry for children (A Hippopotamusn't, 1990) concocts a comic literary tale about a 12- year-old who enters her collie in an unusual two-part race for coon dogs: following a caged coon in a rowboat, they swim across a pond, then dash to the base of a pole to whose top the coon has been whisked. Jilly's entry meets the derision of previous winners, arrogant grown men; she doesn't expect to win anyway because, though ``Poetry'' swims very fast, she's just not interested in pursuing the coon for the second lap. The help of an unexpected ally--the judge's son, who gives Poetry a not- quite-unfair motive for zipping to the goal--results in a satisfying upset. Young readers will find these events amusing, but they'll have to get past a slow-moving opening--colorful, skillfuly written, but with a distinctly adult appeal. Still, worth a try--especially, with its folksy dialogue, as a readaloud. (Fiction. 8-11) -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

About this edition

• Publisher: Atheneum
• Publication date: 1993
• ISBN 10: 0689318081
• ISBN 13: 9780689318085
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 64