Star - An Irish Wolfhound (1959)

Star - An Irish Wolfhound
Janet Rogers Howe
1959, The Westminster Press

"Remember 'way back last summer Pop promised me I could have a big dog if Dr. Bob should get a stray that isn't claimed or one somebody wants to find a home for. I don't care what kind it is as long as it's really huge"

Pete's humorless obsession is rewarded with an Irish Wolfhound through the usual auspices of children's book coincidence. Dr. Bob, the local vet, delivers an unwanted runt from a nearby kennel's prize litter, so choosy little Pete gets his wish for The Very Biggest Dog There Is. Unfortunately for the size-preoccupied boy, the kennel's owned by the mother of a disagreeable classmate, Chuck, who also ends up with a puppy from that litter. And his puppy, a male, is larger. Poor Pete!

... ten energetic young wolfhounds raced and wrestled together. One, a light honey-tan, was taller, longer and more mature-looking than the others. That was Gellert. Pete realized, with a real twinge of regret, that he was bigger than Star.

Pete and his best buddy, Bill, are annoyed by the arrogant and prickly Chuck, who wouldn't be their pal even if he didn't own a larger dog than Pete's. But Dr. Bob wisely sees that the problem is Chuck's overbearing mother, and encourages the boys to bond. Over their wolfhounds.

The writing is fine, the action smooth if not wonderful, and the overall quality is better than average. But there are just a few too many aggravating things. The yawningly familiar plot that a controlling mother is ruining her son, the insistence on reminding us at every turn that these are wolfhounds (she never calls them dogs), the female friend who gets backburnered consistently so that the effect is of an author trying to eliminate every female presence in the book - Pete's mother is dead, Bill's is never seen, Chuck's is an ogre, and Pete's aunt is a crank. The awkwardness of the author trying to have her hunter plot and eat it too by having a father quickly comment that a near-tragic shooting was a natural mistake on the part of a hunter. God forbid she criticize a hunter.


Other Books
Curly (1956)
Benjamin Big (1958, Saint Bernard dog)
The Mystery Of The Marmalade Cat (1969)
The Secret Of Castle Balou (1967)
Thunder And Jerry (1949, horse?)
Trinket (1961, Shetland pony)
Samuel Small's Secret Society (1960)

Annie's Monster
Barbara Corcoran
1990, Atheneum

When an Irish Wolfhound breeder finds that one of her adolescent dogs has a minor but possibly genetic flaw, she gives him to a local girl as a pet. Ian Flanagan of Wild Rose Farm is friendly, enthusiastic and huge. Annie MacDougal is well-intentioned, but the big puppy easily frees himself of her grasp on their first walk together and frightens neighborhood children, the first in a long line of confrontations between Annie's dog and the people of her small Massachusets town. With her father the Episcopal minister, Annie's under great pressure to behave, and Flanagan's behavior threatens all that. To make matters worse, Flanagan discovers a mentally ill homeless woman, whose situation is a direct reproach to Rev. MacDougal's position on charity.

Awkwardly written, with dueling plot points clearly meant to be complimentary (misunderstood dog, misunderstood human) but which compete for sparse resources from a writer who seems intent on making obvious points - it's wrong to fear the mentally ill, big dogs are clumsy. The language is bare, without challenge or beauty.

On a dog-owner's point-of-view, the plot concerning Annie's brave battle to keep her pet rings false. Annie and her family are repeatedly unable/unwilling to control their dog's actions - letting go of the leash, allowing the dog to jump into a neighbor's yard, etc. - and yet are outraged and self-righteous when people complain and rally to have the MacDougals forced to pen the dog.

This is a classic animal story. The villains are all ugly Americans, the loathsome middle-class neighbors. The heroes are the wealthy breeder and the poor/noble Episcopal minster and his family. A moment late in the book, when the breeder threatens to sue the town if it bans Flanagan, sums it up:

They resented Mrs. Meyers - her money, her threat to sue, her power. Annie could feel it all over the room.

The dog story disappoints. Flanagan is seen very vaguely, and Annie's relationship with him is flat, uninvolving and unconvincing. The dog is clearly a vehicle for the wider story of father/daughter, parson/homeless, outsider/town themes.

I've enjoyed other Corcoran books. This one, however, is too busy for it's own good. Too many plots, too much bare-bones writing and far too much blatant preaching.

Other Books (dog)
Sasha, My Friend
Me And You And A Dog Named Blue

Other Books (horse)
A Horse Named Sky