Get your paws on a grrrrrrrreat book!
Dog Writers’ Association of America Award of Excellence Recommended Book Highly Recommended, State Library of Louisiana
When Maris discovers that Grandpa’s dog, Rambler, is 100 dog-years old, she knows the only way to celebrate such an important event is by throwing a big birthday bash! Dressed in their favorite dog costumes, her neighborhood friends arrive to play fun games and eat delicious food. Everyone is having lots of fun until they notice that the guest of honor is missing! Where, oh where, has Rambler gone?
Children’s Bookwatch – Reviewers Choice: “…ages 5-8 will relish this story…a whimsical account.” Christian Library Journal: “…a wonderful book to help young children realize that when people become older and slow down, they shouldn’t be ignored or disdained…[the story demonstrates] in a thoughtful way how we can still show our appreciation for the older persons in our lives.” Rave Reviews/All About Kids: “A winning combination of humor and heart.” The Union Democrat: “In this humorous tale, Wardlaw captures the essence of childhood friendships – the wise-cracker, the pal always ready to please, the nay-sayer – while Johnson-Petrov amplifies the antics to the nth degree.” Paws in Print: “Wardlaw and Johnson-Petrov have created a delightful story of a good dog and the child who loves him.”
The Cast of Characters:
Maris & Ramber
The Tale Behind the Tail “A few years ago, I received an invitation to a birthday party “The invitation read: It’s a Dog’s Life! Rambler and Dillon invite you to celebrate 100 dog years. Birthday party given by faithful servants Jane and Janet.
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The original invitation |
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“Make no bones about it: I’m a bona fide, card-carrying cat person. So I thought a 100th birthday party for a dog was a silly idea. Still, faithful-servant Janet is a good friend of mine. And I knew from experience that she'd probably hound me till I said Yes. So I put on a pair of dog bone earrings, wrapped a gift for the birthday pooch, and went to the party. “It was a howling success! “While Rambler, the dog-eared guest of honor, lay snoozing under a shady tree, the rest of us ate hot dogs, admired each other’s leashes and spiked collars, and held an ear-splitting Barking Competition. (I won – was awarded a box of chocolate-covered dog bones.) “Sometime during a game of Pin-the-Tail-on-the-Dog, Janet noticed that Rambler, true to his name, had rambled. Vanished. Considering that he was partially deaf, blind and arthritic, this feat was not only amazing but frightening. All the party guests immediately formed a search party. After about an hour we found the wayward canine three blocks from home – shaky but safe. He'd had enough of the noisy festivities, and was getting his dog-tired bones out of there… “Two weeks later, Rambler passed on to that great Bowl of Kibble in the sky. To pay tribute to the long-lived friendship Rambler and Janet had shared, I wrote Bow-Wow Birthday. I named the characters after my nieces and nephews, and gave each one of them the personality of a guest I remembered from one of my own childhood parties: Jacob the Jokester, Rosie the Biter, and The Very Contrary Isaac.
“Maris, the protagonist, is a lot like me. As I child, I always wanted my birthday parties to be Perfect. Whenever they hit the inevitable bump or two, I often grew bossy or tearful, losing sight of the whole point of a party: To celebrate and enjoy a special day with special friends. Maris stumbles over a similar bump. She grows so concerned about running the party smoothly, that she completely forgets the “why” behind the celebration – until Rambler disappears. Her fear and panic help her to remember how special their friendship is, and why only she knows where to find him. Then, like Rambler curled nose-to-tail, the story comes full circle, with Maris stroking the old dog inside the warmth and cozy quiet of her closet. “It gives me enormous pleasure to dedicate Bow-Wow Birthday to my friends Janet and Rambler, with thanks for, and fond memories of, my first dog party. And, although I’m still a cat person, I secretly hope that somewhere, somehow, Rambler is wagging his tail with happiness.“ 
Kibbles and Bits about Bow-Wow Birthday:
Lee Wardlaw’s original title for the book was The Dog Party. Ellen Kelley, one of the members of Lee’s writing group, later suggested Bow-Wow Birthday.
The first version Lee wrote featured a fourth party guest, Galen, who was named after another one of Lee’s nephews. Unfortunately, Lee had to cut Galen from the final manuscript in order for her to better streamline the story.
Arden Johnson-Petrov used author/illustrator
Ms. Johson-Petrov hosted a bow-wow birthday party at her home, using neighborhood dogs, her own daughter and four other children as models for the illustrations. About the experience, she says: “As you can imagine, having five first graders model at the same time was no small feat! One didn’t like dogs, another would not partake in the howling contest… but all of them wanted cake.”
The illustrations for this book were done on Canson charcoal
The original Rambler was a Sheltie mutt.
A dog would have to live about 20 of our years
The dog names mentioned in Bow-Wow Birthday
The Number One dog name in 2008 was:
Read a scene from Bow-Wow Birthday that was cut from the final text: Maris blindfolded Rosie for Pin the Tail on the Dog. “Do you know how dogs count to ten?” asked Jacob. “One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, canine, ten. Canine. Ha-ha! Get it?” “I get it,” Maris said. She gave Rosie a little push. Rosie wobbled forward, pinning the tail on the dog’s ear. Isaac laughed so hard he fell down. “Now?” Rosie growled. “May I bite him now?” “It’s Isaac’s turn,” Maris said. “Here’s your tail.” “This is not a tail,” said Isaac. “This is an eyebrow. The tail of we tyrannosaurs is fifteen feet long. Now that’s a tail.” Maris blindfolded him. “Just pin it,” she said. Isaac pinned the tail smack dab on the dog’s rump. “You peeked!” Jacob said. “If you peeked, you’re gonna end up in the dog house!” “Tyrannosaurs never peek,” said Isaac. Maris held up the blindfold. “Your turn, Jacob.” Jacob stalked across the yard, arms outstretched like Frankenstein. He pinned the tail on a lounge chair. Rosie growl-giggled. “I’ve got other things on my mind,” Jacob explained. He lowered his voice to a whisper. “Can you please tell me where the nearest fire hydrant is?” Maris rolled her eyes. “Isaac wins!” She gave him a box of chocolates, each one shaped like a dog biscuit. “Let Rosie have them,” Isaac said. “Tyrannosaurs never eat chocolate. We are strictly meat-eaters.” “Oh,” said Maris. “Well, it’s time for the barking contest.”
Excerpt from the original manuscript of Bow-Wow Birthday All illustrations copyright Arden Johnson-Petrov 1998
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