Dog on Board: The True Story of Eclipse, the Bus-Riding Dog, by Dorothy Hinshaw Patent* (Crown Books for Young Reader, $16.99, 2016, 40 pages, ages 4-8 and above), as told by Eclipse, the dog, herself
I was going through our overdue library books, getting them ready to return when I came upon Dog on Board: we just had to sit down and read it. Again and again! And not only because the dog lives in Seattle!
Plenty of photos for the little ones to feel as if this story is happening to them, to make them fall in love with black lab Eclipse (who turns out to be a Mastador - half lab and half mastiff)
Dad in Seattle dogsits Eclipse for teenage son living on a farm but getting more and more involved in football. The temporary arrangement becomes permanent and Dad takes Eclipse to the dog park every day by bus (Seattle is a very dog-friendly city!)
One day, Dad is late and Eclipse boards the bus all by herself. She knows where to get off and a human opens the dog park gate for her.
Then follows Eclipse and her ever-expanding journeys, apparently alone (Dad is in the background).
Meet Seattle
Seattle is home to ferries and the Pike Street Fish Market and dog friends everywhere! Eclipse actually becomes a TV celeb!
Inside both front and back covers are 'bus map diagrams.' Even if you live in 'the other Washington', Washington, D.C., you will see a red line and a yellow line and a purple line for a kid-discussion.
And Eclipse likes to shop in MudBay on the way home from the dog park. After all, it is a store for dogs. (Well, actually it's a chain of pet stores owned by employees.)
Cruisin' Canine
Watch Eclipse here! And visit Scraps and Canine Pub here on Eclipse's day off in Seattle.
Who Let The Dog Out?
On ABC News, Eclipse turns out to be the MPP, Most Popular Passenger, on the D-line. Read what the Huff Post has to say here.
