real dogs. One of my husbandâs search-and-rescue dogs, Maggi, is a calm, wise Australian Shepherd/Queensland Heeler cross. Maggi came to us as a stray, needing to be rescued and adopted. She loves to herd humans, making sure we are all in one place. Our younger SAR dog, Chance, is an energetic Yellow Labrador Retriever who shares Gabeâs enthusiasm for all things round and high-flying, even the moon.
When my husband trains Maggi and Chance, I serve as a volunteer âvictim,â hiding in the forest so the dogs can practice finding a lost person. Sometimes I just hide for a few minutes, but there are days when I have to wait for hours before a dogâs smart nose finds my invisible scent trail. It feels like magic, but my husband calls it science.
Many other aspects of Mountain Dog were also inspired by my real life. I have relatives who left our ancestral island on a raft. Iâve stood face-to-face with a bear on a trail, and Iâve heard a mountain lionâs eerie cry. Iâve visited a sad, confused woman in prison. Iâve seen mountain areas remote enough to have tiny, old-fashioned schools, as well as cowboy churches where horses and dogs are welcome. I used to dread math, but in order to study botany and agriculture, I had to overcome my fear of numbers.
Most of all, throughout my life, whether on wilderness paths or city sidewalks, I have often received trail magic in the form of unexpected acts of kindness from strangers.
I hope you enjoy reading Mountain Dog as much as I enjoyed writing it!
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YOUR FRIEND,
MARGARITA ENGLE
CLOVIS, CALIFORNIA
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I thank God for wilderness and trail angels.
I am joyfully grateful to Curtis, our dogs, the rest of our family, and the following canine search-and-rescue organizations: CARDA, MADSAR, SLOSAR, and NSDA. Special thanks to Kai Hernández, Norma Snelling, Nancy Acebo, and Dr. Cheryl Waterhouse.
I wish to express profound gratitude to Ann Martin and Laura Godwin for this opportunity to write about canine trail magic. Special thanks to Kate Butler, April Ward, and the entire Holt/Macmillan publishing team.
I am grateful to Olga and Alexey Ivanov for their beautiful illustrations.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Margarita Engle is a poet and novelist whose work has been published in many countries. Her books include The Surrender Tree, a Newbery Honor book and winner of the Jane Addams Childrenâs Book Award, the Pura Belpré Award, the Américas Award, and the Claudia Lewis Poetry Award; The Poet Slave of Cuba, winner of the Pura Belpré Award and the Américas Award; and Hurricane Dancers, winner of the Pura Belpré Award.
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ABOUT THE ILLUSTRATOR
Olga and Aleksey Ivanov immigrated to the United States from Russia in 2002. The husband-and-wife team received a classical art education in Moscow and have collaborated on over eighty childrenâs books, including The Tall Book of Mother Goose and Charlotteâs Web . They live and work together in an artist studio near Denver, Colorado.
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Text copyright © 2013 by Margarita Engle
Illustrations copyright © 2013 by Olga and Aleksey Ivanov
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The Library of Congress has catalogued the print edition as follows:
Engle, Margarita.
Mountain dog / Margarita Engle; illustrations by Olga and Aleksey Ivanov. â First edition.
pages       cm
ISBN 978-0-8050-9516-6 (hardcover)
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