posted
They can put a man on the moon, but they can't (it seems) identify the title and author of this book! It has confounded the experts at the late great Alibris forums, its successor ExLibris, the Lost Boards, at MSN groups, the equally great AbeBooks Stumpers forums, rec.arts.books.childrens at Google Groups, and the legendary "Stump the Bookseller" at Loganberry Books, as well as the secret, mystical, and arcane wizard librarians at PubYac. Dare you probe its mysteries? (I promise you the book DOES exist...somewhere.)
In this 5th-8th grade level novel, probably a drab 1950s-style hardcover, Andy, a sixteen-year-old boy, loses his black cocker spaniel, Spider, to dognappers in what he previously thought "the safest town in the world." Andy moves to the country and finds Moses, so named because he was found in rushes or by water. As I recall, Moses grows from a puppy into a huge black dog which helps Andy and his dad locate the dognappers. Later, they find Spider, who somehow escaped the dognappers to be adopted by some nice people. Not "The Black Spaniel Mystery," by Betty Cavanna, "The Cocker Spaniel Mystery," by Hazel Louise Raybold Langdale, or "Hound Dog Moses and the Promised Land," by Walter D. Edmonds, and I've collected a list of other books it's not. It seemed somewhat dated when read in 1974.
Posts: 91 | Registered: Feb 2006
| IP: Logged |
posted
Yeah, someone suggested that one before and we never seriously followed up on it. I have now contacted two sellers who have listed this title.
I'm pretty sure most or all of the details are correct. I couldn't say for sure even what country the story is set in, but I'd make a good bet either the U. S. or Canada.
The most I hope for with "Me and Andy" is another plot description for my "not it" list, as the story was from the boy's point of view, not the dog's. While awaiting an answer, here, for your edification, is the rest of my "not it" list:
D36 dognapping: there's a stolen terrier in The Dog Show Mystery, by E. Thompson, illustrated by J. Russell, published Abelard 1966, 133 pages. But it's about two children and their efforts to find the dog, and no mention of a boy called Andy or a second dog adopted. D36 dognapping: not a perfect match, but there is The Dognappers, by Kay Richardson, illustrated by Joe Capozio, published Century 1968, orange hardcover, cover illo of dogs, in the Learning to Read, Reading to Learn series. "Dogs are disappearing from the neighborhood. Nobody seems to know why. Finally, Jeff & Cathy put all the clues together & come up with an answer." Nothing about Andy, though, and the time-span seems shorter. No plot description, but the title is a bit hopeful - Me and Andy, a Boy and Dog Story, by Raymond Ransome Kelly, illustrated by Electra Papadopoulos with 6 colour plates, published Laidlaw 1928, 164 pages, reprinted Whitman 1938, with 2 colour plates. D36 dognapping: probably not right, because it's from the dog's point of view, but in case - Tarr of Belway Smith by Nan Hayden Agle, illustrated by Barbara Seuling, Seabury Press 1969. "Tarr was a big, black Labrador retriever from Belway Kennels. He thought he was the biggest, blackest, most beautiful dog in the world. Everybody said he was. Then one day the Hooper Dog came strolling up the lane as though he owned the place. And he was bigger than Tarr. The trouble starts when a jealous Tarr jumps on the Hooper Dog and almost wins the fight, except that the Smiths stop the fight and take Hooper Dog inside. That's when Tarr decides to run away and when even bigger trouble starts -- he's taken by dognappers. Also known as That Dog Tarr." Here's another one it isn't: Spider Dog, by Priscilla Cumming. A bookseller sent this description: "This is the story of Deb and Richard and Dixter, their 'Spider' dog, in their many exciting adventures. Here we meet the gypsies, Luke and his father Golden, and the weird wise woman, Mother Matty, and join with Deb and Richard in many escapades, finishing with a thrilling midnight round-up of the diddicoys, in which Dixter comes through as no mean hero." Adding: "I don't know what diddicoys are, do you?" (I expect it's another spelling for "diddakoi," a British nickname for Gypsy, and, from what I could tell from the Rumer Godden book, none too complimentary.) Dixter was the runt of the litter of spaniels and he had a strange brown mark on his head which resembled a spider. I am guessing that he was brown and white. Luke saved him from being drown in the first chapter. Deb and Richard buy him from Luke. There does seem to be another dog called Misty but without actually reading the whole book I couldn't tell if there was an actual mystery involved in the story or just 'adventures.'
At least I got a message from PUBYAC even if it is wrong: Since a librarian just suggested Bonny's Boy, by F. E. Rechnitzer. Philadelphia: the John C. Winston Company, 1946 , and Bonny's Boy Returns, by F. E. Rechnitzer. Philadelphia: the John C. Winston Company, 1953, here goes with a description for the record. Our local library has the first book (I didn't know till now there was a sequel), which does fit in some ways: the boy's name is Davy, but that's close enough I'd accept it in place of Andy, as we did read another boy-and-dog story the same year about a boy named Andy, so I could be wrong as to the boy's name, and he does talk in that old-fashioned way which would have seemed hokey to us in the '70s. I am, however, sure of the dogs' names, Spider and Moses. Moses, in particular, made an impression because my mom always objected to "giving a perfectly good person's name to a dog," and giving a Biblical name was, of course, worse. In Rechnitzer's books the dog (right color and breed) is named "Bonny's Boy," "Bon" for short. Davy's dad does play an important part in the story, but he also has a mother, which I don't remember in the book we read. There is a "scheme" and a "trap," but neither involve dognapping. Can't be the book I'm after. Very little info here but the date makes it a candidate: Puppy Stakes by Betty Cavanna (1953) Girl runs a kennel, story involves a litter of black spaniels. Here's hoping! One of my many online searches for this turned up a page devoted to cocker spaniels, including fiction. So many titles have been suggested I am compiling quite a list. Sometime I hope to find that page again and submit all these! Here is another suggestion which is nothing like the book I want: Puppy Stakes. Cavanna, Betty. Originally published by The Westminster Press in 1943 before being issued in Grosset & Dunlap's "Starlight Novels for Modern Girls" series. Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1943, and New York: Grosset & Dunlap, 1943, 262 pages. A teen-aged girl has few hopes for excitement during her time spent with country relatives, but when her arrival coincides with that of a litter of pups from the family's cocker spaniel, things take an unexpected turn for the better. "Paprika's having pups" was hardly the welcome Janey expected. But the litter of cocker spaniels who stole the limelight from Janey's arrival soon won her heart, just as they will win yours. Teenage story about a girl who goes to live with her aunt and the cocker spaniel puppy, Budge.
Printer-friendly view of this topic
![[Dont Know]](graemlins/dontknow.gif)
