Tarazet

There's a Plot APaw...

First, a quick story from the Muscatine Journal:

A Clear Lake [Iowa] woman has become an author of a children's book she based on the crazy antics of her hairless cat.

Sharon Anderson's book, ''Bare - The Hairless Hero,'' is a collection of four stories about her mischievous cat, Bare. It was recently published by Allen Printing & Publishing Company in Clarion.

The retired schoolteacher is giving away copies of the book to Ronald McDonald Houses in Iowa City, Sioux City and Des Moines and to Mercy Medical Center-North Iowa. Copies have also been donated to her church, Clear Lake Christian Church, and the Clear Lake Public Library.

She estimates she has given away about 300 copies of the book so far.

I'll bet she's a really nice person and was a great teacher. I'm glad she's also a generous one. It got me thinking though, about all the books out there that feature a dog or cat. I'm a fan of the mystery genre and needless to say, there are a LOT of series of books where the "detective" is a cat. Oddly enough, not so many where a dog is the protagonist. I wonder if people who write for a living prefer the quiet of cats or it's just that cats are known to be curious, as a detective would be. Obviously these authors base their fictional characters on their own pets.

Then there's Charles M. Schultz, creator of the great comic strip Peanuts which featured Snoopy the beagle. Yet I've always felt that Snoopy acted more like a cat. And I remember (but can't find) a photo I saw of Schultz holding his pet cat... Hmmm...

I'm curious to know if you readers have a favorite animal character in book or film. Would YOUR good dog or cat make a good protagonist?

Posted by Jeff Soyer at July 7, 2004 11:20 AM