Happy Wolfenoot!
We here at the Butterflies & Aliens Library also have a long, if somewhat unrelated, history of animal adoption and companionship: cats, birds, snakes, gerbils, fish, rabbits, tarantulas, guinea pigs both hairy and hairless... and dogs. Lots of dogs.
So naturally when we discovered a holiday dedicated to a “Celebration of Canines and Kindness,” and heard the story of how this holiday came to be, we couldn’t let it pass unrecognized.
Invented by a seven-year-old and launched with a Facebook post, Wolfenoot is when “the Spirit of the Wolf brings and hides small gifts around the house for everyone. People who have, have had, or are kind to dogs get better gifts than anyone else.” And also “you eat roast meat (because wolves eat meat) and cake decorated like a full moon.”
So in honour of Wolfenoot – “celebrating our pack - human and animal - helping where we can, and making the world a better, kinder place” – we thought we’d share a selection of dog-themed books from our collection…
A spread from Hammond’s Pictorial Library of Pets, Plants and Animals, published in 1958 by C. S. Hammond & Co. Our Head Alien has wanted to own an Irish Wolfhound his whole life because of the picture at the top left.
Covers for Algonquin: The Story of a Great Dog by Dion Henderson and Lassie: Trouble at Panter’s Lake by Steve Frazee, both Whitman books published in 1972 and, says our Butterfly-in-Chief, “authentic from my childhood years.”
The cover for The One Hundred and One Dalmations, by Dodie Smith and published in 1979… also says our Butterfly-in-Chief, “Pretty sure I re-read 101 Dalmations at least 101 times because I wanted 101 dogs…”
Something a bit newer, the cover for My Dog: The Paradox: A Lovable Discourse about Man’s Best Friend, by The Oatmeal a.k.a. Matthew Inman, published in 2013, a book version of this comic about his dog.
Covers for A Pug’s Guide to Etiquette and A Pug’s Guide to Dating by Gemma Correll. Because pugs.
And to conclude please enjoy this random FB post with pictures of Kate Bush and dogs. Because Kate Bush. And dogs.
This is just a sample. Go to the post.
Have a howly Wolfenoot and welcome to the Wolfenati!
– Winston & Stacey