I'll end March as I started ... with books about sled dogs. :-)

First up is a 'coffee table' book today: Travelers of the Cold: Sled Dogs of the Far North, by Dominique Cellura. From early legends and rock paintings to the modern day sport of skijoring, the author covers several continents and hundreds of years in this well written and well researched book. Definitely worth a couple of cups of tea!

Although the Iditarod is the most well known sled dog race, the Yukon Quest is considered to be a more difficult route. In Running North: a Yukon Adventure, the author, Ann Mariah Cook, follows along (in a quirky truck) as her husband with his team of Siberian Huskies, runs the race.

From Gary Paulsen (author of Winterdance) comes Puppies, Dogs, and Blue Northers: Reflections On Being Raised By a Pack of Sled Dogs. Back home in Minnesota, Cookie is about to have her puppies. I love the descriptions of the puppies and how they interact with the other Paulsen dogs, especially with William (never 'Bill') as he teaches them how to get the tasty bits from a beaver skull. The illustrations are paintings done by his wife, Ruth Wright Paulsen.

Polly Evans is the author of several travel books. Although she claims to not like 'discomfort' she has ridden horses in Argentina, traveled around New Zealand on a motorbike, and through China using public transportation. Mad Dogs and an Englishwoman: Travels With Sled Dogs in Canada's Frozen North is her adventure of following the Yukon Quest trail. I waffle between great admiration for Polly Evans, and thinking she is crazy, but her writing is good and I've enjoyed her books. I love reading about her getting to know the dogs and working with them as a team.

For those who like a good mystery, a long ago read, Murder on the Iditarod Trail, the first in a series by Sue Henry. Mushers are dying on the trail, Jessie Arnold may be next, and State Trooper Alex Jensen is determined to find the killer. It's a dim, but good memory. :-)

It seems fitting to end with another 'coffee table' book ... this is one I bought just for the pictures ... Huskies in Action: the Fascination of Dogsledding, by Rico Pfirstinger. (It was worth it)! The text is interesting, too, however, since it's about dog sled races in Europe, something I know very little about.

Reading Hermit with Dog