The story behind The Dog Who Let Out His Awooo
The Dog Who Let Out His Awooo is inspired by my dog, Toby, a short, furry guard dog, who came to live with us when I was a child. Toby spent a lot of time checking for intruders (snakes, cats, rats) around the house and making sure no one passed by the gate without being barked at. Goofy or silly were words I could never apply to Toby. Which is why the Awoo incident stands out in my memory.
As the title page says, this is an almost true story – the crux of the story did happen. But, unlike the story, Toby showed tremendous embarrassment after the incident and had to be cajoled before he returned to his usual self.
The Illustrator
To bring the story to life, I turned to Barney Joseph from Sculpt Monkey, who also happens to be my brother. A deep familiarity with the story and its characters and experience with art and sculpture helped him infuse life into each scene. You can check out some of his other work on his website.
So, what’s the book about?
Toby was unique in many ways. For one, he never howled. Of course, he growled and barked at people who dared to pass by the gate. He even barked at the temple elephants when they walked by! But his family never heard him utter an awoo. It’s as though he did not possess the instinct that all dogs seemed to have. Not that his family was worried about it. His brothers and sister, howled at anything, especially when the milkman came around.
And then the strangest thing happened one day. A guest at the house started singing. Something stirred in Toby’s heart.
Would his instinct to howl come to life?
Or would he carry on as before?
