Launch of The Way of Dog by Zana Fraillon

A fiercely original verse novel from the award-winning author of The Bone Sparrow, fully illustrated by talented newcomer Sean Buckingham.

Join Zana and Sean for the launch of The Way of Dogat The Little Bookroom.

This event is free, but registration is essential.

Bargoonga Nganjin, North Fitzroy Library
182-186 Saint Georges Rd
Fitzroy North

About the book

Be strong. Be fierce. Life is more than a concrete floor.

Scruffity is born into the harsh, grey world of a puppy farm. Taken from his mamma and locked in a concrete cage, what he yearns for most is Family. To belong is The Way of Dog. But no one wants him.

Just as his chances of adoption grow dangerously thin, Scruffity is set free by a boy as unwanted and lonely as he is.

Outside, Scruffity learns all about The Way of Dog – it is to run, to dig, to howl and, biggest of all, to love. But when tragedy strikes, Scruffity is suddenly all alone.

How does a dog find his way home when he never had one to begin with?

The Way of Dog came to Zana when she was investigating how to train her own dog to become an assistance dog for her daughter. ‘My daughter has Tourette’s Syndrome, and as part of this she will sometimes have what are known as tic fits. We noticed that our dog would go to our daughter before she would start fitting, before there was any outward sign, and the dog would lay her head on our daughter’s lap to calm her,’ says Zana.

‘Later I was reading a book that talked about the way dogs see the world and how to use that knowledge to train them, and I happened upon a documentary about prisoners being used to train assistance dogs. These dogs had been rescued from the pound, and the beauty and cyclical nature of the training program was astounding. Half way through the doco, Scruffity leapt into my head and refused to budge. It didn’t matter that I was knee deep in a manuscript already, I couldn’t get Scruffity out of my head. And suddenly verse fit. Why should dogs talk like people? Dogs have their own rhythm and time.’