Bad Dog Max!

Max's Mom Goes Home

Marina and Anna are participating in the Bethesda Literary Festival on Saturday, April 23. Come to the Kids' Book Party at the Bethesda Library at 3 pm for the reading and talk. Marina grew up in Bethesda and is a proud graduate of Wood Acres Elementary, Western Jr High (now Westland Middle School?)  and Walt Whitman High School. We hope to see some old friends and we are especially looking forward to meeting their kids!

Bad Dog Max! is the simple and heartwarming story of one family and their dog that somehow always finds herself in big trouble.

Max - or Maxine as she's known formally - is always underfoot in the household, breaking lamps, stealing the dinner and generally making a pest of herself. But underneath it all, Max has a good heart. And, it turns out, she has a good reason for all of her misdirected energy.

Click here to get your own copy of this brightly illustrated early reader book that will ring true to anyone who's ever found themselves in a bit of a pickle.

Order from Amazon.com.

And now, a snack

Max's Cookie Bones... a delicious, soft and chewy cookie treat. Taste tested and approved. Healthy, too...

1 cup toasted wheat germ
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 egg
1 cup creamy peanut butter
1 TBS unsulphured molasses
1 cup water

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Mix dry ingredients then add egg, peanut butter, molasses and water to form dough. Roll into 1 inch balls then flatten onto greased baking sheet. Squeeze centers to form bone shapes. Bake for 12 minutes. Cool to room temperature and store in an air tight container. Makes 30

A Rainy Day For Books in Baltimore

From the Baltimore Book Festival:

A powerful wind blew and the tent panels waved. There were a few rain drops to wipe up but true book lovers braved the weather to attend our talk. The stormy weather perfectly suited Baltimore's historic Mt. Vernon neighborhood. For those who didn't attend it was a great day to stay home and read. Our talk went on as scheduled and the brainstorming for dog names was lively. The winning name was "Bad Dog Pie!". One audience member said that would be a great name for a cookbook. "Sunshine" was a close second. I just realized that the little girl that suggested it may have been wishing for better weather.

Be an illustrator!

Kids, if you liked Bad Dog, Max! I'd love to see your drawing of Max or her cat friend, Monroe.

You can create the picture on your computer, or just draw it and ask Mom or Dad to scan it for you. Then, when you're ready, email it to me and I'll post it here on the Bad Dog, Max web site.

The Baltimore Book Festival, Sept. 17-19

Marina and Anna are scheduled for a reading, presentation and signing on Sat. Sept 18th at 11 am at the the Children's Bookstore tent at the Baltimore Book Festival. Click on the following websites for more information.

The Children's Bookstore

The Baltimore Book Festival

A Bad Dog is a Happy Camper

Anna reports:

This past June, my mom and I spent a fun week volunteering for Paul's Place Camp at our church, The Church of the Redeemer. On the last day we took a break from the kitchen and read Bad Dog Max! to four groups of campers.

The kids brainstormed what a good dog and a bad dog might do and pet names. Popular choices of names were Susie, Princess and surprisingly my name, Anna. Each camper took home an individually signed book. We are looking forward to seeing the drawings and stories the kids did of the special animals in their lives or of Max and Monroe.

Globetrotting Dog!

Bad Dog Max! is being published in Portuguese (for Brazil) and Korean. We can't think of anything more exciting than Bad Dog Max! being read all around the world.

Bad Dog Max goes to school

Scholastic, Inc. has published Bad Dog Max! in paperback with a cassette that is available for teachers to order through their book club. It is listed in the March Firefly Item #3 N78000. Libraries may also order this version.

Lucky in Kentucky

The Southern Kentucky Book Fest was well attended and full of activity. We had a great time meeting readers, signing books, and buying books for ourselves - we needed a bigger suitcase on our trip home! Anna and I had a great experience presenting to a large group of 6 year old students. Anna read the book to the group which was special because she is the narrator in the story. Then we went back and looked at the pictures more closely and the kids described the details in the images. They especially liked Max slurping up Monroe’s food and finding Anna’s name in the alphabet cereal. We brainstormed together what bad dogs might do and came up with ideas for pet names like Dave, Pretty, Bow, Damin and Snoopy! Then the kids shared some funny stories about their pets and asked questions.

Anna and I also enjoyed some local activities. Our plane flew into Nashville, Tennessee so we took an interesting side trip to the Country Music Hall of Fame. In Bowling Green Kentucky, we had a chance to see a fascinating underground river at the Lost River Cave. We'll save the visit to the Corvette Assembly Plant for our next trip.

Anna and Marina present "Bad Dog, Max!" to a lively audience of young schoolchildren in Bowling Green, Kentucky.