Interview with Lori Lobenstine, Author of The Barking Puppy
Welcometo Smack Dab, Lori! Please tell us a bit about The Barking Puppy.
Wheneleven-year-old Sophie and her two Jack Russell terriers move to Boston, thefirst neighbors they meet are a quirky teenager named Juno and her breathing-challengedpug, Bonney. They quickly bond over their love for dogs, but making friends atschool isn’t so easy. Sophie is excited to not be the only brown kid, but herclassmates make fun of her Vermont overalls and don’t appreciate the humor ofthe “by-dogs-for-dogs” newspaper that she and Juno are dreaming up. But thenBonney needs surgery, Sophie’s dogs chase a mean neighbor’s hairless cat, andit looks like the Barking Puppy newspaper might never go to print. CanSophie's goal to “think like a dog” help her rescue Bonney, keep her family outof trouble with the landlady, make friends at school, and even challenge the BostonGlobe?
I’vehad pets my entire life. The relationship between Sophie and her dogs, EleanorRigby and Ollie Baba, is so heartwarming. What inspired you to write about thisspecial bond between a young girl and her pets?
I feellike our pets do so much for us in terms of showing us other ways to be in theworld. Even before my goddaughter Sophie and her mom got the Jack Russells,Sophie was a dog person. She could always think like a dog! One time when shewas about four years old, I joked that my dog Herschel never wanted to read hisbirthday cards, because he was so eager for his yummy presents. Without missinga beat, Sophie wedged a dog-biscuit in her card to him so he would open it!Brilliant. Our relationship has always centered our pets, and our shared humorhas always been dog-centric, so TheBarking Puppy is really an extension of that.
Sophiehas a wonderful way of "thinking like a dog" throughout the book. Howdo you think children can benefit from trying to see the world from an animal'sperspective?
Well,as I said, Sophie has really always had that gift, although I didn’t quite havethat language for it. I’ll tell you how the idea came to me, though. In chapterone, Sophie and her mom (and their dogs, of course!) are moving to Boston. I waswriting a list of things that Sophie wanted to do in Boston, because Sophieloves lists. When I got to number 10, I wrote something dumb like “Be brave.”My twin sister is an elementary school librarian, and her eyes almost rolledout of her head. “Every middle grade book with a female protagonist has thattheme,” she complained. Which really gave me pause. What was I trying to say? How wasmy protagonist really going to navigate moving to a new city? So then itoccurred to me how central this could be to her success. Thinking like a dogcould be Sophie’s way of becomingbrave—whether it was meeting other kids or challenging her godmother at the Boston Globe.
Sophie and LoriTheBarking Puppy newspaper is such a creative concept! What gave you the idea fora "by-dogs-for-dogs" newspaper?
The Barking Puppy is based on a real “by-dogs-for-dogs” newspaper that Istarted with my goddaughter, Sophie, when she was ten! We had a week togetherduring a school break, and we banged it out. Her dog-insights kept me laughing,and I quickly realized how well we collaborated. We shared a love for our dogsand a sense of humor, and a real willingness to “yes-and” all kinds of crazyideas. Article about pug losing her off-leash owner? Check! Dog classifieds? Ohyea! Interviewing dogs on the street? For sure. And ten years later, we’restill like this! We’ve produced six other editions, a handmade Barking Puppygame, mini-documentaries, and now this book series, our video trailer, theaudiobook, the book tour…the list goes on. It’s so fun! (You can see the PDFsof the original Barking Puppy newspapers at our website: http://thebarkingpuppy.com)
Thestory presents Sophie's experiences as a biracial child with sensitivity andauthenticity. How did you approach writing these moments of identity andself-discovery? Why was creating a diverse neighborhood community important forSophie's story?
When mygoddaughter Sophie was eight years old, she and her mom moved from Harlem, NYto Vermont. For a long time, she didn’t have a lot of language around race orthe massive change that she had experienced in terms of community. As I waswriting the book, she was really coming into that language as a high schoolerthere. She shared a video she made of herself talking about her experiences,and it was one of the very first times that we talked about race and what itwas like being brown in Vermont. She ended up experiencing a whole range ofracism there, and she used her amazing sense of humor to call it out. I wasactively working on writing The BarkingPuppy at that time, and so it was important to me to weave in some of thediverse members of my own community in Boston—adults, kids, and dogs. And itwas important to think about what it had been like for me coming of age as awhite girl realizing she was gay. What could we learn from each other, and whyhadn’t we talked more about these things? That is something that Sophie and hergodmother start to explore in the book.
Bonney'shealth crisis drives much of the plot. What made you choose to incorporate thismore serious element into an otherwise lighthearted story?
As alifelong youthworker, I’ve seen so many examples of young people solvingproblems together. I’m also grateful for the countless ways that books help ouryoung people think about and address challenging issues. As I wrote The Barking Puppy, I wanted to choose atopic that would be important to Sophie, the character, and also something thatshe and her teenage collaborator, Juno, could really take on. I really wantedthat to be an element of the book: two girls summoning their creativity, humorand chutzpah to try to raise $3,000 for a pug’s surgery!
There'sa lovely message about embracing one's unique qualities in the book. How do youhope this resonates with young readers?
I’mglad you saw that! I have such a passion for people who are so fullythemselves, who don’t shy away from their oddness, or better yet, who see it astheir super power. At first Sophie’s classmates don’t understand her—from herdog humor, to her old school taste in music, to her “Vermont overalls”. ButJuno, the teenager next door, not only embraces her own uniqueness, but fullysees Sophie’s too. And across her diverse community, Sophie has a lot of rolemodels for this, from her godmother Lori’s odd obsessions, to Rudey telling hernot to let anyone “yuk her yum.” I hope readers really take this in—both interms of embracing their own idiosyncrasies and those of others. And I hopethey notice how Sophie’s new classmates start to value her and appreciate the Barking Puppy newspaper.
Whatwas your favorite scene to write in "The Barking Puppy"?
Gosh, therewere a lot of fun scenes. I’d say I might be able to narrow it down to the bakesale scene at the vet (having to drag poor Summitt across the main lobby isbased on a true story!) and the final scene at the Boston Globe. Once Irealized Bonney the Pug’s key role there, it was on!
Whatdo you hope most that readers will take away from your story?
I hopereaders will laugh out loud, read the books to their dogs, and get inspired totake on issues that matter to them. Maybe they literally start their ownhand-drawn newspaper, or maybe they stand up for their neighbors and classmatesin new ways, or even help their dogs make a case for a bottomless treat drawer!
What’snext?
There’sso much going on right now! Our publisher, Levine Querido, asked the realSophie to narrate The Barking Puppyaudiobook, so I’ve had the pleasure of sitting in on her amazing recordingsessions. Which is so much fun! We are also actively planning our local (andregional) book tour, as well as trying to learn the best ways to get The Barking Puppy in as many hands (andpaws) as we can. I’m also working on Book 3!
Wherecan we find you?
Our website, http://thebarkingpuppy.com,has a book trailer, activities for readers, photos of the real dogs and humansthat the book is based on, as well as the actual Barking Puppy newspapers. (Plus updates on Sophie and Lori’s booktour, class visits, and more.) We’re also on YouTube and IG at: @TheBarkingPuppyBook
