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Mush! Across Alaska in the World's Longest Sled-Dog Race
Describes the annual Iditarod dog sled race in Alaska and the sled dogs who compete in it
32 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 1992
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
December 19, 2020
Dec 18, 2020
I found this very informative and I know so much more about the Iditarod than I did going into this. The illustrations are okay, I didn't love them and sometimes they looked old. The book is pretty outdated as far as appearance and probably info as well. I kept wanting another edition to be made now.
Sometimes I wanted more detail and feel like it didn't explain things that should have been. For example, when their eyelashes freeze, what do they do? Pour warm water on them? Rub them, wait for them to thaw, what? I don't know.
Sometimes the dogs are invited in when it's too cold, and I wondered how cold it has to be for it to be considered too cold for the dogs.
The mushers win prize money for the top 20 finishers. How much do they win??
For these reasons I felt like it was incomplete. I have to go look up more info about it because I felt like some was missing or unexplained.
Interesting facts:
Some of the first people to live in Alaska were the Eskimos or Inuits. They learned how to live in such a cold place and made wooden sleds that could slide over the snow and ice. They made long leather straps from the seal skins and harnessed their dogs for their sleds. They could carry sleds a long distance in the cold land.
I was disappointed that no one knows where the first sled dogs are from. They looked like the wolves in the far north and sometimes wolves and dogs would have puppies together. Some became good sled dogs. Their tails curved over their backs so they didn't drag in the snow and their strong legs could carry them miles over the ice. They were strong and brave. They weren't pets; they were kept for the work they could do.
About 100 years ago gold was discovered in Alaska and thousands of people rushed there. Cities grew overnight and many were just clusters of shacks jammed together on muddy streets. It was crowded and dirty and disease spread easily.
In the winter of 1925 the people of Nome became ill with diphtheria. They might have died without medicine so a relay of sled dog teams was sent to bring the medicine. Nome was saved.
Then Alaska was cleaned up and people came for oil instead of gold. Snowmobiles replaced sled dogs and few wanted to train or care for dogs. But Joe Redington wanted people to remember how important sled dogs had been. He organized a race to honor the brave dogs who had brought life-saving medicine to Nome. It followed an old supply trail, the Iditarod Trail and so it was named the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.
The first was in 1973 and every year since in March it has been held, the trail from Anchorage to Nome. Each team is made up of 7-18 dogs. It's the longest sled dog race in the world, over 1,000 miles long. The fastest team cane reach the finish line in 11 or 12 days. Other teams take more than a month. It's so long and hard that people do well just to finish.
Drivers work for months and train their dogs for hours a day. In the summer they pull wheeled carts or all-terrain vehicles. Training often begins when dogs are puppies. Older, trained dogs help the drivers teach the young dogs how to pull as a team. An especially smart dog leads the team. They must respond to the driver's commands. Gee means turn right and haw means turn left. The command to start might be hike or let's go. In the old days it was mush! For that reason drivers are called mushers.
Mushers gather equipment and food before the race. The rules say that each sled has to carry a warm sleeping bag, an ex, snowshoes, and a day's food for the dogs and the driver. The drivers send most of the food and gear to checkpoints along the race course and pick them up as they go along.
Having enough food is really important. The dogs run hard and will eat lots of food. A driver might even fix them a hot stew of beaver, bacon, and seal blubber.
Equipment is important too. Booties protect the dogs' feet from snow and ice and they'll need about a thousand hand-sewn booties for the race. It takes weeks to sew enough booties even with friends helping.
A moose could charge out of the woods. The ice on a frozen creek might give way, dropping the team into the icy water. A sled could break. A dog could be injured. A driver would carry the dog on the sled to a checkpoint where a vet is standing by to help.
The biggest question is what the weather will bring. The wind could be so strong it blows the dogs' food bowls away as they eat. It could be unusually warm and make the snow soggy and sloppy. It could be so cold the eyelashes of the dogs and drivers freeze shut. Dogs and mushers push ahead no matter what.
There are many challenges. They travel through thick forests after the cheering crowds in Anchorage. The trail becomes steep and slippery through Rainy Pass, high up in the mountains. Then it crosses the eerie Farewell Burn where a huge wildfire once charred thousands of acres. The final stretch runs along the coastline of the Bering Sea. Sometimes they have to pull the sleds over the frozen sea.
The mushers sleep only a few hours at a time. Sometimes they travel right through the night. They have to put headlamps on to travel at night. The snow becomes a bed for the dogs at night and often for the mushers too. Many checkpoints are at villages and a musher might be invited into a cabin for a hot meal or a little sleep. And once in a while the weather is so cold the dogs are invited inside too.
Sometimes drivers have to help each other. Sometimes the wind blows snow so hard that the drivers can't see the trail. Then the mushers take turns in the lead and make a path for the others. As soon as the weather clears they race each other again because each wants to reach Nome first.
Prize money is awarded to the top twenty finishers. The first-place driver wins the most. The mushers celebrate and rest but not for long. They soon start training for the next year's race.
I found this very informative and I know so much more about the Iditarod than I did going into this. The illustrations are okay, I didn't love them and sometimes they looked old. The book is pretty outdated as far as appearance and probably info as well. I kept wanting another edition to be made now.
Sometimes I wanted more detail and feel like it didn't explain things that should have been. For example, when their eyelashes freeze, what do they do? Pour warm water on them? Rub them, wait for them to thaw, what? I don't know.
Sometimes the dogs are invited in when it's too cold, and I wondered how cold it has to be for it to be considered too cold for the dogs.
The mushers win prize money for the top 20 finishers. How much do they win??
For these reasons I felt like it was incomplete. I have to go look up more info about it because I felt like some was missing or unexplained.
Interesting facts:
Some of the first people to live in Alaska were the Eskimos or Inuits. They learned how to live in such a cold place and made wooden sleds that could slide over the snow and ice. They made long leather straps from the seal skins and harnessed their dogs for their sleds. They could carry sleds a long distance in the cold land.
I was disappointed that no one knows where the first sled dogs are from. They looked like the wolves in the far north and sometimes wolves and dogs would have puppies together. Some became good sled dogs. Their tails curved over their backs so they didn't drag in the snow and their strong legs could carry them miles over the ice. They were strong and brave. They weren't pets; they were kept for the work they could do.
About 100 years ago gold was discovered in Alaska and thousands of people rushed there. Cities grew overnight and many were just clusters of shacks jammed together on muddy streets. It was crowded and dirty and disease spread easily.
In the winter of 1925 the people of Nome became ill with diphtheria. They might have died without medicine so a relay of sled dog teams was sent to bring the medicine. Nome was saved.
Then Alaska was cleaned up and people came for oil instead of gold. Snowmobiles replaced sled dogs and few wanted to train or care for dogs. But Joe Redington wanted people to remember how important sled dogs had been. He organized a race to honor the brave dogs who had brought life-saving medicine to Nome. It followed an old supply trail, the Iditarod Trail and so it was named the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.
The first was in 1973 and every year since in March it has been held, the trail from Anchorage to Nome. Each team is made up of 7-18 dogs. It's the longest sled dog race in the world, over 1,000 miles long. The fastest team cane reach the finish line in 11 or 12 days. Other teams take more than a month. It's so long and hard that people do well just to finish.
Drivers work for months and train their dogs for hours a day. In the summer they pull wheeled carts or all-terrain vehicles. Training often begins when dogs are puppies. Older, trained dogs help the drivers teach the young dogs how to pull as a team. An especially smart dog leads the team. They must respond to the driver's commands. Gee means turn right and haw means turn left. The command to start might be hike or let's go. In the old days it was mush! For that reason drivers are called mushers.
Mushers gather equipment and food before the race. The rules say that each sled has to carry a warm sleeping bag, an ex, snowshoes, and a day's food for the dogs and the driver. The drivers send most of the food and gear to checkpoints along the race course and pick them up as they go along.
Having enough food is really important. The dogs run hard and will eat lots of food. A driver might even fix them a hot stew of beaver, bacon, and seal blubber.
Equipment is important too. Booties protect the dogs' feet from snow and ice and they'll need about a thousand hand-sewn booties for the race. It takes weeks to sew enough booties even with friends helping.
A moose could charge out of the woods. The ice on a frozen creek might give way, dropping the team into the icy water. A sled could break. A dog could be injured. A driver would carry the dog on the sled to a checkpoint where a vet is standing by to help.
The biggest question is what the weather will bring. The wind could be so strong it blows the dogs' food bowls away as they eat. It could be unusually warm and make the snow soggy and sloppy. It could be so cold the eyelashes of the dogs and drivers freeze shut. Dogs and mushers push ahead no matter what.
There are many challenges. They travel through thick forests after the cheering crowds in Anchorage. The trail becomes steep and slippery through Rainy Pass, high up in the mountains. Then it crosses the eerie Farewell Burn where a huge wildfire once charred thousands of acres. The final stretch runs along the coastline of the Bering Sea. Sometimes they have to pull the sleds over the frozen sea.
The mushers sleep only a few hours at a time. Sometimes they travel right through the night. They have to put headlamps on to travel at night. The snow becomes a bed for the dogs at night and often for the mushers too. Many checkpoints are at villages and a musher might be invited into a cabin for a hot meal or a little sleep. And once in a while the weather is so cold the dogs are invited inside too.
Sometimes drivers have to help each other. Sometimes the wind blows snow so hard that the drivers can't see the trail. Then the mushers take turns in the lead and make a path for the others. As soon as the weather clears they race each other again because each wants to reach Nome first.
Prize money is awarded to the top twenty finishers. The first-place driver wins the most. The mushers celebrate and rest but not for long. They soon start training for the next year's race.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 13, 2019
I enjoyed how this book reads as a story. It was very easy to read to my second and third graders and we learned alot on each page. Although this is an older text, it still is relevant to the race and lead us to researching current mushers and following their progress across the Iditarod. The students had great fun with a page all about dog booties.
One thing I would have appreciated was a description of what is depicted in each of the page borders. Most of the time it makes sense, but there are a few pages that, when asked, I didn't know the answer of what the images were or why.
One thing I would have appreciated was a description of what is depicted in each of the page borders. Most of the time it makes sense, but there are a few pages that, when asked, I didn't know the answer of what the images were or why.
July 27, 2026
I really enjoyed the book and the animation made it all the better!
May 26, 2016
Though it's a little long winded for a kids book, it was very information about something that is iconic and memorable. Everyone should always remember Nome and the Iditarod for its historical significance.
My son loves all of the dog pictures. I like how the author gave a bit of a backstory, focusing on where the dogs came from and their purpose before explaining all about sled races, what's involved, the trail itself. Seeing the map was cool and shows exactly how daunting a feat it was then for Nome and now as a race. Truly impressive.
My son loves all of the dog pictures. I like how the author gave a bit of a backstory, focusing on where the dogs came from and their purpose before explaining all about sled races, what's involved, the trail itself. Seeing the map was cool and shows exactly how daunting a feat it was then for Nome and now as a race. Truly impressive.
January 21, 2009
If you like the Balto story, you may enjoy this picture book about the annual Iditarod race, which was started as a way to remember the vital role of the sled dog in Alaska.
Read
December 8, 2010Talks about the longest sled- dog race in the world,Eskimos, the history and landscape of Alaska and animals
February 12, 2012
Looking to read some iditarod stories to my kindergarteners. This book will be a great introduction along with the story of Balto.
Read
June 8, 2009JENF-Sei
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews