My Name is Big

by Lazarus Lake, Betsy Julian (Illustrator), Blaine Moore (Editor)

The big ugly dog had been abandoned and shot. Nearing the end, he crawled off into the woods to die. That is where I found him. Having been taught as a child that it was wrong to leave animals to suffer, I took him to the house with no other intention than to see that he was humanely put out of his misery. Rather than the end of the big dog's adventures, it was only the beginning. Fate had brought us together, destiny was determined to keep us that way. I kept thinking I had sent him away for the last time, but Big kept finding his way back. Even when his journey took him hundreds of miles away, somehow he always ended up at our little house in the woods. I learned a lot between the day I first saw him, and the day when he was finally accepted as a permanent member of the family. I learned a lot about not judging a book by its cover, about the power of a positive attitude, and I learned that a dog can have a sense of humor. He started out as "that big dog." He became "the Big Dog." There couldn't be a more appropriate name, for a Big Dog, with a Big Personality.

Genres: Dogs

248 pages, Paperback

First published February 24, 2012

Reviews

[Richard Schick · Rating 5 out of 5]

You have heard of people who could sing the telephone book and make it beautiful, well Laz could write the telephone book and make it beautiful and interesting. He also teaches us what a useless convention capitalization is, he doesn't use it and within a couple pages you don't miss it. The first of several volumes with consistent quality throughout the series.

[Neely · Rating 5 out of 5]

I recommend this book for all dog lovers.

[Jason Zimmerman · Rating 5 out of 5]

unsurprisingly, a wonderful collection of stories. format makes good sense if you are now or ever have been on the ultra listserve. fun fact about laz: he’s a huge fan of 80s industrial music.

[Longfellow · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a collection of blog posts Lazarus Lake (Laz) has written about Big, a stray dog who had been abandoned and shot when Laz found him, and Big chose Laz as his new master. The charm in this collection is in Big's antics and in tales of his intelligence, mischief, loyalty, and love.

I had this book on the shelf for a while, being only moderately interested, but after picking it up I found it reads quickly and is quite enjoyable; the bus rides seemed to tick by in half their normal time as I turned page after page.

[Kirstin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gary Cantrell (Laz) is a wonderful storyteller. Whether you're a dog lover or not, you'll be drawn in as Big and Laz's relationship develops and you'll be giggling at Big's antics.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyable story of an abandoned pit bull and the man who saves him (or is it the man who he saves). Told mainly through Laz's free-style verse. I can't wait to start part #2.