The Dog Who Saved Christmas and Other True Animal Tales

by Allan Zullo

Real animals help turn the holidays into a magical season.

Genres: Christmas, Nonfiction, Animals, Holiday, Childrens, Short Stories, Dogs

107 pages, Paperback

First published November 12, 2008

About the author

Allan Zullo is an American non-fiction writer. He is the author or co-author of more than eighty paperbacks for adults and children.

A native of Rockford, Illinois, Zullo graduated from Northern Illinois University in 1969 with a degree in journalism. His books include The Baseball Hall of Shame and Baseball Confidential (both co-written with Bruce Nash), A Boomer's Guide to Grandparenting (co-written with his wife Kathryn), and the Haunted Kids series. Zullo has also written articles for The National Enquirer, The Christian Science Monitor, Ladies Home Journal, and The Palm Beach Post. His syndicated comic strip "The Ghost Story Club" ran in American newspapers from 1995 to 1998.

Zullo currently lives in Fairview, North Carolina.

Reviews

[Maria · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Book of True Stories. I Really Loved This Book. I Highly Recommend It To All.

[Jillian B. 8A]

This is a good seasonal read. It is a very easy book, but I liked it a lot.

[Samantha Osborne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute stories but some of them were sad

[J · Rating 2 out of 5]

Out of all the books that I have read that are inspiring animal stories this one was interesting and good in its own right since of the fact that instead of being all around it narrowed it down to seasonal stories. Unfortunately although I have been working on collecting seasonal books that can help get me in the feeling this is just not one of those that passes the muster and gets it own spot.

Although the book comes through Scholastic the writing was dry and second-hand. Although some of the stories could have been a lot more interesting or inspiring they were written in a way where they were just being served to the reader without thinking about the emotional strength that the stories may have carried if they had been presented to the reader in another style.

Although some of the stories were also about heroic animals that saved the day or had miraculous events that helped their families there were just as much where the animal was the one causing all the trouble and in some cases it was quite guessable as to what the conclusion was going to be.

All in all this is definitely not one of the books I would recommend to anyone who are fans of heroic animals or looking for inspiring stories. Does help you to pass the time, though, and can make for a quick read if you can stick with it.

[Kadence Aagard · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Dog Who Saved Christmas
Rating: 4
This book introduces multiple stories on how animals have saved Christmas. In each story, everything starts out pretty happy and well. Everyone is in the Christmas spirit. Then, something terrible happens, and no one knows what to do. Afterwards, the owner’s pet will miraculously stop this terrible thing from happening. And in the end, the animal saves Christmas.
I feel like the theme for this book should be kindness always matters In one of the short stories, a man gives another man a puppy for Christmas (he is very lonely). As Christmas came around again, the man with the puppy decided to return the favor. So he hand carved a podium for this kind man for Christmas. When he gave it to him, the man’s eyes teared up. He said he hasn’t gotten a present since hi parents died. They are now best friends. And this is just one example!
I loved how this particular book told these true stories on how animals saved Christmas. It was very relatable! But I didn’t like how short the stories were. I feel like they didn’t tell everything. But if they made them longer, I would totally love this book!

[Matthew · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall I thought that it was a very descent book. Very little of the stories were blank sand boring, but all the others were entertaining and interesting. I had a fun time reading this book, but I wish the stories were longer. I always love a good book with animals; and this one really put me in the holiday spirit!

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Audrey’s family book pick. Cute stories about animals. Quick easy read.

[Lori · Rating 4 out of 5]

Delightful and a smile inducer

[Judy · Rating 1 out of 5]

I acquired this book after the previous owners of my home left it on a shelf. I would be very disappointed if I paid money for it.
I picked it up a few weeks before Christmas, and decided I would read a story to my grandson every time we had a video call (which is several times a week). I told him on one call, that I would read the first story the next time he called. I started reading in advance, so I would be able to give the story the emotion it needed. WOW! The first story is one that would give ME nightmares, let alone a seven-year-old. I went on to the next story, and although the story wasn't as bad, there was one particular "description" that personally offended me, and I decided this book was not one I would share with my grandson. There are many, many other books of short Christmas stories I would love to read to him. Many others seem to think this was a good book, so you need to make your own decision, but I would never recommend it to anyone.

[Asho · Rating 2 out of 5]

L picked out this book to read a few times over Christmas, probably because it has a dog on the cover. It's not really appropriate for her yet (no illustrations, it's hard for a 4-year-old to maintain attention for the full length of one of these chapters). S likes it better, although even for him it will probably be another year or two before it's just right. We've only read a couple of stories in the book so far. It's nothing special, but it's cute and I look forward to reading more of the stories each year.

[Helen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has eleven short stories. Each is true, about a family having a loving relationship with an animal. Some animals are ordinary, like cats and dogs. Some are unusual, like a reindeer and a goose!

[Brianna]

I think the book was great

[Betsy Harloff]

My kids ages 6, 11 and 13 LOVED these stories begging for just one more.

[Raquel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some interesting stories.

[Donna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very Good Stories.....

[Brian Shrestha · Rating 3 out of 5]

ion even remember

[Aubree Lanman · Rating 3 out of 5]

4th grade read of the week ✅

[Kristi Drake · Rating 5 out of 5]

Why to cute. There was some sad moments. I love how Cap was found and was return to his owners.

[Robert Drake · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is really good. I enjoyed reading about all the animals. My favorite was the last story.

[Jaimee · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a good book, some of the tales made me cry with joy and sadness. I'm keeping it to read to my family who also loves animals.

[Theresa Lange · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting

[Jennifer Lavoie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of the stories in this book were really cute and heartwarming, and although it is only October, I'm in the Christmas spirit! These are wonderful tales of all sorts of animals that inspire the people whose lives they become a part of. I loved the story about the cat, Lulu, coming home after being missing for a few years. And the story of the dog, Cap, that survived EIGHT WEEKS trapped in a hole. His owners had thought he died but a search and rescue dog found him. That was incredible.

I think my students will enjoy these stories. They are nonfiction, but they are told in a way that makes it seem as if you are reading fiction. This will especially appeal to those kids who claim to "hate nonfiction."

[Danielk014 · Rating 4 out of 5]

The dog who saved Christmas is about when a dog named Zeus. He is also a police dog a K9. So when his adopted family goes out of the house, because of Christmas Eve. So some burglars want to rob them. They wanted to rob them blind too. So then because the K9 Zeus he was home so he saved him. So that is how he save Christmas. That is my summery.

I like the book The dog who saved Christmas because I like dogs and the book was brave. What I mean by the book being brave is that the dog showed a lot of braveness when it was around those burglars. I guess any dogs do that. Well either way I like how he acted. That is why I like The dog who saved Christmas.

[Kate Baggott · Rating 1 out of 5]

We love our dog and we love stories about pets. There is a lot of great content here, but it is written in the driest way. The first story, which is by far the most compelling tail tale, uses a circular rhetorical device that the kids really didn't get. Another story, about a dog who drags the beautiful decorated tree through the doggy door could have been uproariously funny, if the vocabulary and plodding back story and newspaper vocabulary weren't so distancing.

The use of invented dialogue could have made these stories dramatic and compelling. Instead, it made them seem like Readers' Digest rejects. Not the quality I expect from a Scholastic production.

[Jayzee · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Dog Who Saved Christmas by Allan Zullo is funny and exciting. The funniest part of the book was when that pug ate the cellphone! This book has many characters like Karen Webster, Theodore, Uncle Eddie, and Mariah Clayton. The beginning of the chapter "winged Wonder" was action packed. The boy and the bully were fighting and both got hurt. When the boy was hospitalized he made a winged friend. Noyhing in the book should be improved.

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great book (9 & up)

This has some good stories in it. I loved it!

Good stories.

I liked these books.I really like Allan Zullo and the stories in these books. I think all kids would like these books. These books are quick reads and quite intresting. (Even if the stories are exagerrated.) So if you like short animal stoires read these books.

[Bria · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book! It is made up of a bunch of different Christmas stories that involve animals. I was crying in parts of the book because it was so sweet. It puts you in the Christmas spirit. It is such a sweet and cute books and it ends up being really heartwarming. I think this book is for anyone who loves Christmas or anyone who needs a little Christmas cheer!

[Dana · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is a very sad and charming book. In it it has lots of christmas stories that involve animals ether saving people or getting saved. What will the animals need saving from? What will the animals save? If you are an animal lover than I think this is your book!!! :)

[Hosannah]

My faourite part is when mum loses her wallet and 'Cinnamon' the dog finds it.ii Inside the wallet had money given to them by the church and she was entrusted to buy the needy children's present for christmas.

Cinnamon saved christmas..

He also saves mum AGAIN from drowning in the backyard pool.

[Tracy Schillemore · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute! True animal stories. I read this aloud to my students and they enjoyed it.