The Adventures of Salt and Soap at Grand Canyon

by Lori Rome, Tanja Bauerle (Illustrator)

The Adventures of Salt and Soap at Grand Canyon is the true story of two puppies who wandered into the Grand Canyon and experienced great adventures—multiple rim-to-river hikes, a river trip and a helicopter ride—while ultimately snuggling their way into park rangers’ hearts. Salt and Soap didn’t know they weren’t allowed below the rim of the Grand Canyon—they were just puppies! Their curiosity and love of human companionship carried them through rugged hikes, riverside camping in a violent thunderstorm, the unpredictable rapids of the mighty Colorado River, ranger patrols at Phantom Ranch at the bottom of the canyon, a harrowing helicopter ride back to the rim, and a new life on the South Rim of Grand Canyon National Park. Told with compassion and a sense of wonder by the park ranger who adopted the pups, this one-of-a-kind canine adventure tale reveals the kindness of strangers, the ruggedness of the Grand Canyon, and the joy two wiggly, perpetually happy puppies can bring to everyone they encounter.

Genres: Picture Books, Dogs, Juvenile, Animals

32 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2009

Reviews

[Linda Klager · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautifully written and illustrated children's book! The colors in this book are so vivid!

[Ainsley · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was a really cute story of how two dogs get trapped in the bottom of the Grand Canyon. I loved that this story was about friendship and represented this in the book between Salt and Soap. The illustrations were beautiful and really captured what the Grand Canyon looked like (from what I remember). I thought the author did a good job making this bad situation a fun adventure for the puppies. It had a great message in the back of the book about the real dogs that this book is based off of. I loved the ending because it was so happy and peaceful!

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is very wordy, so it was quite long to read with my 2.5 year old. I would definitely recommend it for older kids, rather than something to read with toddlers.

[Gabs · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book and memory from our trip

[Christy Cameron · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the adorable true story of two puppies that were found wandering around the Grand Canyon. I found this book at the gift shop while visiting the Grand Canyon this summer and thought it was just adorable. The author tells about the various the two puppies go on while wandering the Canyon - hikes, helicopter rides, river rafting. The pictures are beautiful and capture the puppies fun adventure. The story is entertaining and adventitious and definitely keeps the reader interested.

A fun fact is that the author of this book, who is a real life park ranger, eventually ended up truly adopting these two puppies, who she named Salt and Soap, and they've lived with her at the Grand Canyon as well as various other National Parks that she has worked at. They are truly adventure dogs!

[Deeanna · Rating 3 out of 5]

We liked that it was a true story & enjoyed the real picture of Salt, Soap & Lori on the back of the book.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lovely story and delectable illustrations.