The 12 Dogs of Christmas

by Steven Paul Leiva, Steven Leiva

Now available as a novel based on the screenplay written by Kieth Merrill, this story is destined to become a classic for young readers during the holiday season. The film centers around 12-year-old Emma O'Connor as she is sent to live with her "aunt" in the small town of Doverville. Emma soon finds herself in the middle of a "dog-fight" with the mayor and town dogcatcher. In order to strike down their "no-dogs" law, Emma must bring together a group of schoolmates, grown-ups, and adorable dogs of all shapes and sizes in a spectacular holiday pageant. The 12 Dogs of Christmas is a fun, heartwarming story, featuring a diverse canine cast and is perfect for all those who love dogs, kids, and Christmas. The 12 Dogs of Christmas was first introduced as a picture book and board book with companion CD written by then 8-year-old, Emma Kragen. Now with over 500,000 books sold, the story has been expanded into a feature-length film. "Leiva recounts the story in a very crisp, snappy style of prose which is full of humor and warmth...it's on it's way to becoming a Christmas standard."

Stuart Nulman "Bookbanter" on CJAD, Montreal
 

Genres: Christmas, Childrens, Dogs, Picture Books, Animals, Holiday, Middle Grade

135 pages, Paperback

First published October 20, 1998

About the author

A refugee from the silly fields of Hollywood where he cavorted with such luminaries as Bugs Bunny and Betty Boop (although the latter was but a brief affair), Steven Paul Leiva has authored nine novels and one novella since 2003. His work has been praised by literary great Ray Bradbury, Oscar-winning film producer Richard Zanuck, NY Times bestselling author and Pulitzer Prize finalist Diane Ackerman, and Star Trek actor John Billingsley, the greatest bookworm in Hollywood. He has received the Scribe Award from the International Association of Media Tie-in Writers. A traveler among several genres, his books include his witty Hollywood thrillers, BLOOD IS PRETTY and HOLLYWOOD IS AN ALL-VOLUNTEER ARMY, his novelization of the indie family film; the Scribe Award-winning 12 DOGS OF CHRISTMAS; his Sci-Fi satire of first-contact told from the point-of-view of the aliens, TRAVELING IN SPACE; his comic look at happy-ever-afters, BY THE SEA; his surreal political fantasia, IMP; his bizarre, possibly audacious, somewhat Sci-Fi novella, MADE ON THE MOON; JOURNEY TO WHERE, a contemporary "scientific romance" written in the tradition of H.G. Wells and Jules Vern; CREATURE FEATURE: A HORRID COMEDY; and his latest, BULLY 4 LOVE, a rather odd love story

Reviews

[Carol]

if -- like me -- you have a child or grandchild that was, or is in the process of being, partly raised by one or more dogs, this book belongs on your shelf. Of course, you have to be willing to sing it rather than read it. Repeatedly. Proper pitch is not required.

[Rod Brown]

Someone finally fixed "The Twelve Days of Christmas" by getting rid of all those dumb birds and people and replacing them with dogs. So many pup-pups!!

The song from the audio CD that came with our copy of the book is in the top five Christmas songs on my iTunes, playing 36 times since 2005.

[Mr. Cody]

Peak literature.

[Emily Molstad]

Best book I read this year

[Cameron Molstad]

Peak. Literature.

[Natalie Molstad]

Getting this book for every kid and adult I know!

[Thebestdogmom]

Cute kids book. Loved the ending.

[Sandy]

Super cute book! Each day of the twelve days of Christmas, the book features a different breed of dog. There's a poodle, huskies, Basset Hounds, Golden Retrivers, and a few others. Each day, the dogs are doing something: there are dalmatians dancings and boxers boxing, etc. The book follows the same lines as the song which makes this book fun, if you know the song.

The pictures of the dog look realistic but the dogs are set in cartoon backgrounds. Sometimes the dogs wear accessories, like scarves or hats and they too are cartoonish on the realistic-looking dogs. It's super cute especially if you like dogs. There's a nice a surprise on the twelfth day of Christmas. I didn't listen to the CD.

[Katlyn Armstrong]

This book would be a fun read for the younger grades around Christmas time.

[Gail]

Heroine ageist with her grandmother....passed the time..extra star for the dogs

[Stephen Wallace]

Very nice children's book

[Laurie]

Sweet story about a town that bans dogs and a young “adventure hero” girl who saves the day.

[Jilly]

Most underrated children's book of all time. The joy in my kids faces when we read this defeats my seasonal depression every time.

[Lauren]

Cute Christmasy book. Fairly obvious it was adapted from a movie.

[Avett Huggins]

A book from mom’s childhood to pass down to little man!

[Skylar MoonStone]

This Christmas book is a variation of the 12 days of Christmas in a cute dog version that will have you smiling at every page. My own copy is falling apart with love.

[Calvin Smith]

17/1000

Calvin: a bit long for him at the moment

Daddy: Honestly lol'ed at the ending.

[Ashley Moser]

Cute, fun read.

[Savannah Olson]

This inspirational book got me through a long holiday with the in laws

[Margaret]

Now available as a novel based on the screenplay written by Kieth Merrill, this story is destined to become a classic for young readers during the holiday season.

The film centers around 12-year-old Emma O'Connor as she is sent to live with her "aunt" in the small town of Doverville. Emma soon finds herself in the middle of a "dog-fight" with the mayor and town dogcatcher. In order to strike down their "no-dogs" law, Emma must bring together a group of schoolmates, grown-ups, and adorable dogs of all shapes and sizes in a spectacular holiday pageant. The 12 Dogs of Christmas is a fun, heartwarming story, featuring a diverse canine cast and is perfect for all those who love dogs, kids, and Christmas.

Very cute and fun read, given to me by mississippimom at our local BC 2008 Christmas party.

[Shenice Martin]

Awards: None

Grade Level: K-1

Summary:
This song is based on "The 12 Days of Christmas" song. The song uses a number of different dogs such as poodles, St. Bernards, Cocker Spaniels, Basset Hounds, Golden Retrievers, Boxer, Huskies, Sheepdogs, Chihuahuas, Dalmatians, and Labradors. On the twelfth day, instead of twelve dogs, a cat was sent.

Review:
I thought this was very creative of the writer change the original song and substitute dogs. Children who love animals, especially dogs, would love this song. Good job Emma Kragen.

Uses:
This would be a great song to use in math class. It teaches counting, grouping/sorting.
Another use of this could be to teach science, specifically the different kinds of dogs that exists in the world.
This book/song could possibly be used as part of a thematic unit on either animals or Christmas.

[raccoon reader]

A cute read for kids who love dogs and Christmas. I especially liked the punch line at the end. This book inspired a movie by the same title which I plan to see when it gets closer to Christmas. Emma Kragen wrote this book when she was 7 and I think it's a lovely idea for a children's picture book. Of course my favorite part were the seven huskies howling ;) The book I checked out from the library had long lost its cd so I didn't get to hear the children's song but I bet it's just as cute.

[Shiralea Woodhouse]

Just had to add this picture book we got from the library. My younger girls loved it and they were especially impressed that it was written by a 7 year old! The pictures and ending are too cute, and it's fun to sing instead of read.

[Heather]

18 months - I just want to hit my head against a wall every time O asks me to read this one. The name suggest correctly this is a doggie version of 12 days of Christmas and seems about 100 times as tedious.

[Pamela]

I have this on my list of books to get hold of since I am working on christmas books for my blog and this book was recommended to me. I also am a major dog person with three spoodles so it is probably something I will enjoy and I heard something about the movie being made.

[Sara]

I found this one day while looking through the aisles at a store my mom worked at and knew I just had to have it! My version came with a CD that had the song on it! This is an adorable book and I'm glad I happened to find it!

[Michelle Keyes]

I'd give it four but there were no Dobermans in it.

[Abbey]

i like the song.for the first day of chrismas my true love gave to me a poddle in a dog house....

[Sheila]

Incredibly cute book. We didn't like the cd that came with it as much...it's best when you just read the book yourself. Great ending!

[Heather]

cute