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Tara and Tiree, Fearless Friends : A True Story
Beginning readers will love reading about the true story of Tara and Tiree, two dogs who saved their owner's life. This Level 2 Ready-to-Read is sure to be a hit with pet lovers!
Jim loves to go for long walks with his dogs, Tara and Tiree. One cold winter day, Jim falls through the ice on the frozen lake. Tiree tries to save him and falls through the ice too. What will happen if Tara tries to help them both?
Jim loves to go for long walks with his dogs, Tara and Tiree. One cold winter day, Jim falls through the ice on the frozen lake. Tiree tries to save him and falls through the ice too. What will happen if Tara tries to help them both?
32 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 2002
About the author
Andrew Clements
156 books2,324 followersI was born in Camden, New Jersey in 1949 and lived in Oaklyn and Cherry Hill until the middle of sixth grade. Then we moved to Springfield, Illinois. My parents were avid readers and they gave that love of books and reading to me and to all my brothers and sisters. I didn’t think about being a writer at all back then, but I did love to read. I'm certain there's a link between reading good books and becoming a writer. I don't know a single writer who wasn’t a reader first.
Before moving to Illinois, and even afterwards, our family spent summers at a cabin on a lake in Maine. There was no TV there, no phone, no doorbell—and email wasn’t even invented. All day there was time to swim and fish and mess around outside, and every night, there was time to read. I know those quiet summers helped me begin to think like a writer.
During my senior year at Springfield High School my English teacher handed back a poem I’d written. Two things were amazing about that paper. First, I’d gotten an A—a rare event in this teacher’s class. And she’d also written in large, scrawly red writing, “Andrew—this poem is so funny. This should be published!”
That praise sent me off to Northwestern University feeling like I was a pretty good writer, and occasionally professors there also encouraged me and complimented the essays I was required to write as a literature major. But I didn’t write much on my own—just some poetry now and then. I learned to play guitar and began writing songs, but again, only when I felt like it. Writing felt like hard work—something that’s still true today.
After the songwriting came my first job in publishing. I worked for a small publisher who specialized in how-to books, the kind of books that have photos with informative captions below each one. The book in which my name first appeared in print is called A Country Christmas Treasury. I’d built a number of the projects featured in the book, and I was listed as one of the “craftspeople”on the acknowlegements page, in tiny, tiny type.
In 1990 I began trying to write a story about a boy who makes up a new word. That book eventually became my first novel, Frindle, published in 1996, and you can read the whole story of how it developed on another web site, frindle.com. Frindle became popular, more popular than any of my books before or since—at least so far. And it had the eventual effect of turning me into a full-time writer.
I’ve learned that I need time and a quiet place to think and write. These days, I spend a lot of my time sitting in a small shed about seventy feet from my back door at our home in Massachusetts. There’s a woodstove in there for the cold winters, and an air conditioner for the hot summers. There’s a desk and chair, and I carry a laptop computer back and forth. But there’s no TV, no phone, no doorbell, no email. And the woodstove and the pine board walls make the place smell just like that cabin in Maine where I spent my earliest summers.
Sometimes kids ask how I've been able to write so many books. The answer is simple: one word at a time. Which is a good lesson, I think. You don't have to do everything at once. You don't have to know how every story is going to end. You just have to take that next step, look for that next idea, write that next word. And growing up, it's the same way. We just have to go to that next class, read that next chapter, help that next person. You simply have to do that next good thing, and before you know it, you're living a good life.
Before moving to Illinois, and even afterwards, our family spent summers at a cabin on a lake in Maine. There was no TV there, no phone, no doorbell—and email wasn’t even invented. All day there was time to swim and fish and mess around outside, and every night, there was time to read. I know those quiet summers helped me begin to think like a writer.
During my senior year at Springfield High School my English teacher handed back a poem I’d written. Two things were amazing about that paper. First, I’d gotten an A—a rare event in this teacher’s class. And she’d also written in large, scrawly red writing, “Andrew—this poem is so funny. This should be published!”
That praise sent me off to Northwestern University feeling like I was a pretty good writer, and occasionally professors there also encouraged me and complimented the essays I was required to write as a literature major. But I didn’t write much on my own—just some poetry now and then. I learned to play guitar and began writing songs, but again, only when I felt like it. Writing felt like hard work—something that’s still true today.
After the songwriting came my first job in publishing. I worked for a small publisher who specialized in how-to books, the kind of books that have photos with informative captions below each one. The book in which my name first appeared in print is called A Country Christmas Treasury. I’d built a number of the projects featured in the book, and I was listed as one of the “craftspeople”on the acknowlegements page, in tiny, tiny type.
In 1990 I began trying to write a story about a boy who makes up a new word. That book eventually became my first novel, Frindle, published in 1996, and you can read the whole story of how it developed on another web site, frindle.com. Frindle became popular, more popular than any of my books before or since—at least so far. And it had the eventual effect of turning me into a full-time writer.
I’ve learned that I need time and a quiet place to think and write. These days, I spend a lot of my time sitting in a small shed about seventy feet from my back door at our home in Massachusetts. There’s a woodstove in there for the cold winters, and an air conditioner for the hot summers. There’s a desk and chair, and I carry a laptop computer back and forth. But there’s no TV, no phone, no doorbell, no email. And the woodstove and the pine board walls make the place smell just like that cabin in Maine where I spent my earliest summers.
Sometimes kids ask how I've been able to write so many books. The answer is simple: one word at a time. Which is a good lesson, I think. You don't have to do everything at once. You don't have to know how every story is going to end. You just have to take that next step, look for that next idea, write that next word. And growing up, it's the same way. We just have to go to that next class, read that next chapter, help that next person. You simply have to do that next good thing, and before you know it, you're living a good life.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
September 15, 2024
Dogs are man's best friend 🐶🐶🐕🐕🐕🐕
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November 14, 2020My niece is starting to get into reading true stories. She liked this when we read it together for school. She was excited because she was able to read this to me all on her own. I like any book that gets a child excited about reading.
November 13, 2017
I would have LOVED this series as a kid! I wish the illustrations were a bit more bold and fun, but the stories are so awesome!
June 18, 2015
This is a perfect book for emergent readers, as the story is exciting and the word choice and text layout are just right for beginning readers. The book is always a hit with struggling boy readers, perhaps because the main character is an adult male and the problem is dramatic. There is enough substance here that kids are proud of themselves when they finish the book. When they say "This is a really exciting story!" it is the biggest compliment these struggling readers can give.
March 14, 2016
Tara and Tiree, two good dogs, were both owned by the same man. They all really loved the winter and spent lots of time outside together. One day, their owner fell in the ice and his dogs came to the rescue. The two very smart dogs came up with a great plan to rescue their owner by letting him pull on their collars to get himself up and out of the water. Another book in the pets to the rescue series, level 2.
March 18, 2016
Tara and Tiree, two good dogs, were both owned by the same man. They all really loved the winter and spent lots of time outside together. One day, their owner fell in the ice and his dogs came to the rescue. The two very smart dogs came up with a great plan to rescue their owner by letting him pull on their collars to get himself up and out of the water. Another book in the pets to the rescue series, level 2.
August 18, 2012
This is a dramatic tale about dogs who rescue their owner. The story is short and the narrative is printed in a larger font, making it easier for younger children to read. The illustrations are colorful and complement the story nicely. We really enjoyed reading this story together and after, we discussed how pets have been credited with saving their owners in many documented cases.
March 28, 2013
Everyone loves a good story about dogs but this one is about real dogs and real loyalty. It is based on a true story! It is easy to read and it even appeals to people like me who like dogs on a case by case basis...I would love to have dogs like Tara and Tiree..This is a good one!
March 28, 2010
Girls enjoyed this story about a man with 2 dogs who goes for a walk on a winter day. When he falls into the ice, the dogs show amazing intelligence in their life-saving efforts.
September 27, 2010
brought tears to my eyes!
September 25, 2012
A nice, true, children's story about who dogs who save their owner when he falls through a frozen lake. One of several "Pets to the Rescue" stories.
March 15, 2013
published 2002
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December 5, 2013qwdasdasdasd
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews