Big-Enough Anna: The Little Sled Dog Who Braved the Arctic Book

Anna may be the smallest dog in the litter, but she's surely the most determined. In this incredible true story, Anna joins a dog team for a 2,500-mile expedition across the top of the world. Full color.

Donna Freedman - Children's Literature

Yet another underdog story, as it were, but this true tale breathes new life into the old "size isn't everything" saw. Anna is the runt of the litter, yet she becomes a vital member of the dog team that took the author on a 2,500-mile solo journey across the Arctic. It is a thrilling story that includes extreme weather, a lost dog and a break in the ice that threatens to drown the entire team. Through it all, Flowers never gives up on Anna, and her trust in the small dog is repaid a thousand fold. Children who are tired of being told they are too little to do much of anything will identify with the big-hearted title dog. Perhaps parents will take a lesson from Flowers, the musher, who knew that if you expect a lot from a youngster—even an especially small one—you will often get it. Illustrator Farnsworth is a wizard at depicting the blues, greens and grays of an Arctic landscape, and his dogs bristle with the energy and intelligence of the Alaska sled dog. 2003, Alaska Northwest Books, Ages 3 to 8.