FOR TEACHERS, LIBRARIANS AND READING GROUPS
The Skadi books are written for readers aged 5–9
as early-reader chapter books: roughly 1,500–3,000 words
each, with illustrations throughout.
STRUCTURE THAT WORKS IN A CLASSROOM
Every book is built on the same five-part shape. A case
appears. One dog forces a way in. One dog finds the trail.
One dog handles the danger. And Skadi puts it together.
Because the structure repeats, a young reader learns it
once and then predicts it — which is confidence-building
rather than boring, and makes the books work well for
guided reading and for reading aloud in groups.
FOUR DOGS, FOUR JOBS
Each book gives one dog the spotlight while the other
three still do their jobs. That rotation means a class can
follow the whole team across a term, and every child finds
the dog they like best — and then asks for that dog's book.
NO VILLAIN, EVER
There is no antagonist in these books. The mystery is
always something lost, misplaced or misunderstood, and
the resolution is always a discovery rather than a
punishment. Nobody is caught and nobody is shamed.
ENDINGS THAT RESTORE SOMETHING
Each book closes with something put right: a ribbon
returned, a stray dog given a home, a key turning in a
lock, a lost animal brought back, a wallet handed over,
a skate found. The last page of every book is the same
page — Skadi, alone, smiling — which readers learn to
expect.
SET IN REAL PLACES
Book one: Victoria, Texas. Book two: Chama, New Mexico.
Book three: Red River, New Mexico. Book four: the Valle
Vidal. Book five: San Antonio. Book six: Dallas.
Because the settings are real, the books can sit inside a
map, a geography unit, or a local-history lesson — and a
child who has been to one of those places will find it.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Every dog in the series is real. Skadi is the author's
own dog and lives with him in Spring, Texas; Jet, Brandi
and Punkin belong to two of his friends, and the four
dogs spend their summers camping together. Photographs
of the actual dogs sit alongside the illustrations in the
back of every book.
FOR SCHOOL AND LIBRARY ENQUIRIES
Author visits, reading sessions and bulk orders:
