I started to use dogs as the main characters in my books because the characters were inspired by my real life canine companions. However as I continued to write and refine my stories I soon realized that using dogs as the main characters served a bigger purpose. By using an animal to present issues, challenges, life lessons that most children experience, my stories became accessible to ALL children.

Let me explain.

The dogs have no race, creed, religion or political affiliation. Although they are referred to as "he", their gender has no significance in the story. They can be foolish, act silly, get themselves in situations that the reader themselves may have experienced without any threat of stereotyping. There is no fear that the reader may come away from the story thinking, "Well, that's just how a red-haried girl would act. I can't relate." or "Isn't that just like a black-haired boy.That's not me." Therefore the young reader is more able to accept the story and the underlying moral. The dogs are universal.

It is my experience from doing many programs in schools that children do readily empathize with the characters and are able to easily identify and accept the underlying lesson/moral.
And THAT means my goal in writing has been achieved - a happy result for any writer!

Keep Reading!
P.T. Custard