Strongheart: Wonder Dog of the Silver Screen

by Candace Fleming, Eric Rohmann (Illustrator)

Overview

For fans of Balto and other real-life dog stories, here's a heavily illustrated middle-grade novel about a canine movie star of the 1920s, dramatically told in both words and pictures by an acclaimed author and a Caldecott Medal-winning illustrator.

When movie director Larry Trimble travels to Berlin searching for his next big star—a dog!—he finds Etzel, a fierce, highly trained three-year-old German shepherd police dog. Larry sees past the snarls and growls and brings Etzel back to Hollywood, where he is renamed Strongheart. Along with screenwriter Jane Murfin, Larry grooms his protégé to be a star of the silver screen—and he succeeds, starting with Strongheart's first film, The Love Master, which is released in 1921. Strongheart is soon joined by a leading lady, a German shepherd named Lady Julie, and becomes a sensation.

Touching, charming, playful, and based on real events, this moving tale by Candace Fleming and illustrated by Eric Rohmann tells all about "the wonder dog" who took America by storm.

A NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY BEST BOOK OF 2018
A CHICAGO PUBLIC LIBRARY BEST BOOK OF 2018

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781101934104
Publisher:	Random House Children's Books
Publication date:	02/06/2018
Pages:	256
Sales rank:	625,244
Product dimensions:	6.40(w) x 7.90(h) x 1.10(d)
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Candace Fleming is the prolific author of The Family Romanov, a Robert F. Sibert Honor Book and the recipient of both the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award and the Los Angeles Times Book Award for Young Adult Literature; Amelia Lost, which received four starred reviews; The Great and Only Barnum, nominated for an ALA-YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction and a Publishers Weekly and Booklist Best Book of the Year; The Lincolns, a Boston Globe-Horn Book Award recipient; Our Eleanor, an ALA Best Book for Young Adults; and Ben Franklin's Almanac, a James Madison Honor Book. She is also the author of many highly acclaimed picture books, including Oh, No!, illustrated by Eric Rohmann, and middle-grade books, including Ben Franklin's in My Bathroom! and The Fabled Fourth Graders of Aesop Elementary School. You can follow Candace Fleming on Twitter at @candacemfleming and visit her at candacefleming.com.

Eric Rohmann is a painter, printer, and fine bookmaker. He is the author/illustrator of the Caldecott Medal-winning My Friend Rabbit and the Caldecott Honor Book Time Flies. He and Candace Fleming have collaborated on numerous acclaimed children's books, including Giant Squid and Oh, No!, recipient of three starred reviews. Visit him at ericrohmann.com.

Read an Excerpt

On a farm between the Bavarian Alps and the city of Berlin, a carefree puppy named Etzel played in a sun-washed barnyard.
He chased the chickens, barking in delight at their squawks and flaps.
He tipped over his water bowl, splashing and sliding in sloppy-fun mud.
And he gulped down the last of his kibble, licking the bowl to shiny emptiness. 
At last, tired and full, he flopped onto the squirming puppies nestled in the curve of his mother’s belly.
 
His sister, Greta, nipped his ear.
His brother, Otto, yipped a complaint.
But Etzel just wiggled down between them and sighed.
His family. 
 
He had just closed his eyes, when—
“Here’s a big, handsome one,” a man’s voice boomed.
Rough hands tore Etzel away from his family and held him high.
The puppy whimpered. His paws flailed in the suddenly cold air.
“Look at those markings,” the voice boomed again. “Only purebred German shepherds have those. And what fine teeth . . .”
Rude fingers pulled back Etzel’s lips.
“With the right training, they could tear a man to shreds. Should we take him?”
“Ja, take him,” rumbled a second voice. “And we will turn him into the fiercest guard dog on the Berlin police force.”
Etzel was shoved into a canvas bag.
His mother barked.
Greta and Otto yelped.
In the bag’s darkness, Etzel whined.

Editorial Reviews

12/04/2017
Based on a true story, this absorbing novel from the duo behind Giant Squid and other books introduces Strongheart, a German shepherd that worked as a police dog in Germany until his discovery by Hollywood director Larry Trimble in the early 1920s. Trimble had long been searching for a “smart, expressive, dramatic dog” to star in a silent film; after traveling all the way to Europe to find the right dog, he knew that Strongheart fit the bill. Rohmann’s arresting oil paintings (like Strongheart’s movies, they’re in black and white) are a vibrant part of the storytelling, illuminating Strongheart’s expressiveness and intelligence; in one sequence, Rohmann brings readers into a darkened theater to witness Strongheart’s on-screen heroics in his first film, The Last Call, which became a box-office hit and catapulted the dog to superstardom. The collaborators also spotlight a softer side of Strongheart as he befriends orphaned boys and starts a family with his canine leading lady. An excellent afterword delves into greater detail about Strongheart’s life, including the fact that only one of his films survived. Ages 8–12. Agent: Ethan Ellenberg, Ethan Ellenberg Agency. (Feb.)

Publishers Weekly

"With the story’s most incredible plot developments based on fact, this fascinating and heartwarming piece of historical fiction will be met with wonder."—Booklist, starred review

From the Publisher

11/01/2017
Gr 4–6—Fleming and Rohmann (Bulldozer's Big Day; Oh No!; and Giant Squid) team up on a new book based on the true story of Strongheart, a vicious police dog turned lovable silent movie star. A puppy named Etzel is taken from his family and trained to act against his gentle instincts. Meanwhile, Larry Trimble and Jane Murfin, movie producer and screenwriter, respectively, are searching for a canine who can actually act. When Larry discovers Etzel, he renames him Strongheart and sets out to make him a silent movie star. He becomes a Hollywood sensation, able to convey emotions on-screen and sniff out the bad guys in real life. Rohmann's illustrations largely consist of Strongheart in various situations (at police dog training, on his first movie set, meeting orphan boys), with very few drawings of the human characters. The subject matter, coupled with the illustrations, make Strongheart ideal for reluctant readers, particularly animal lovers. The back matter (which includes photos of Strongheart and his on-and-off-screen partner, Lady Jule) is extensive enough to satisfy curiosity about the real Strongheart and illuminate the sections of the book that are Fleming's speculation, such as those parts of the story told from Strongheart's perspective. VERDICT This fictionalized account of true events provides a look into the life of a little-known historical figure, and makes an excellent choice for general purchase.—Jessica Ko, Los Angeles Public Library

School Library Journal

2017-10-16
Before Rin Tin Tin and Lassie there was Strongheart, the first canine movie star, whose real-life career serves as the basis of this fast-paced, dramatic story from Fleming and Rohmann. In the silent-film era of the 1920s, director Larry Trimble decides his next big movie star will be a dog and in Berlin finds what he is looking for: a thoroughly trained, 3-year-old, male German shepherd with a fierce disposition named Etzel. Renamed Strongheart, Trimble's find becomes an instant superstar with the release of his first film, The Silent Call, in 1921. Strongheart has an off-screen romance with his leading lady in the appropriately titled The Love Master, resulting in a litter of puppies. The climax of the story is a dramatic courtroom trial in which Strongheart stands accused of attacking and killing 6-year-old Sofie Bedard, but boys from an orphanage produce Sofie in court at the last moment. Strongheart is vindicated when it's discovered Sofie's parents orchestrated her disappearance for an extortion scheme. Like a silent movie plot, Fleming's narrative is full of adventure, romance, and suspense. An author's note explains the facts behind the story. Rohmann's expressive illustrations beautifully capture Strongheart's personality; their integration into the book's design is striking. Particularly notable are three two-page spreads depicting the dog contemplating and then stealing a doughnut.A touching, playful, and satisfying tale of a silver-screen wonder dog. (photos, bibliography, notes) (Historical fiction. 8-12)

Kirkus Reviews