Best Dog Books for Kids welcomes Karah Sutton to our blog that features interviews with authors who’ve written a canine story for kids or young adults. Karah Sutton is here to talk about A Wolf for a Spell which is a middle grade fantasy published by Knopf Books for Young Readers for kids aged 8-12.
About your Best Dog Book
Who is your key dog character(s) and what kind of dog is he/she?
Zima is a wolf in a Russian fairytale-inspired forest, living with her brothers Grom, Leto, and Potok. She is also friendly with a lone wolf named Veter.
What is your dog book about?
A Wolf for a Spell follows three main characters: Zima the wolf, a village girl named Nadya, and the notorious witch of Slavic folklore Baba Yaga. When Zima goes to the witch for help in saving her brother from a hunter, the witch casts a spell that causes her and Zima to trade places. Suddenly Zima finds herself in the middle of a plot that could save or destroy her beloved forest home
What inspired you to write this dog book?
Wolves are almost always the enemy in fairytales, so I wanted to write a story about a wolf who gets to be the hero. It wasn’t until I’d worked on the story for a few months that I had the idea to base it on Russian fairytales, specifically the story of ‘Ivan Tsarevich and the Gray Wolf’. That was when the story really started to take on a life of its own.
What else would you like readers to know about your dog book?
While not precisely a dog book, I think readers who love dogs will enjoy seeing wolves as the heroes of this adventure!
About the Writing Process
What was the biggest challenge you had writing your dog book? How did you overcome it?
The story has a rather intricate plot, with different characters all undertaking their own plans, crossing paths, twisting and turning. Keeping all of that straight and having it all make sense was definitely a challenge. It felt a bit like trying to solve a puzzle when I could only see some of the pieces.
What kind of story can readers expect next from you? Is it about a dog? If so, what can you tell us about it?
I think my stories will always feature animals in some way, though not necessarily dogs/wolves. My next book focuses more on birds, specifically swans.
Can you remember the first book that made an impact on you? Why?
This is such an interesting question, because I feel like most books have had an impact on me, so this is almost like trying to remember the very first book I ever read, which I’m not sure I do! The earliest book I can remember rereading and which has affected me even into adulthood is The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood by Howard Pyle. I think my stories tend to be about forests because that book made me want to live there.
What is your favorite dog book? Why?
A book I love that heavily influenced A Wolf for a Spell is The Wolf Wilder by Katherine Rundell. It asks very intriguing questions about what happens when people wild animals such as wolves as pets, but it’s also a thrilling adventure in a frozen Russian landscape.
Photo credit: Tabitha Arthur
What advice would you give to aspiring writers?
So much of writing and publishing is about not giving up. Keep writing that next page, next chapter, next story. The more you write the more you learn, and you never know which story will capture someone’s interest and heart.
About the Author
If you’d like to learn more about Karah Sutton, you can check out the author’s website or follow the author on twitter or instagram . You can also find book reviews from here.
Thank you Karah Sutton for joining us at Best Dog Books. We look forward to reading your dog book!
Dog Book Resources
For other great books about dogs, check out 101 Best Dog Books for Kids.
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