Who let the “first dog” books out?
In first place: Michigan’s Sleeping Bear Press, which managed to get “First Dog” on bookstore shelves by mid-April, albeit with a slightly generic pup.
Close on its heels: Virginia-based Mascot Books, a publishing house specializing in books designed as fundraisers and souvenirs, which on Monday released “Bo: Commander in Leash.” The story starts with Sen. Ted Kennedy and a Portuguese water dog approaching the White House.
Make way for doggy books as publishers scramble to capitalize on Bo and the Obamas. So far, nobody’s released “Bo-hemian Rhapsody,” but it’s only a matter of time.
And time is of the essence when it comes to subjects like this. Most picture books are in the works for months, even years, before being published. The Bo books started shipping less than a month after the Obama administration officially announced the name and breed of the first pet. How did the publishers do it?
“We didn’t start from scratch the day that the dog’s identity became known,” acknowledged Mascot publisher Naren Aryal, who grew up in Jefferson County.
Right after President Barack Obama famously promised to get a puppy for his girls, canny publishers leapt into action. Sleeping Bear Press publisher Heather Hughes assigned a writing team to rework an existing manuscript about a globe-trotting dog. Aryal began collecting Obama-centric anecdotes.
In “Bo,” the president beats the dog in a basketball game. In another scene at a bowling alley, the dog wins. The president throws a gutter ball, a reference to Obama’s notoriously dismal bowling score — 37 — during a campaign stop last year.
Unlike conventional picture books that use traditional art media — acrylic or oil paintings, drawings, collage — Mascot uses layers of transparencies, as an animated film does.
That allowed Aryal to compile a story and pictures with specific details — the Obamas’ organic garden, the first kids’ swing set, the water fountain running green on St. Patrick’s Day — while leaving space for a final top transparency that would include the dog, once its name and breed were announced.
Another time-saver: Unlike most picture books, which are printed in Asia to save money, both “First Dog” and “Bo” were printed in the U.S. for a faster turnaround.
The result? While neither book is a likely candidate for a prestigious Newbery or Caldecott award, as Suzi Fischer of The Bookies observed, both already are on the shelves, ready for dog-loving readers.
Claire Martin: 303-954-1477 or cmartin@denverpost.com
