Strongheart: Wonder Dog of the Silver Screen
by Candace Fleming (Author) and Eric Rohmann (Illustrator)
Booktalk: 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.
Snippet: Jane came around from behind her desk. She lowered herself to look the dog in the eye. “Do you think we made a mistake? Do you think he’s the wrong dog?”
“He’s the right dog,” said Larry. “He has so much love and loyalty to give. I know it. I just haven’t figured out how to reach him yet.”
He rubbed behind the dog’s ears.
Strongheart tolerated it.
“Poor pooch,” said Jane. “He’s so serious. Do you think he’s ever played, even as a puppy?”
“Play?” Larry repeated. He snapped his fingers. “That’s it! Jane, you’re a genius.”
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