Little Scraggly Hair

I read this to my 6 year old daughter the first couple times and we both found it frustrating. It is written with a "hillbilly" dialect which was difficult for my daughter to understand. I found myself explaining the story after each line I read. We put the book on the shelf and she did not choose it for a bedtime story for months. When she pulled it out again, I decided to read it with that Southern accent, and have fun with it. Now, it's become one of her favorite bedtime stories.

I'm partial to mutts - they always seem to be loyal and have a sweet disposition. This story is wonderful. I love the dialect, I love the transformation and I love the point of the story. Wonderful, wonderful!

Puppies are irresistible and so is a unique and very special one - Little Scraggly Hair who lived years and years ago. And, of all things, this pup had a warm, dry nose. In his day people weren't dog lovers. In fact, they had absolutely no use for them. Dogs weren't allowed in their cabins: "Sooner ask in their pigs." As if this weren't bad enough for Little Scraggly Hair the other dogs didn't like him either. He was unusual because he didn't chase cats; he rather liked them. All this little fellow knew was to run and hide because he was positive he'd always be chased off. Furthermore, he surely was hungry. Fortunately for Little Scraggly Hair he wandered into the yard of a man named Noah who was working very hard at building a boat. That was surprising as there wasn't any water nearby. Even more surprising was Noah's kindness - he was nice to the puppy and shared his dinner with him. The surprise in this endearing tale of friendship between a man and a puppy is how puppies developed cold wet noses. Children will find lots of smiles and a valuable lesson to learn in "Little Scraggly Hair." - Gail Cooke