The 1-Dogpower Garden Team

School-age Sophie loves her dog, Max. And he loves to dig in the garden, much to everyone’s dismay. Sophie’s parents have a problem: too many weeds in the garden. One evening, they joke about a solution: a 90-horsepower rototiller. Sophie, a curious and clever young person, decides to train Max to dig in the garden where she tells him to. Together, they get rid of the weeds and form the 1-dogpower garden team.

The amazing black and white woodcut prints face each page of the story, a story which could be used as a read-aloud for preschoolers & kindergarteners and a beginning reader for grades 1-2. These illustrations not only extend the story, but they also capture the determination of Sophie, the bond of a girl and her dog, and the close-knit neighbourhood, including neighbour Mrs. Magruther and her cat.

The author, Alison Lohans, has been writing all her life and was first published when she was 12. She writes for children, teens and adults and has won awards for her fiction, poetry, and creative and academic nonfiction. She lives in Saskatchewan with her own beloved dog.

Gretchen Ehrsam, the illustrator and cousin to Alison, is a life-long artist, printmaker and calligrapher. She teaches calligraphy and art to adults locally; she also loves dogs and exploring new media. Her work can be seen on the cover of poetry books by Mark Newman.