Owney, the Mail-Pouch Pooch

I found this story to be particularly interesting because most dogs hate mail carriers but Owney loved them so much he chose to spend his life surrounded by them. One thing I got a kick out of was that Owney was kidnapped by Canadian dogcathers and effectively held for ransom. The Albany employees paid the two dollars and fifty cents to get him back which wasn't cheap during this time period. The illustrations were very cute and I loved the pictures of Owney with his many tags around his neck like badges of honor. At the end of the book there is an actual picture of Owney on a train protecting the mail. I was surprised to find out that, "He was so famous that most of the major newspapers in the 1890s reported on his travels."

In the late 1800's, a stray dog sneaks into the Albany, New York, post office to keep warm. He learns he likes the smell of canvas mail bags and blue wool uniforms. The post men name him Owney and though they keep trying to take him home to have a family, Owney keeps coming back to the post office. He guards the mail and soon starts traveling on the trains with the mail bags. Everywhere he goes, the mail workers give him a medal with their city's name. Soon he has so many medals on his collar that the postal workers have to buy a harness to distribute the weight. Owney is loved by everyone, and after a trip around the world, he retires at the Albany post office where he started. There he spends the rest of his days sleeping on empty show more mail bags.

I was surprised as I started reading this that it is based on a true story. The author has done quite a bit of historical research and has tried to make the story as accurate as possible. Yet while presenting the facts, he also presents a dog that you fall in love with. There are a couple of pictures of the real Owney at the end of the book and I just wanted to hug him.

This is a great book to study when learning about writing letters and then combining it with math and geography. You could create a bulletin board of the U.S. map in the book that shows all of the places to which Owney traveled on the mail trains. Then the children could choose a location and write a letter to the chamber of commerce asking them to send a brochure of something Owney might have seen when traveling through that city. Have the children note the day their mail was delivered. Cut out the cancellation stamp in a circle and hang each one as a medal on Owney. Then note how many days it took the mail to travel from that city based on the cancellation date and the date the student received it. When all of the letters are in, compare which ones took the longest to travel. How long might those letters have taken to travel by train in Owney's day? show less

I adored this book! I may be biased because of my love for dogs, but it was so interesting! I greatly enjoyed learning about the pooch named Owney who showed up one day to his local post office. He began to protect and guard the post men and their mail, and was basically given a job there. He started traveling with the mail as it went by train. He even eventually went overseas. He collected tags, coupons, and trinkets everywhere he went. His story is adorable, and I wish I could have met this smart pup!

A dog named Owney wanders into a Post Office and falls asleep on top of a mail carrying bag. This begins the story of Owney the mail pooch and his life that was dedicated to the U.S Post Service. The dog warms the hearts of people from all over the country and then, all over the world. This story seemed to show how connected we can be to each other. The author puts together the events in a way that is easy to grasp. This dog had many adventures but the author makes sure to give their readers the most important parts. We get attached to this character when the author mentions the personality Owney has.

What a great story! And the fact that it is true makes it all the better. This story is about a Mail Dog who won the hearts of mail carriers in the late 1800s. Owney traveled the world sticking close to his postal pals and protecting the mail. He was given postal tags from all over the United States as he hopped on different mail trains. He even had the opportunity to visit other countries. This is definitely a special story.

This book tells the story of a small pup who makes friends and travels the world by postal service. When he returns home, to Albany, he has a name tag for every place that he had been. He was growing old and was awarded for all of his travels. I enjoyed reading this book, as I had also read, "A Small Dog's Big Life: Around the World With Owney". I am very happy that I read both because I was able to see how text can change a book. In this one, there was a different format, though both very engaging and colorful. I liked that both books told the story of Owney's travels and linked the two together. I would definitely read this book in my classroom because it can teach children about traveling the world, cultures, awards, and animals. It show more can show that being happy is doing what you love; for Owney, that was traveling with he postal service around the world. show less

Back in 1888, Owney was a hungry, scraggly, lost dog. One day, he found his way into the Albany Post Office. He became a fierce protector of the mail and a world traveler. This book is based on a true story and a real dog. My 4-year-old enjoyed it and learned a lot about the U.S. Postal Service. He enjoyed looking at the map of the United States and tracking Owney's travels.