Albert Payson Terhune

I made a wonderful discovery this morning while reading the online edition of the New York Times. Nicholas Kristof wrote an opinion piece with book recommendations for children this summer and mentioned “Lad, a Dog” with the comment that “This is to ‘Lassie’ what Shakespeare is to CliffsNotes.” A statement like that will catch my attention any time. So I looked up the author on Wikipedia and discovered that some of his work is available free on Project Gutenberg. Right now I’m reading a wonderful story – “His Dog” – about a Collie with a broken leg rescued by the roadside as well as “The Further Adventures of Lad“. I had never heard of the author, Albert Payson Terhune, but I guess this is just further evidence of the treasures buried in the past and worth digging for.