Arthur, the Saint Bernard who delivered books to the Dog Library, thought it was time to have a party. Lately some of the dogs were so busy sniffing my stories that they forgot to take a nap. They needed a distraction.
Margaret the Dog Librarian agreed. She needed a break from organizing all the stories.
Party food and decorations
My mother brought food to the party. Cheese puffs with extra cheese, peanut butter cookies made with chicken gravy, and banana cake with salmon frosting.
She also helped decorate the room with balloons and party hats. The littlest dogs got a small scarf instead of a hat.
The Paw Print game
Arthur and Margaret planned the party game. It was called the Paw Print game. Dogs marked the stories they liked best with two paw prints. If they didn’t understand a story by smelling it, they added only one paw print.
Margaret made up one rule. The dogs couldn’t put their paw prints on just any story. They had to do a thorough smell test first. She also made Stanley the Mischief Dog promise to behave himself and leave his paws out of it.
There were three bowls the dogs could dip their paws into before marking a story. One bowl was full of slimy mud. And my mother brought red and blue paint for the other two bowls.
Dogs who marked the most stories got a prize. First place was a basket full of rubber balls and stuffed toys. Second place was a bandanna made of old smelly socks. Third place was a box of beef strip bookmarks. They didn’t last very long.
When the game was over, Margaret made the dogs wash their paws off in soapy water. But it was too late. There was mud and paint all over the library floor. Some paint even got on the walls. Margaret guessed it was from Stanley.
