Thumbs up for Togo by Robert J. Blake. Children’s.
I initially picked this up because of the gorgeous illustrations, but then I read to answer a mystery: when I was a kid I read many a dog book, and I well remember the story of the heroic dog who led his team to deliver medicine to save Nome, Alaska. Except that dog’s name was Balto – not Togo. But Blake tells the real story:
Another dog and another team would become famous for running only fifty-three miles of the serum run. That team was led by a kennel mate of Togo’s, a dog named Balto. People honored Balto for being the lead dog of the team that finally brought the serum into Nome. And certainly, every dog that participated in the serum run is a hero. But to this day many people in Alaska have concerns about Togo’s part in the run being ignored. They feel, as others have, that the hero is not always the dog that crosses the finish line first, but, as in this case, the dog who makes the last lap even possible.
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