The Literary Stafford
Another of my passions is reading; naturally, I am always looking for reading material that includes Staffords.
There are a limited amount of choices in the way of Stafford fiction- however, it DOES exist! (note: I will not list any of the excellent non-fiction books about the Staffordshire Bull Terrier, as there exist good lists of them on the informational SBT sites, which can be found through my links page.) Here, I will list the fiction I have found.
If you are trying to find one of the books, which is out of print (most of them are), I recommend doing a search at Bookfinder.com
ON THE WEB:
by Andrina Morton
A picture book for children
by me
A fairy tale. (on this site)
ACTUAL BOOKS:
General:
Jock of the Bushveld
by Sir Percy Fitzpatrick
Obviously, no list of Stafford literature would be complete without this one! Written around a century ago, about the author's experiences in Africa, with Jock; this is one of the better-known works of canine fiction. Very much a product of it's time, some of the attitudes in the book are rather uncomfortable to modern sensiblilites. But the dog is great, AND he has ears like Elmo's! A movie was made of this book, I do have the movie. I just hope they didn't really cut the dog's tail off for the movie! (they didn't include the lovely Elmoears in the movie)
101 Dalmatians
by Dodie Smith
Inexplicably left out of the Disney movie, the Staffordshire in the book (written about 1956), has a very important part. You may think of this as a children's book, but to a dog lover with a sense of humor, this is a delightful read.
The Starlight Barking
by Dodie Smith
The sequel to "101 Dalmatians" is also an enjoyable book, but the character of the Staffordshire suffers. He spends a lot of time being humble about his working-class background. Does this sound like a Stafford to you?!
Buster's Diaries
as told to Roy Hattersley
OK, technically Buster is not a Stafford, only a half-Staff, but he is REALLY CUTE! See! You may also argue that this isn't exactly fiction, but it IS narrated by a dog. A very funny book. And personally, I think the goose had it coming.
Mysteries:
Cork in the Doghouse
by Macdonald Hastings
I went to some trouble to find this 1958 book, but consider it worth it! Apparently part of a series starring Mr. Cork, it also stars a brindle Stafford bitch named Honey. Warning: she is a fighting dog, though dog-fighting is NOT glamourized or encouraged in this book
The Old Fox Deceiv'd
by Martha Grimes
Many of Martha Grimes' books have dogs- this one has a Stafford, in a true nanny dog role. This is the 2nd of the Richard Jury series, published in 1982.
Science Fiction:
Regenesis
by Julia Ecklar
This book is actually a collection of stories, featuring the same protagonist. In the last story, she has a Stafford, very recognizably so. When I was reading it, the description of the dog kept making me say to myself, "That HAS to be a Stafford!"
Direct quote from the book:
"Staffordshire bull terrier.... Holds the domestic record for going from endangered to extinct in less than ten years back in the early twenty-first century- one of many victims of the pre-Reform urban paranoia."
Let's try not to have that become reality.
That's all I have so far, but I'm always looking for more! If you find any I haven't, please:
