Iditarod & Dog-Sledding

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Winterdance: The Fine Madness of Running the Iditarod

Gary Paulsen

Paulsen and his team of dogs endured snowstorms, frostbite, dogfights, moose attacks, sleeplessness, and hallucinations in the relentless push to go on. Map and color photographs.

Woodsong

Gary Paulsen

A LIFE AS EXCITING AS FICTION

Gary Paulsen, three-time Newbery Honor author, is no stranger to adventure. He has flown off the back of a dogsled and down a frozen waterfall to near disaster, and waited for a giant bear to seal his fate with one slap of a claw. He has led a team of sled dogs toward the Alaskan Mountain Range in an Iditarod -- the grueling, 1,180-mile dogsled race -- hallucinating from lack of sleep, but he determined to finish.

Here, in vivid detail, Paulsen recounts several of the remarkable experiences that shaped his life and inspired his award-winning writing.

A School Library Journal Best Book

A Booklist Editors' Choice

Balto and the Great Race (Stepping Stone Book)

Elizabeth Cody Kimmel

Balto has a quiet life as a sled dog—until tragedy strikes. Dozens of children in Nome become sick with diphtheria. Without antitoxin serum, they will perish—and the closest supply is 650 miles away! The only way to get the serum to Nome is by sled, but can the dogs deliver it in time? Heading bravely into a brutal blizzard, Balto leads the race for life.

A Kansas City Children’s Book Award for Grades 1–3

The Cruelest Miles: The Heroic Story of Dogs and Men In a Race Against an Epidemic

Gay Salisbury, Laney Salisbury

The year is 1925. It is sixty degrees below zero. The wind sweeps tons of snow over the deep-frozen Alaskan landscape. The nearest railhead is seven hundred miles away. Airplanes cannot fly. The way to Nome is blocked by a treacherous frozen sound, an icebound port, and mountains to the west. But there is a diphtheria epidemic in Nome. The children need serum from the outside world if they are to survive. Their only hope is a few chosen Eskimo drivers and their teams of dogs, who must make a relay race across the wilderness if the serum is to get to Nome in time. The heroism and stamina of the men and their dogs can only be called legendary. Now, their story can be told.


From the Cassette edition.

Akiak : A Tale from the Iditarod

Robert J. Blake

The Mystery on Alaska's Iditarod Trail (Real Kids, Real Places) [Paperback]

Carole Marsh

Cold Hands, Warm Heart: Alaskan Adventures of an Iditarod Champion

Jeff King

Known as the Winningest Musher in the World, Jeff King remains one of the top mushers in the history of sled dog sports. Since his first race in 1979, King and his well-trained teams of Alaska huskies have racked up many thousands of training miles and trail hours. The result: win after win after win, crossing the finish line first in more than a dozen major races, including the two internationally known giants: the Iditarod and the Yukon Quest. In the process, King has also racked up thirty years of first-person stories that offer a glimpse into the heart of a champion, the rugged Alaskan lifestyle, and the charismatic world of dogs.

Mush! Revised: A Beginner's Manual of Sled Dog Training

The complete book of Sled Dog Racing, MUSH! is more thorough and reliable than any other source of mushing wisdom. MUSH! is indispensable to anyone who is thinking about this exciting sport. Starting with basic considerations such as buying dogs and equipment, MUSH! leads the reader through every consideration. Training, riding, traveling, race strategy, and more are discussed and illustrated. The reader is presented with step-by-step assistance and clearly drawn plans. MUSH! is tailored to sled doggers of all levels of interest and experience. The beginner will appreciate the clear cut instructions for assembling his own equipment. The old pros will find its encyclopedic format of great and lasting value. MUSH! will help you understand what it takes to be successful in sled dogging, and is designed to give the reader a book for quick reference. Mistakes will be avoided and success will come sooner. MUSH! could be that necessary link between the desire and the trophy. MUSH! is the result of years of hard work by generations of people devoted to sled dog sports. The SIERRA NEVADA DOG DRIVERS Inc., a group of California mushers, first published some of this material in booklet form as an aid to beginners. The demand for this first effort prompted them to produce a book that would answer all questions. SNDD lifetime member, Bella Levorsen, worked with club members and mushing greats to produce the first three editions of MUSH! Recently, Charlene G. LaBelle, also a lifetime member of SNDD, worked with club members to update MUSH! to this current volume. SNDD members, the Internet and her own personal experiences as a dog driver, plus her love for this sport, all went into this latest effort.

The Great Serum Race: Blazing the Iditarod Trail

Debbie S. Miller

Ride shotgun with the heroic mushers whose bravery inspired the Iditarod.

In the winter of 1925, Nome, Alaska, was hit by an unexpected and deadly outbreak of diphtheria. Officials immediately quarantined the town, but the only cure for the community of more than 1,400 people was antitoxin serum and the nearest supply was in Anchorage—hundreds of miles of snowbound wilderness away. The only way to get it to Nome was by dogsled.

Twenty teams braved subzero temperatures and blizzard conditions to run over 600 miles in six days in a desperate relay race that saved the people of Nome. Several of the dogs, including Togo and Balto, became national heroes. Today their efforts, and those of the courageous mushers, are commemorated every March by the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.

Jon Van Zyle’s stunning oil paintings capture the brutal conditions, pristine wilderness, and sheer guts and determination demonstrated by the heroic mushers and dogs.

Iditarod Dream: Dusty and His Sled Dogs Compete in Alaska's Jr. Iditarod

Ted Wood

Relates the story of the fifteen-year-old Alaskan boy and his dogs as they prepare for and then run the 158-mile course of the Junior Iditarod Race.
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