Book Store

The books listed here represent a “suggested reading list” for those interested in sled dog racing, huskies, life in the arctic, and historical accounts of those places in the world where sled dogs have played and continue to play an important role.

List Categories
Iditarod | Yukon Quest
Insights on Alaska | Wilderness Travel | Wilderness Living | Sled Dog Breed Info
Klondike Gold Rush | Siberian Huskies | Sled Dog Training | Dog Training
Other Dog Books | Motivational Books | Dana Stabenow Books
Susan Conant Books | Sue Henry Books | Other Fiction | Children's Books

The list was complied from suggestions made by Karen and members of the NorthWapiti Yahoo! News Group. Inclusion of a book in this list does not necessarily mean that Karen is recommending a particular book, although many of her favorite books and especially those that have inspired her passions are included.

Karen's favorites are identified with a pawprint.

With a few exceptions, all books are available from Amazon.com. When you purchase books through the links provided, Amazon.com will pay
a referral fee to Karen as an Amazon Associate.

Shop now and help support the North Wapiti Team!

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Karen's Book Review


“Mush! A Beginner’s Manual of Sled Dog Training”  Revised Edition Edited by Charlene G. LaBelle for the Sierra Nevada Dog Drivers Inc.

The original version of “Mush!” published in 1976 has long been standard. It graces the bookshelves of many mushers, beginners and veterans. In fact, it was one of the first books on the sport I purchased and has long been one I recommend to newcomers to mushing.

However, the sport has come a long way in the last 32 years. Updated with new information, pictures and chapters Charlene LaBelle has done a fine job of bringing a classic up to date. Topics covered include “Kinds of Sled Dogs”, “Harnesses”, “Illness”, “Puppy Training”, “Skijoring”, “Nutrition and Hydration” and “Safety On Trail”. Illustrations are clear and concise.  Photographs are relevant and well done.

I was particularly taken with the chapter on “Riding the Sled”, which does a wonderful job of explaining some of the finer details of steering a dog sled – something I am always asked about and find hard to explain!

A definite ‘must own’ for just getting started in the sport and a good resource for those of us that have been around for awhile too!

 - Karen Ramstead


 

Iditarod Sled Dog Race
 

Alaska Geographic Society - The Iditarod (Alaska Geographic)
[Karen's dogs are on the cover!]

Don Bowers - Back of the Pack: An Iditarod Rookie Musher's Alaska Pilgrimage to Nome

Tricia Brown - Iditarod Fact Book: A Complete Guide to the Last Great Race

Lisa Frederic - Running With Champions: A Midlife Journey on the Iditarod Trail

Lew Freedman - Iditarod Classics: Tales of the Trail from the Men and Women Who Race Across Alaska

Lew Freedman - Father of the Iditarod: The Joe Redington Story

Lew Freedman - One Second to Glory: The Alaska Adventures of Iditarod Champion Dick Mackey

Lew Freedman & Jeff Schultz - Iditarod Silver

Lew Freedman & Jon Van Zyle - More Iditarod Classics: Tales of the Trail from the Men & Women Who Race Across Alaska

Kim Heacox - Iditarod Spirit

  

Mary Hood - Fan's Guide to the Iditarod

Tim Jones - The Last Great Race: The Iditarod

Brian Patrick O’Donoghue - My Lead Dog Was A Lesbian: Mushing Across Alaska in the Iditarod--the World's Most Grueling Race

Gary Paulsen - Winterdance: The Fine Madness of Running the Iditarod

June Price - Backstage Iditarod
[Karen provided the cover picture of her team.]

Libby Riddles - Race Across Alaska: First Woman to Win the Iditarod Tells Her Story

Jeff Schultz - Dogs of the Iditarod
[Karen’s team is pictured in this book!]

Jeff Schultz & Brian Patrick O’Donoghue - Iditarod Glory  
[Includes pictures of Karen’s dogs!]

Mary Shields - Sled Dog Trails

Jon & Jona Van Zyle - Jon Van Zyle's Iditarod Memories: 25 Years of Poster Art from the Last Great Race

 

Insights on Alaska

Nick Jans - The Last Light Breaking: Living Among Alaska's Inupiat Eskimos

Nick Jans - A Place Beyond: Finding Home in Arctic Alaska

Nick Jans - Tracks of the Unseen: Meditations on Alaska Wildlife, Landscape, and Photography

Peter Jenkins - Looking for Alaska 

June Price - Becoming Alaskan 

 

 

Yukon Quest Sled Dog Race

John Balzer - Yukon Alone: The World's Toughest Aventure Race, the Yukon Quest International Dog Sled Race

Ann Mariah Cook - Running North: A Yukon Adventure

John Firth - Yukon Quest: The 1,000-Mile Dog Sled Race Through the Yukon and Alaska

Adam Killick - Racing the White Silence: On the Trail of the Yukon Quest

Brian Patrick O’Donoghue - Honest Dogs: A Story of Triumph and Regret from the World's Toughest Sled Dog Race

 

Wilderness Travel by Sled Dog Team

Miki & Julie Collins - Riding the Wild Side of Denali: Alaska Adventures with Horses and Huskies

Pam Flowers - Alone Across the Arctic: One Woman's Epic Journey by Dog team

James Huntington - On the Edge of Nowhere

Sidney Huntington - Shadows on the Koyukuk: An Alaskan Native's Life Along the River

Gay & Laney Salisbury - The Cruelest Miles: The Heroic Story of Dogs And Men in a Race Against an Epidemic

Alastair Scott - Tracks Across Alaska: A Dog Sled Journey

Hudson Stuck - Ten Thousand Miles with a Dog Sled: A Narrative of Winter Travel in Interior Alaska

Ian Wilson - Wilderness Seasons: Life and Adventure in Canada's North

Ian Wilson & Sally Wilson - Arctic Adventures: Exploring Canada's North by Canoe and Dog Team

 

Wilderness Living / Adventures

Norma Cobb & Charles W. Sasser - Arctic Homestead: The True Story of One Family's Survival and Courage in the Alaskan Wilds

Pete Fromm - Indian Creek Chronicles: A Winter Alone in the Wilderness

 

Klondike Gold Rush / History

Laura Beatrice Berton - I Married the Klondike

Pierre Berton - Klondike: The Last Great Gold Rush

Pierre Berton - Pierre Berton Books

 

Siberian Huskies

Michael Jennings - The Siberian Husky

International Siberian Husky Club Inc. - The Siberian Husky, 3rd Edition

Elizabeth Ricker - Seppala, Alaskan Dog Driver

 

Sled Dog Breed Information

Bob Cary & Gail de Marcken - Born To Pull

Dominique Cellura - Travelers of the Cold: Sled Dogs of the Far North

Lorna Coppinger - The World of Sled Dogs: From Siberia to Sport Racing

Lew Freedman - George Attla: The Legend of the Sled-Dog Trail

 

Sled Dog Training

Miki & Julie Collins - Dog Driver: A Guide for the Serious Musher

Noel Flanders - The Joy of Running Sled Dogs

Sierra Nevada Dog Drivers - Mush!: A Beginner's Manual of Sled Dog Training [Revised 2007.]

Jim Welch - The Speed Mushing Manual: How to Train Racing Sled Dogs

 

Dog Training

Jean Donaldson - The Culture Clash: A Revolutionary New Way to Understanding the Relationship Between Humans and Domestic Dogs

Justin Lee, DVM - It's a Dog's Life...but It's Your Carpet: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Your Four-Legged Friend

Patricia McConnell - The Other End of the Leash

Patricia McConnell For the Love of a Dog: Understanding Emotion in You and Your Best Friend

Cesar Millan - Cesar's Way: The Natural, Everyday Guide to Understanding and Correcting Common Dog Problems

Cesar Millan - Be the Pack Leader: Use Cesar's Way to Transform Your Dog . . . and Your Life

Karen Pryor - Don't Shoot the Dog!

Other Dog Books

Raymond & Lorna Coppinger - Dogs: A New Understanding of Canine Origin, Behavior and Evolution

McDowell Lyon - Dog in Action: A Study of Anatomy and Locomotion As Applying to All Breeds

K. Haase & Jorn Olbey - Canine Massage and Stretching

Turid Rugaas - On Talking Terms With Dogs: Calming Signals

Amy Snow & Nancy Zidonis - The Well-Connected Dog: A Guide to Canine Acupressure

 

 

Motivational Books

Richard Bach - Jonathan Livingston Seagull

Jane Savoie - That Winning Feeling!: Program Your Mind for Peak Performance

 

Fiction: Dana Stabenow Books

Kate Shugak Series:

A Cold Day for Murder

A Fatal Thaw

Dead in the Water

A Cold-Blooded Business

Play with Fire

Blood Will Tell

Breakup

Killing Grounds

Hunter's Moon

Midnight Come Again

The Singing of the Dead

A Fine And Bitter Snow

A Grave Denied

A Taint in the Blood

A Deeper Sleep

 

Fiction: Susan Conant Books

Dog Lover's Mystery Series:

A New Leash on Death

Dead and Doggone

A Bite of Death (A Holly Winter Mystery)

Paws before Dying

Bloodlines

Gone to the Dogs

Ruffly Speaking

Black Ribbon

Stud Rites

Animal Appetite

The Barker Street Regulars

Evil Breeding

Creature Discomforts

The Wicked Flea

The Dogfather

Bride and Groom

Gaits of Heaven

All Shots

 

Fiction: Sue Henry Books

Alaska Mystery Series:

Murder on the Iditarod Trail

Termination Dust

Sleeping Lady

Death Takes Passage

Deadfall

Murder on the Yukon Quest

Beneath the Ashes

Dead North

Cold Company

Death Trap

Murder at Five Finger Light

 

Other Fiction

More Books Coming Soon

 

Children's Books

Robert J Blake - Akiak: A Tale From the Iditarod

Robert J Blake - Togo

Jan Brett - The Three Snow Bears

Jan Brett - Trouble with Trolls

Jeanne Bushey; Germaine Arnaktauvok - Sled Dog for Moshi

Bob Cary; Gail de Marcken - Born To Pull
[Karen's dogs may have inspired some of the images.] 

Mike Dillingham - Rivers: Diary of a Blind Alaska Racing Sled Dog

Mike Dillingham - Rivers, Book Two: Through the Eyes of a Blind Dog

Pam Flowers, Ann Dixon; Bill Farnsworth - Big-Enough Anna: The Little Sled Dog Who Braved the Arctic

Karen Fortier - Sled Dogs of Denali

John Reynolds Gardiner; Greg Hargreaves - Stone Fox

Jean Craighead George - The Julie Trilogy (Julie of the Wolves)

Jean Craighead George - Nutik, the Wolf Pup

Shelley Gill; Shannon Cartwright - Kiana's Iditarod

Shelley Gill; Shannon Cartwright (foreword by Susan Butcher) - North Country Christmas

Georgia Graham - A Team Like No Other

Lois Harter; Dave Totten - Where's the Boss?

Joan Jackson; Robert Ferrin Gilmore - Elim: The Determined Athlete

Michael Kusugak; Vladyana Krykorka - Arctic Stories

Debbie S. Miller; Jon Van Zyle - The Great Serum Race: Blazing the Iditarod Trail

Scott Miller - Signs of Winning

Scott O'Dell - Black Star, Bright Dawn

David Pagel; Rick Allen - The First Chinook: The Adventures of Arthur T. Walden and his Legendary Sled Dog, Chinook

Gary Paulsen; Ruth Wright Paulsen - Dogteam

Jean Rogers; Rie Munoz - Runaway Mittens

Mary Schlangen, DVM - Zoe's Good-bye

Janet Beeler Shaw; Susan McAliley; Bill Farnsworth - Kaya and Lone Dog: A Friendship Story

Natalie Standiford; Donald Cook - The Bravest Dog Ever: The True Story of Balto

Marc Tetro - New Boots for Hudson

Ian Whybrow; Edward Eaves - Say Hello to the Snowy Animals!

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

Lori Yanuchi; Wendy Brown - Running with the Big Dogs: A Sled Dog Puppy Grows Up in Denali National Park, Alaska