Rags, Hero Dog of WWI: A True Story won the Intermediate Grades Charlotte Award!
New York readers enjoyed learning about the little dog's Rags battlefield exploits and how he would not leave his soldier's side.

Named for the main character in E.B. White's Charlotte's Web, the purpose of the NYSRA Charlotte Award is to encourage students to read outstanding literature and ultimately become life-long readers.  The award has been given every two years by the New York State Reading Association. A committee of educators from across the state determines a ballot of excellent fiction and informational texts published in the previous two years.  The winning authors and illustrators are chosen by NY students.
Books are voted upon by students in four categories:  primary (preschool through grade two), intermediate (grades three through five), middle school, and high school.  Over 5,000 votes were cast in this school year by NY students for the 2016 award.

I'm so thrilled that Rags has won another award! It's such a shame that Margot Theis Raven, the author, is no longer with us to enjoy the book's success. Sadly Margot passed away in 2014, Rags was her last book. 
Find out more about the author...

Rags, Hero Dog of WWI: A True Story -  ​Awards:

2016 Teachers' Choice Awards for Children's Book, Winner, 2016
2016 Storytelling World Awards, Winner, 2016
2016 New York State Reading Association Charlotte Award, Winner, 2016
Comstock Read Aloud Book Awards , Commended, 2015
2014 USA Best Books Award - Children's Picture Book: Hardcover Non-Fiction Category, Short-listed, 2014

I'm really pleased to report that 'Rags' was selected as an honor book for the eleventh annual Comstock Read Aloud Book Award.
It was one of three honor books chosen for the 9-12 yr-old category. The award is given to the best picture books to read aloud to children from age nine to twelve. The winner of this category was 'What to do When You're Sent to Your Room' by Ann Stott illustrated by Stephen Gilpin. 629 picture books published in 2014 were submitted by publishers for the award. These books were read aloud to 21,990 children.

The following is an excerpt from the official site-
http://www.mnstate.edu/cmc/comstock-read-aloud-honor-2015.aspx

Rags: Hero Dog of WWI: A True Story written by Margot Theis Raven and illustrated by Petra Brown and published by Sleeping Bear Press, 2014.

Rags, a stray dog, is rescued in Paris during WWI by Army Private James Donovan. When Donovan is sent to the battlefield, Rags goes along and helps the soldiers by chasing mice and rats out of the trenches, warning of incoming shells, delivering messages, and boosting the soldiers' morale. During a battle, Private Donovan and Rags are both wounded. Severely injured, Donovan is sent back to the United States and Rags refuses to leave his side and so returns to the U.S. with him.

Both students and teachers felt that this was a heartwarming story. Several comments were made about the story being sad, but one student replied it was a “good kind of sad.” Students liked that it was a true story which described a unique part of history during WWI. One group summed it up by stating, “We want to meet Rags.”     

Background information on War Dogs of WWI and an epilogue that describes how Rags spent his final years are included.

Margot Theis Raven was born in Indianapolis, IN on August 30, 1950 and died in Mt. Pleasant, SC on August 16, 2014. Raven was an accomplished fine art painter and a national award winning author. Rags: Hero Dog of WWI was her last book and was released just weeks before her death. 

Petra Brown, the illustrator, lives in North Wales, UK and has been a children’s book illustrator since 2006.

Published 2nd of August! 'Rags, Hero Dog of Ww1' A True Story written by Margot Theis Raven, illustrated by me :) Published by Sleeping Bear Press.

I really loved illustrating this story. First off I love drawing dogs, secondly, it's a true story, and so heart warming. The cover is a little sad, poor little Rags gets wounded and is wrapped in bandages.
I did all the artwork digitally. The computer is an illustrator's true friend, I ain't lyin'... I don't ever want to go back to conventional paint and paper.

Hardcover: 32 pages
Publisher: Sleeping Bear Press (2 Aug 2014)
ISBN-10: 1585362581
ISBN-13: 978-1585362585