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Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Dachshunds in Literature: There's a Dachshund in My Bed!

It's with a heavy heart that we report author and dachshund lover Paul Epner passed away on Friday. Mr. Epner was also a math teacher, and championed animals, kids, reading, and learning. We're hoping that his popular children's book There's a Dachshund in my Bed! remains a classic and continues to entertain and teach children for many years.
Here's a description of the book from
The Free Library: An interactive picture book specifically written in rhyming narrative couplets by Paul Epner and lively illustrated by Bill Reed for children ages 6 to 10, There's A Dachshund In My Bed! is the story of a dachshund puppy who is trying to get to sleep by creatively counting animals using different mathematical operations. Children are introduced to the names given to groups of different animals as well as learning how to work on the math problems that are interwoven into the engaging and thoroughly entertaining story.
My San Antonio said of Mr. Epner when he brought his dachshunds 'Chester' and 'Shirley' with him to a 2004 press conference on the book: Epner, who laughed loud and long and seemingly did not have an introverted bone in his body, didn't think twice about bringing canines to a conference.
The self-proclaimed "Wiener Dog Man" simply assumed everyone would want to meet Chester and Shirley. He was right. The dogs attracted quite a crowd, making an interview with their housemate difficult.
"I love dogs, and I love dachshunds," Epner said at the time. "I love animals in general and became a vegetarian as a result."
"In this world you've gotta find a passion in life," Epner said in a 2005 interview. "I love working with kids and I love to write, so I've found a special place."
Read the rest at My San Antonio.

2 comments:

  1. Rest in peace my friend.

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  2. Yes, rest in peace. I am very proud to own this book. It's fantastic and the illustrations are equally great.

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