First, I had to decide what the book was about. Hmmm....well, when I first headed out with him to find the bear, Larry gave me lots of survival infomation in case we got separated or had an emergency. Things like- What I could find growing that I might or better not eat How to find my way back in a storm How to make a shelter from pine tree branches if I could not make it home

I decided that I would create a main character who knew all about the woods, just like Larry. Then I thought again about how much young Robert had wanted to go with us....and the dog, too. Then it came together for me: Beginning- A homesteader dad takes his son on the boy's first hunt to find food for the winter and the dad gets hurt; Middle-The boy doesn't know enough about the wilderness, but realizes he must listen to the dog; End- The boy listens to the dog, who leads the boy to where they can get help to rescue the father Then I had a great idea: The book would show how the boy learned from the dog!

I needed to kow everything I could about my main character. So I wrote a complete biography- of a dog. I wrote about when he was born, what he liked to do for fun, what he liked to eat, and where he liked to sleep. Then I began drawing and painting pictures of him so I would always know exactly what he'd look like, from any angle.

At first I thought I might show the dog Swift peeking out the cabin door, ready to go.

But then I decided the scene was too static. I needed more energy for my opening page. So I decided to show Swift and Johnnie and his dad all starting out- and I'd show them at dawn, so it felt like a real beginning.

I'd let my readers know right from the start that Swift was smart. I'd write that he knew they'd be going hunting a week before they left.

I needed to have just the right colors to make it seem early in the day, so I went outside and painted at dawn. I didn't feel like getting up that early, but it was important that I get the look just right. I put Swift himself in the foreground and left Johnnie and Dad in the back ground because the dog is the main and most important character. Swift is who we most need to see.

To begin the story I needed to lay out the ground rules- who was who and what role they had and how serious hunting is. I also wanted to make it clear that Swift, Dad, and Johnnie only hunt because they have to- for food. It is not a game to them. That's why Swift won't play when Johnnie wants him to. I also wanted to create a calm page so that the attack on the next page seemed even more active.

Originally, I had a leaf falling down by the dog to show that something had moved (the bear). But my editors founfd the idea very distracting. I took the leaf out in the final version, but to this day I disagree.

Showing the first bear attack was tricky. I wanted the scene to be exciting, but not exactly scary. I did not want to frighten some readers out of my book. It was also tricky because there was no way I could pose this scene- or even see it in real life. So I had to entirely make it up. I tried many different versions.

When I had a line sketch I liked, I decided to make a painting like it. I did not want a bloody scene, that would be too obvious. So I used very active stokes of paint to provide energy- and did you see that a tree is getting broken in the back ground? That is all done to create a threatening feeling.

This was an interesting page to make. My homesteader friend Larry had told me the things that I had the dad tell the boy, like how to splint a broken leg and how to make a shelter under a tree. But I made up the idea for the father to say, "...listen to the dog." Because the dog would know the way back. One critic did not like the way I painted the dad and boy on this page. The boy did not look cute enough for the person- cute enough! Johnnie's dad is in horrible pain and the boy has to pull his leg straight to set it! Ow! It's not like he'd say, "Gee, daddy, isn't this fun?" One last thing- originally when I sketched this page and did the painted illustration, I had the bear on the page. But then I decided it would create more tension if the bear got away- and followed the boy and dog as they went for help. So I painted out the bear and you can see the direction he left by the broken brush along the gorund. Oh, and then I had to rewrite, rewrite, and rewrite some more.

I had to decide just how to show Johnnie almost running off the cliff. Should I show him running? Should I show Swift tackling him? I choose to show the boy and dog up close at the edge of the cliff because it gave me an opportunity to have them visually connect with each other. That is why Johnnie's and Swift's eyse are so expressive in this picture.

I did several sketches for the painting of Johnnie climbing the tree. I wasn't sure if I wanted to come in close, be far away, focus on Swift, or begin to give each character equal weight. I decided to look down on Johnnie and Swift while they looked down off the ridge.

When you read the book did you understand what I meant when I wrote that Johnnie thought Swift "..was going to leave his scent."? The boy thought the dog was goning to go to the bathroom on the tree. When he realizes that he was mistaken, that Swift's message is more than that, Johnnie begins to understand that he must really listen to the dog. He must not just assume that he knows what Swift is saying.

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