Along Came a Dog
book by Meindert DeJong
Along Came a Dog is a children's novel by Meindert DeJong, and Maurice Sendak. It was a Newbery Medal honor book in 1959.
It tells a story about a friendship of a little red hen and a homeless dog who appoints himself as her protector. A big black dog came to the farm in search of a home. The dog was humble and lonesome. The hen was cocky and secure. A strange and wonderful friendship grew between them.
Plot
Along Came a Dog is the story of a friendship between a little red hen and a homeless dog. The little red hen lost her toes during the winter when the floor in the hen house froze up. When spring came, her toes fell off in the mud when she walked out the hen house.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Along Came a Dog” as book by Meindert DeJong. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the arts & letters register because the source frames it as book by Meindert DeJong. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Reception evidence should be dated and situated: later canonical status may differ sharply from the work’s initial circulation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 9, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q19866681. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1959.
Later fame can flatten the distinction between original context, subsequent adaptation and institutional collecting history. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.
- Identifying works and editions
- Tracing reception history
- Finding collection records
The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Along Came a Dog”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Along Came a Dog primary sources, Along Came a Dog archive and Along research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Along Came a Dog”?
- How did later circulation or interpretation alter the work’s reception?
- Which edition, object, performance or recording is being described?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Along Came a Dog” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.