Bay Books is asking all children: How many American flags can you find? Go to Bay Books, 1007 Orange Avenue, on July 4, 2021, between 12 noon and 2pm, and tell them how many American flags you can find in the book Oz, Dog of the Del. The first ten children who submit the right answer will win a free copy of the book, signed by Oz.
Visitors will also be given free treats (kid treats and dog treats) and Oz will be in his elevator door man uniform, available for photos and autographs.
Set in the early twentieth century (with a healthy amount of creative license), Oz, Dog of the Del is a fictional account of a little dachshund who lives at the Hotel del Coronado and befriends a young girl named Isabel, or “Izzy.” Izzy and her family are living at the Hotel del for the summer, which was not uncommon at the time. In this story, Oz takes Izzy on an adventure around the island of Coronado. Magic awaits them!
They first encounter some jackrabbits, which were wild and plentiful on Coronado at the time. At their next stop, Oz and Izzy encounter a man who walks like a penguin—none other than Charlie Chaplin. President Teddy Roosevelt’s Great White Fleet also made an appearance off the shores of Coronado. Several of the battleships dropped anchor near the Hotel del. Oz and Izzy are there and get to tour one of the historic ships with the captain. The man who made the first solo nonstop flight across the Atlantic, the legendary aviator Charles Lindbergh, began his journey in Coronado—at Naval Air Station North Island. Oz and Izzy meet him and hear about his historic flight. Finally, on their way back to the Hotel del, they stop to see Oz’s good friend Frank Baum, who lived just a block away from the Hotel del. Oz asks Frank, busy writing a book that would become The Wizard of Oz, if he will write Oz and Izzy into his manuscript.
Oz, Dog of the Del, is available for sale at Bay Books, the Coronado Historical Association, Amazon, and at ozdogofthedel.com.
Related, from 2015:
New Children’s Book Brings Coronado History to Life — “Oz, Dog of the Del”
