"Togo" by Robert J. Blake is a beautifully illustrated story about the greatest Alaskan sled dog run there ever was. Based on a true story, this book is a dedicated to the real sled dog named Togo and his master Leonhard Seppala's heroic race to deliver a serum that was 350 miles away under blistering conditions in the winter of 1925.

In the Epilogue, the author writes that this run is commemorated annually by the Iditarod Race.

One way that Togo could be applied in the classroom is by teaching a lesson on the history of the Iditarod Race, then having students read this book as well one work of nonfiction to create and submit a research powerpoint on what they learned. ( )

Great story of sled dog

Balto (another dog) was lionized and a statue made of him in Central Park. He was the subject of a Disney movie. All this conspired to overshadow the, in my opinion, true dog hero of the serum run - Leonhard Seppala's Togo. Though this is fiction, it does somewhat set the record straight.