The Journal of Ted Terrier

Author Emma Knight

Illustrated by Sue Mynall

Available from Amazon

Ted is a Jack Russell Terrier, who lives with his human family, The Knights, at 77, Green Road. Ted considers himself to be a dog of very high empathy, with skills in psychotherapy (for humans), anthropology and sociology (of humans in relation to each other and dogs and on occasion cats), behaviourism and anything else to which an animal with just the right amount of intelligence can apply himself.

His philosophy is that human beings have too much intelligence for their own good and he postulates that to be why they make a mess of so many things, causing themselves trauma externally and internally. Unable physically to put his thoughts and feelings down on paper because it is impossible to hold a pen with paws, he employs the services of his human ‘sister’, Emma Knight. Ted understands the vitals of human speech and in addition to  the enhanced senses of smell, taste and hearing possessed by dogs; he also has a sixth sense. Even though most humans make no effort to understand ‘dog speak’, Emma has kind of a psychic connection to Ted. Hence they are able to communicate. Employing Emma as his calligrapher on occasion causes Ted difficulties with ‘creative differences’ as Emma’s own thoughts and feelings creep into the writing process resulting, now and then, in arguments.

The other main human in Ted’s life is Jane Knight, his human mother, who suffers from manic depression, and to whom Ted is highly attached. Ted also competes with Jane’s husband, Peter Knight, for head of the household status, and with the cat, Yorky, for human affection.

The Journal of Ted Terrier is a sensitive, poignant, witty exploration into the lives of the human, canine and feline inhabitants of a detached suburban house in England, from the point of view of the family dog, writing about his experiences, life and passions as instalments in a journal. Unlike his human family, Ted has all four paws firmly on the ground. He is a naïve witness to the illogicalities of human behaviour, equally perplexed by the funny and the appalling things people do. He explores the distance between his rational perceptions and the irrationality of human views on life and in so doing warns us to mind the gap! The style of the piece mirrors the thinking of its author:- ‘Dogs don’t think in straight lines, instead our thinking goes all round about

‘TED TERRIER’ was adopted by the human mother of ‘EMMA KNIGHT’ when he was a few months old in March 2000. He had immediately come out to meet her when she visited him and his siblings where they were born. She was struck by his absolute delight in greeting her and showering of doggie affection towards her. Ted adores human beings and is very in tune with their behaviour and especially their emotions. Emma feels he is the most empathic dog she has ever known. He loves humans more than those of his own species and also has a passion for chasing cats and then showing them love in his own maybe slightly rough&tough way too ;).

Emma was thrilled with her new sibling when they first met and they immediately developed a very close bond. In real life Emma is a counsellor/psychotherapist and writer. One day, when Ted was sitting next to Emma on the sofa – with his front paws resting on her lap and now and then throwing his head back to look with great interest and warmth into her eyes – Emma felt that he was communicating to her and took pen to paper and so started Ted’s handwritten journal. Later the siblings agreed to type-up, part-fictionalise, and publish, his writings into the book ‘The Journal of Ted Terrier’. Around the same time Emma met illustrator SUE MYNALL having been gifted with one of her pieces of art ‘A Dog’s Day’. Sue read Ted’s writings and developed drawings of him and his humans to accompany them. They published ‘The Journal of Ted Terrier’ through amazon.com. Ted is also a dog who blogs and is also enjoying making lots of friends on facebook twitter as TedTerrierMe. Aside from writing with Emma, Ted enjoys being a totally devoted companion to his human mother ‘Jane Knight’, licking his human father ‘Peter Knight’s feet, making all human visitors feel happy with his welcoming dance and eating babybel cheese. ”

To view the illustrator’s website

Ted Terrier talks about his books

Book Reviews

Amazon 5.0 out of 5 stars What is the dog thinking?
By Redsetter
I enjoyed Ted’s journal. It offers an answer to the question, “What does our dog know that we don’t?” Ted describes himself as “fun-sized,” and tells a gentle, fun-sized tale with plenty of amusing and perceptive insights into family, the London train bombing, environmental issues, the movie “Kill Bill,” black humor, and copyright law. Long live Ted Terrier, a wise little treasure! I was charmed.

Amazon 5.0 out of 5 stars Four feet and a beautiful brain
By Markmywords
Ted Terrier is the writer revelation of 2013. His limitations (he requires an amanuensis as he is physically unable to type, still less hand-write) make his capacity for insight even more impressive and endearing to the reader. From the very first page, Mr Terrier hooks us with his homely tales and anecdotes, behind every one a beautiful bone of canine wisdom. Part comparative sociological study of humans and dogs, part self-help reflective diary, part psychological case study, the loosely connected chapters of this book spiral into an engagingly profound portrait of contemporary human living, with touches of the bawdy, and even black humour, but never without a warmth that one feels only (hu)man’s best friend could summon. The perceptiveness of this furry little beast of a narrator will have readers laughing, sighing and – most likely – recognising themselves in the crazy behaviour that Ted sees every day from his low-angle, high-functioning status. The spot-on blend of pathos, critique and generosity of spirit is reminiscent of Mark Haddon in another remarkable debut novel, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. We want more of this (from this writer) and much more of this kind of writing in the world.

Amazon 4.0 out of 5 stars The Witty Thoughts of a Dog Called Ted Terrier
By Sheila

I simply love it!! A very original and intelligent way of talking about us humans. This book will put a big smile on your face and it will make you think about why we humans complicate our lives so much. The only thing against it is… It is not long enough!! I hope Emma Knight keeps typing Ted’s words so we can have more to read soon!! The Journal of Ted Terrier

I was also wondering if you could find a way on your website to emphasise that the first and second books have the same stories but are only different in that the second one has the pictures in colour. I was hoping that, because the cover is the same, but the title is different, people will get that but I’m not sure if they are doing 😉

Sue and I are working on the second – well really the third – book now – will be straight into colour and all new stories. The cover will be a little different to show it is a new book – but similar so that it follows on in the series.