'Best hound dog in the whole wide world' RIP

First there was Marley, the rambunctious Labrador retriever whose death brought readers to tears in John Grogan's Marley and Me. Now there's Sammy, a mixed-breed hound who's the subject of another tear-jerker, a children's book, Sammy in the Sky.

When her beloved hound dog died, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Barbara Walsh watched her young daughters, Emma and Nora, tearfully struggle with their loss and with tough questions. Walsh quickly realized there was a story to be told, one that she hopes will help other families deal with the loss of a pet.

But it wasn't easy getting the book published, even after Walsh enlisted celebrated American artist Jamie Wyeth to fill the pages with illustrations in watercolor, acrylic and pencil.