Though she hopes her upcoming book will appeal to kids, author and illustrator Joan Madsen doesn’t actually consider it a children’s book.

“Little Prince Spaghetti’ is a gift book for dog lovers and anyone who likes to cheer for the underdog, so to speak,” she said. “It also takes a peek into the dog show world.”

The Enterprise graphic artist originally wrote and illustrated the book 15 years ago as a Christmas present for friends and family.

It was inspired by the true story of her dog “Sketti,” told from his puppy point of view. Madsen adopted him from her aunt, who raises and shows Shetland Sheepdogs, also known as Shelties.

In her 36-page book, Little Prince Spaghetti, like the real-life Sketti, was destined from birth to go to Germany to be a European show dog.

“Even as a puppy, Little Prince knows exactly what he wants – to be a top show dog like his father and grandfather before him,” Madsen wrote in an introduction. “His life is all planned out, until the day his world comes crashing down. Can Little Prince crawl out from underneath and come out on top? A story of hope, humiliation and heart.”

Madsen, who belongs to a local children’s book writers group, said she decided to unearth her old book following the huge success of “T’was the Night Before Round-Up,” the book she illustrated and published with Nancy Attebury of La Grande in 2009. The team ended up publishing three editions of their full-color children’s book – 6,000 copies in all – to meet demand, especially in Pendleton, which celebrated the 100th anniversary of the Pendleton Round-Up in 2010.

When Madsen wrote the original book, she printed and put together each copy of the soft-bound book herself, using a dog chew stick as the spine of the cover.

“The problem with the book for everyone who had a dog, including my own copy, is that it got chewed up,” she said. “Everyone loved the binding, but it wasn’t very realistic.”

She recalls she initially just wanted to write a quick story to wrap around her ink-wash illustrations. “It ended up that I spent more time with the story than the illustrations,” Madsen said. “I just fell in love with the writing process.”

Sketti, alas, is no longer alive, though he lived to be 11. Madsen and her family, however, now have another Sheltie to love, named Milo.

This time Madsen’s small hard-bound volume, minus the chew stick, is being published by Attebury’s Mt. Emily Press. She expects to see it on local shelves by Thanksgiving.

It will cost $12 and be available at several county stores, including the Bookloft, Bee Charmed Marketplace, Mad Mary’s, the Sheep Shed and Blonde Strawberry.