John Gaudioso is a well-known children’s author who lives in Chandler, Arizona. He has written three stories in the SMOKY series, with a fourth currently in its final draft. SMOKY is based on a true story from John’s time working as an Intervention Counselor at a local high school.

One day, a stray dog wandered onto the high school campus, chasing after school buses as they arrived with students. He was weak, tired, dirty, hungry, and clearly lost. Day after day, he returned with the buses, spending his time resting in the shade under the back of the school buses while students tossed away scraps from their lunches.

The bus drivers began bringing water and food for the dog, and soon he learned exactly where to find it. Students waved to him from the bus windows as he ran alongside them. Then, one day, he stopped coming. Days and weeks passed, and his absence was deeply felt by the bus drivers and students.

John’s imagination picks up the story from there. In the SMOKY series, readers follow Smoky’s first weeks as a family pet, and later, how he is abandoned near a high school and left to wander the desert, avoiding coyotes and wild dogs until he finds his way back to the school grounds. There, he is befriended by bus drivers, students, and John himself.

The SMOKY series continues Smoky’s journey after he is rescued, as he becomes an important companion and helps other pets throughout his travels with his owner.