A program to celebrate reading in Riverside is focusing this year on a local author’s tale of her lost dog.

Teresa J. Rhyne’s “Poppy in the Wild,” a true story about the search for a rescue beagle named Poppy in Riverside’s Sycamore Canyon Wilderness Area, will be the featured book for Riverside Reads 2023, a city news release states.

The book is “a heart-warming true account of the powerful bond that exists between humans and animals and Rhyne’s personal joy of rescuing dogs,” the release states. Rhyne also penned a 2012 memoir, “The Dog Lived (And So Will I)” and a follow-up called “The Dogs Were Rescued (And So Was I).”

The promotion includes free copies at Riverside Public Library sites and events such as a pet journaling workshop and pet portrait painting. Two events will include Rhyne, who splits time between Riverside and Paso Robles, according to the Riverside Reads website.

Wednesday: 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., Foster Army Animal Rescue, 3711 Central Ave., Riverside

March 7: 3:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., Mary S. Roberts Pet Adoption Center, 6165 Industrial Ave., Riverside

Riverside Reads aims this year to stress the importance of pet adoption and animal fostering, the release states.

For information, visit a Riverside Public Library location or https://riversideca.gov/library/riversidereads.asp.