[ Baker / The Garden of the Plynck ]
Baker's most well-known work, Garden is a children's fantasy in the tradition of Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland books; it begins with Sara, unable to find someone to play with, going inside her head and discovering a magical world filled with all manner of strange and fascinating creatures, including the peacock-like Plynck. The work's only reference to Newfoundlands is metaphoric, and occurs at the beginning of Chapter 9.
It was clear, of course, that she was expected to ride the creature;
but what it was she could not at first make out. It was about the size
of a large hobby-horse, and, in respect to its beautiful, wavy mane
and tail, much resembled it. Otherwise, it was exactly like a
grasshopper. And it was rearing and snorting in a most alarming
manner. As Sara stood considering, however, she caught a backward look
out of its wild eyes that said, "Oh, come on; it's all a joke."
So Sara took her seat in the saddle. Just as she gathered up the reins
the Snoodle leaped up behind her — exactly as the trained dog in the
circus leaps up behind the monkey on the big Newfoundland. (Only,
don't fall into the error of thinking that the Snoodle was a dog; you
remember his mother was a snail.)