“The Four Seasons of Rascal: The Dog From Harbin” by Todd Cornell is a story of love and loss between a man and his dog. It is also a tale steeped in cross-cultural understanding, shaped by years lived between China and the United States.
In 2006, having already lived in China for over 15 years, Cornell — speaking fluent Mandarin, walked into a street market in Harbin, China — one of the coldest cities in the world, and left with a West Siberian Laika puppy small enough to fit in his hand.
He named him Rascal, 淘⽓宝 — Precious Little Troublemaker.
And Rascal earned his keep every single day.
From the frozen streets of Harbin to the “American West” — Rascal saw it all. And through him, Cornell held the thread of those years of adventure, belonging and loss together.
This is a book about finding a dog in China and taking him on a life journey spanning two continents. It is a book about belonging somewhere you never imagined you could. And a dog who always knew where “home” was.
A DOG IN CHINA
Cornell spent over 20 years living and working inside Chinese culture. He speaks English, Mandarin, French and
conversational Spanish and Mongolian, and writes about language, belonging and “words that change you forever.”
His books include “Mapping Mandarin: Pinyin and the Art of Tones,” “99 Mongolian Verbs” and “The Heart of China.”
“The Four Seasons of Rascal — The Dog from Harbin” is Cornell’s “most personal work,” he says.
Here’s an excerpt:
The vendor picked up the tiny fuzzball and passed it to me. He seemed so fragile. I used both hands to take him, though he was small enough to fit in one.
Grey and white, with markings that suggested something wild in his lineage — something savage — belonging to open spaces and wintry days.
He was oblivious to everything — the noise of the market, the crowd pressing in around us, even other animals on tables nearby.
He just lay in my hand, head facing down, as if the world had not come into focus. I crouched down and gently set him on his tiny feet, slowly letting go, not sure how he would react. Almost fearing he might disappear under some browsing feet.
But he just swayed.
Back and forth, unsteady on the asphalt. His four small legs trying to find their footing.
I put my hand under his belly to catch him before he went down. He pulled himself out of the head spin slowly, steadied — and then took two small steps.
This was the first time I caught him.
But not the last…
The door clanged shut behind us. All eyes turned — first to me, then to Rascal, then back to me.
A young girl in a stained white medical smock walked over from a small workstation by the door, prepping an injection. She broke open a glass flask with a crisp pop to fill a syringe. She glanced at me and asked what I needed.
“我叫康鸿熹. 上午和刘医⽣通过电话 — I’m here to see Dr. Liu,” I said, telling her I had called earlier and giving her my name.
She pointed mechanically to a small back room. I headed back while Zhang pulled up a stool at an empty desk near the entrance to wait.
Walking past the other pet owners, I noticed a young woman in a lime-green fur coat, a Louis Vuitton bag at her side, sitting with a sickly looking husky. I glanced briefly and kept walking.
It struck me how much the clinic resembled a Chinese hospital. In China, intravenous medication — called 吊瓶⼦, literally “noosing a bottle” — is extremely common. High-end hospitals even have special lounges for it, including plush chairs and TVs lining the walls. So, dogs on IVs didn’t seem strange.
“The Four Seasons of Rascal: The Dog From Harbin” will be published on June 15, 2026 on Amazon and RascalTheBook.com.
