When Newtown children returned to school following 12/14, they were welcomed by their teachers, faculty members, and dogs.

At Reed Intermediate School, comfort/therapy dogs and their owners or handlers spent every day for the remainder of the 2012-13 school year “in service to the staff and students of our school,” RIS teacher Karen Kings tells readers in her foreword to The Dogs of Newtown.

Written by the older brother of one of the children killed on 12/14, the book — which was released on Amazon.com September 29 — shares short stories about some of Guy A. Bacon’s favorite comfort dogs. The 34-page hardcover book devotes two pages to each of the 15 dogs Guy chose to feature.

The young man definitely followed the first rule of writing when he began working on this project: He wrote what he knew about.

The Dogs of Newtown is a celebration of many of the dogs that visited his school, “some of the most special therapy dogs that visited me and my friends at school and helped lick the tears away from our faces,” Guy wrote as part of the book’s introduction.

Guy’s little sister was Charlotte Bacon, who lost her life at Sandy Hook Elementary School. She is remembered as being a dog lover, which is part of what led her parents and some of their friends to create Charlotte’s Litter, a program with a mission to bring comfort and therapy dogs to anyone who needs them.

Earlier this week, Guy, 13, recalled working on his book. He started writing The Dogs of Newtown two years ago. As a result, the book is written in his 11-year-old voice.

Ms King was Guy’s fifth grade teacher when 12/14 happened. She recalls, again in the book’s foreword, that during his first days back in school in January 2013, much of Guy’s time was spent “sitting, kneeling or sometimes lying next to a dog — his notebook open, his pencil poised, his tongue curled over his lip and his brows furrowed in concentration as he conducted interview after interview with comfort dogs of all sizes and breeds.

“This was,” she continued, “time well spent.”

On Tuesday afternoon, in the South Main Street office space that is serving as headquarters for Charlotte’s Litter, Guy recalled some of that time.

“I liked petting the dogs and when I would be going to class, I would have a notebook and I would interview a dog,” he said. Those interviews, he explained, took place as Guy would look at a dog and ask questions, about favorite toys, or favorite colors.

“I asked the questions and the handlers answered for the dogs,” he explained. “But the dogs looked at me. They’re just like ‘I know you’re talking about me. If only we could speak English.’”

JoAnn Bacon, Guy’s mother, worked with a graphic designer to help create the look of the pages. She consulted regularly with Guy, however.

“You were the organizer,” Guy said to his mother Tuesday afternoon.

Photography for The Dogs of Newtown was done in April by Mary Bloom. A professional photographer whose focus, according to her website, has long been on the bond between people and animals, Ms Bloom reached out through a mutual friend to offer her help on the project, JoAnn Bacon said this week.

Hundreds of photos were taken for the book. While many feature the dogs, the book also includes a number of photos of Guy with the dogs.

Guy was given the task of picking which photos went into the book.

He also did three drawings for the book, each honoring three comfort dogs that have died. Arwen, Ruby, and Daisy the golden retriever (as opposed to Daisy the Leonberger, who is also featured in the book) are each memorialized in the book with an illustration by Guy.

He is, he said September 29, “really happy” with his book.

“It’s really colorful,” said Guy.

While it was made available through Amazon this week, The Dogs of Newtown quietly debuted on September 19 during Charlotte’s Litter Awareness Day in West Haven. In among the live music, visits with therapy dogs (including the majority of those featured in his book), food, raffles, and a treasure hunt, a table was set up so that Guy could sign copies of his books for those who wanted the be among the first to purchase them.

(And while those were the first people who were able to purchase and fully read the book, it was Guy’s grandparents who were the first to see the book as it was coming off the presses. “The books were printed in Minnesota, near their home, so they were able to watch part of that,” said the young author.)

The Bacon family has two dogs at home, Lily and Luther, who generally accepted all of the new smells that accompanied Guy on a regular basis, he said.

“They just took a sniff and then they walked away,” he said. The first time therapy dog Kona visited the Bacon home, however, “my dog chased her,” Guy said.

Guy isn’t sure if there is another book coming from him. For now, he’s happy to remember the dogs that helped him and his friends, his teachers and his parents begin a difficult recovery.

The Dogs of Newtown is available through Amazon.com for $15.