James Stern poses with some of his dachshunds at his home in Las Vegas Thursday, Dec. 21, 2023. Stern, a former FBI agent and former global security chief for Wynn Resorts, writes childrens books about the adventures of his dogs. Dogs from left, Jelly, Honey, Peanut and Sandy.
Monday, Jan. 22, 2024 | 2 a.m.
James Stern was traveling to his native Japan and started missing his dachshunds.
So, he wrote a story about them.
The Las Vegas resident, after four decades in law enforcement, has transitioned to a career writing fiction about the wacky adventures of those dogs he is passionate about.
“My friend said, ‘That’s a beautiful story. You should make a book for children,’” he recalled.
A sampling of book titles: “The Daily Adventures of the 4 Weiner Doggies: Peanut, Butter, Jelly, and Honey;” “The European Adventures” and “The Mount Rushmore Camping Adventures,” which features the dogs’ faces carved into the South Dakota mountain.
Honey is tan with a smooth coat. Butter is black with a white chest. Peanut and Jelly have more wiry coats, with some white on Jelly’s chest.
More recently, Stern has added adventurous 8-month-old Sandy to the pack. She has yet to make her literary debut. They are all girls.
Honey is portrayed as a dog who sleeps in late, expects extra blankets and treats and wears a costume to avoid bath time. Stern says she has a similar personality in real life.
“Yes, that’s silly Honey,” he says, stroking her smooth coat.
Stern has seven more children’s books planned.
He will introduce Sandy in the next book, “The New York City Adventures of the 4 Weiner Doggies: Peanut, Butter, Jelly, and Honey.” The dogs will visit Central Park and a Yankees game and might meet Sandy in the form of a tour guide at the Empire State Building.
Stern said he donates the proceeds of his books to animal-related charities. He also gives away free copies of the books — autographed with the dogs’ names — to people at the airport. Previously, he gave away some books to those affected by the 2022 mass shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas.
Stern spent 25 years specializing in polygraph testing for the FBI, and another decade in security for Wynn Resorts.
“Jim’s traveled the world so the fact that he can kind of put in, you know, his travels and have the girls — the dogs — mixed in there is really exciting for us, and fun and light for us to read as a family,” says Samantha Bieber, a former colleague at the Wynn.
Bieber’s son, a teenager at the time, gave Honey her name. Now she reads the books with her grandson. The books are about 24 pages and sell for about $10.99.
Stern hopes to turn his dog books into a cartoon.
“I have so much respect and love for animals and children,” Stern says. “So I just decided to pursue that. And people like the books.”
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