LITCHFIELD — Ann LePage stopped reading aloud to point to a watercolor picture of her dog Baxter’s favorite sleeping spot at the end of the bed.

“My feet are the pretty feet — the others belong to the governor,” she said.

Maine’s first lady visited Carrie Ricker School to read “Baxter in the Blaine House” to a school-wide assembly Wednesday afternoon. Baxter, a Jack Russell mix, visited, too. He sat in Principal Christine Lajoie-Cameron’s lap, licking her face.

The book by Paula Benoit, who accompanied the first lady Wednesday, with artwork by Thomas Block has Baxter giving a behind-the-scenes tour of the Blaine House. Highlights of the governor’s mansion, from the dog’s perspective, include Ann LePage’s office, a framed letter from Abraham Lincoln and a soft, second bed by a kitchen oven.

In the book, Benoit drew parallels between a young Baxter and Gov. Paul LePage as a boy. The LePages adopted the dog after he’d lived in an abusive home. The governor has talked about his own rough upbringing in Lewiston.

“Someone very kind took (the governor) in and gave him shelter,” Baxter/Benoit wrote. The governor had done the same for him.

Ann LePage told the children in grades three to five that the family now had two dogs, Baxter and Jack, who “belongs to my son but I think is going to become grammy’s dog.”

LePage visited about seven schools this year, with Wednesday’s visit being the last of the school year. She reads to children who tour the Blaine House and shares the book via Skype with students in Northern Maine.

“Baxter gets to Skype with the kids; they love that,” Benoit said.

The assembly, which included four local legislators, was pulled together by education technician Ester Newendyke.

“I thought it was pretty cool,” said James Greenwood of Sabattus, a fifth-grader. “You don’t have many people that will do that when they’re that important.”

kskelton@sunjournal.com

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