For all his champion Irish setter blood, Mike was  a misfit. Danny Pickett and his father tried  everything to train him, but it was the pup himself who  finally proved that he was a champion. "A  worthy sequel...a rousing story."  -- Library Journal For all his champion Irish setter blood, Mike was a misfit. Danny Pickett and his father tried everything to train him, but it was the pup himself who finally proved that he was a champion. "A worthy sequel...a rousing story." -- Library Journal For all his champion Irish setter blood, Mike was  a misfit. Danny Pickett and his father tried  everything to train him, but it was the pup himself who  finally proved that he was a champion. For all his champion Irish setter blood, Mike was a misfit. Danny Pickett and his father tried everything to train him, but it was the pup himself who finally proved that he was a champion. Jim Kjelgaard was an American author of books for young adults. He was the author of more than 40 novels, the most famous of which was his 1945 book Big Red , which was adapted into a Disney film of the same name in 1962. He died in 1959.