Trusty’s Gracie isn’t the face on the cover of Gracie The Blue Lacy, a new children’s book at the Denton Public Library.

DRC/Al Key

Kelby Trusty is shown with his dog Gracie, a Blue Lacy, at their home near Aubrey on Monday. Trusty and his wife, Shari, said they were so happy to have found their Gracie, and to learn that her breed is among the newest state symbols, that they were inspired to buy two-dozen copies of the book Gracie The Blue Lacy and give them to area libraries.

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That’s Garst’s Gracie, her “grandmother,” who inspired Renata McConnell’s story and Leslie Sademan’s illustrations in a new book of Texas state symbols. But Shari and Kelby Trusty of Aubrey said they were so happy to have found their Gracie, and to learn that her breed is among the newest state symbols, that they were inspired to buy two-dozen copies of the book and give them to area libraries.

“I didn’t even know Texas had a state dog,” Shari Trusty said.

Texas is among nine states that have named a dog to its list of state symbols. The Blue Lacy was developed in Central Texas in the 1850s by the same family who donated the pink granite to build the state capitol. The Blue Lacy — which can be blue, red or tri-colored — joined a long list of official Texas symbols, such as the bluebonnet, the red grapefruit and the purple sage, in 2005.

That year, the Legislature was busy with designations, naming more Texana to the list of state symbols than any other legislature. They also named the cast-iron Dutch oven as the state’s cooking implement, pan de campo as the official bread, the chuck wagon as the vehicle, the Texas purple sage as the native shrub (the crepe myrtle had already been named the shrub), the Elissa the state’s tall ship (the USS Texas was already the state’s ship), and the Texas Round-Up 10K, the state’s official 10-kilometer race.

Since 19 state symbols were worked into the story, Gracie The Blue Lacy is being picked up by school libraries as well as public libraries, according to the publisher’s representative, Lily McNally.

Fortunately, the new book doesn’t include the state dinosaur, Brachiosaur sauropod, Pleurocoelus. The 81st Legislature will consider changing the name to Paluxysaurus jonesi, thanks to the latest research findings on the giant, ancient plant-eater whose remains were found on the Jones Ranch near the Paluxy River.

Nor does the book include another critter likely to make the official list this year, the Texas toad. Rep. Dennis Bonnen, R-Angleton, once again proposed a state amphibian recommended by elementary school students in his district.

Gov. Rick Perry vetoed the previous recommendation — the blind salamander of the Edwards Aquifer.

The hardy toad, by contrast, can be found in much of Texas.

Known for burrowing into the soil to escape the scorching heat, the toad hops to the nearest puddle after a rainstorm in search of a mate.

PEGGY HEINKEL-WOLFE can be reached at 940-566-6881. Her e-mail address is pheinkel-wolfe@dentonrc.com .

Following are some of the 55 state symbols and other official designations adopted by the Texas Legislature since first naming the bluebonnet as the state flower in 1901. The 81st Legislature will consider whether to make the Texas toad the state’s amphibian, and change the name of the state dinosaur.

Bird: mockingbird — 1927

Dinosaur: Brachiosaur sauropod, Pleurocoelus — 1997

Dog breed: Blue Lacy — 2005

Fish: Guadalupe bass — 1989

Flower: bluebonnet (Lupinus subcarnosus) — 1901; bluebonnet (Lupinus texensis) and any other variety of bluebonnet — 1971

Fruit: Texas Red Grapefruit — 1993

Grass: sideoats grama — 1971

Insect: monarch butterfly — 1995

Mammal, flying: Mexican free-tailed bat — 1995

Mammal, large: longhorn — 1995

Mammal, small: armadillo — 1995

Plant: prickly pear cactus — 1995

Reptile: Texas horned lizard — 1993

Stone: petrified palmwood — 1969, 1989

Tree: pecan — 1919

Vegetable: sweet onion — 1997

SOURCE: Texas State Library and Archives Commission Web site