Saturday, April 19, 2014

Top ten dogs in children's books

Cliff McNish's first dog-themed book aimed at 8-12 year-olds is Going Home. The author named his top ten dogs in children's books for the Guardian, including:
Buck from Call of the Wild by Jack London

The great children's dog ever? My favourite, certainly. There's a paragraph in the novel where his owner, Thornton, asks Buck to haul an incredible pack-weight on his sledge. An impossible weight. A weight no dog should ever be able to pull. "Thornton knelt down by Buck's side. He took his head in his two hands and rested cheek on cheek. He did not playfully shake him, as was his wont, or murmur soft love curses; but he whispered in his ear. 'As you love me, Buck. As you love me.'" And does he? You bet he does.
Read about the other entries on the list.

The Call of the Wild is among Brian Payton's top ten books about Alaska, Joshua Glenn's top 32 list of adventure novels of the 19th century, Sarah Lean's top ten animal stories, Ben Frederick's eleven essential books for dog lovers, Megan Miranda's top ten books set in a wintry landscape, Jill Hucklesby's top 10 books about running away, Charlie English's top ten snow books, and Thomas Bloor's top ten tales of metamorphosis. It appears on John Mullan's list of ten of the best wolves in literature and Alice-Azania Jarvis's reading list on dogs.

--Marshal Zeringue