This wonderful story for young children puts their “I wonder” inquisitiveness into high drive. A young narrator wonders what life was like for a dog recently adopted into his loving home. He asks all the questions we wonder about our rescued pets, such as, “did you have another name — like Gus, or Sam, or Teddy, or Howie, or maybe Miles — before you were mine? / Was your boy proud when you learned a trick?”

The illustrations are soft, colorful, and appealing to children, showing the dog doing typical dog antics. The illustrator, David Walker, keeps the illustrations cheerful, including those taking place in the shelter. Only a couple of illustrations are sad, when the dog wanders “alone and scared, like a dog shouldn’t be,” and the boy’s memory of his last moments with his old dog. The author and illustrator quickly turn around the unhappy pages with positive words and pictures of the new dog being cared for and loved.

Children who have recently adopted a dog will enjoy sharing the wonderings introduced in this story. However, be prepared to be moved to tears when you read it since you understand the larger picture of homeless pets behind this story. Not to worry for your young children though — the book is celebratory rather than preachy about the benefits of adopting an older dog into your home.

“A heartwarming story about how adopting an animal can bring happiness and comfort to a pet as well as the new owner.” — Front flap

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The Story of Edgar Sawtelle is a mystery and coming-of-age story about a boy who develops a strong connection with the fictional line of dogs his father and grandfather bred and raised on their farmland kennel. Born mute, his communication is limited to his mother, father, and the dogs that understand his sign language, and this sparks a turning point in Edgar’s life when his father dies and his uncle returns to the farm. In an Amazon essay, the author, David Wroblewski, explains why he wrote this novel. “I wished I could read a novel about a boy and his dog, one that integrated our contemporary knowledge of canine behavior, cognition, and origins with my experience of living with dogs….I’d recently come to know a good dog, maybe the best dog I’d ever met, and the subject of people and dogs and ethics and character suddenly seemed urgent.”

The story is compelling, moving, and written so beautifully, I reread passages just so I could enjoy them again. “Essay (one of Edgar’s dogs) circled and circled, solving again the everlasting riddle of lying down to sleep. She came to rest with her back to him, muzzle fitted high on her foreleg. Overhead the aurora flew, sheets of wild neon.” Wroblewski captures images such as this with amazing descriptive language.

It is of special interest to people who train dogs, since the Sawtelle dogs’ intelligence and training contribute to the plot twists and turns. Wroblewski eloquently explores the meaning of training in a passage where Edgar’s mother reflects on her dog training, “That was what people didn’t understand. Unless they had worked long and hard at it, most people thought training meant forcing their will on a dog. Or that training required some magical gift. Both ideas were wrong. Real training meant watching, listening, diverting a dog’s exuberance, not suppressing it. You couldn’t change a river into a sea, but you could trace a new channel for it to follow.”

This novel is one of the best I’ve ever read. Perhaps it’s my love for the way the language formed images in my mind. Perhaps it’s the plot surprises thrown out when I least expected it. Perhaps it’s my love for dogs.

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While this book is intended for children, it is informative, inspiring, and fun for adults too! The author examines the lives and behaviors of wolves, then demonstrates in gorgeous photographs and short text how our faithful companions have changed – and remained similar to -their distant cousins.

I love that this book is in line with our mission and values. Jenni explains why dogs dig, lick our faces, and need leaders for their “pack.” In just a few pictures, she gives an introduction to dog communication. And she has a knack for taking a photo of wild wolves that mirrors exactly the expressions of our loyal dogs.

Get this book for the history of how our dogs came to be “man’s best friend.”

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