Format: ebook
Published: February 3rd, 2022
Age: Children/Middle Grade
Genre: Contemporary
Goodreads
Rating: 4/5 Stars
This book hurt. A truly emotional rollercoaster, wrapped up in an adorable looking package. Think of every film you watched as a kid featuring talking animals and very few humans, throw them together and tease out the best elements, and you’ve kind of got A Street Dog Named Pup. This falls under the Children’s/Middle Grade categories – it’s slightly too young for Young Adult, but I’d say mature Children’s readers and most Middle Grade readers would be able to deal with this, though if you are getting this for a kid in your life, I strongly suggest checking out content warnings and knowing what the younger reader can handle.
In many ways, this book reminded me of Oliver & Company, which I maintain is a very underrated Disney film. There are also elements of All Dogs Go to Heaven and Aristocats, in really good ways. It’s a very sweet story, but incredibly sad and, at times, bleak – more so than the previously mentioned films! But at its core, this book is about hope – about keeping it when all seems lost, about the value of community and friends, about survival and the struggles that come with that, and the crucial role hope and sometimes faith can play in our lives.
Pup loves his boy, and his boy loves him. But when Pup is taken away and abandoned, both their lives change forever. Pup soon meets another dog who takes him under his wing, and Pup becomes a Street Dog in a small pack, learning from the others how to get food and avoid the snatchers.
Spoiler Warning
Because this book deals with the worst sort of things a dog might experience, there is a lot of death. Pup finds himself captured, thrown out, forced to fight, and experiencing the worst things humans do to animals on a daily basis. I mention it here because I really do think it’s incredibly important to be aware of that, especially if you’re getting this for a younger reader. Essentially, dogs die in this. A lot of them. I’d also suggest if you have recently lost a pet, wait a while before reading this. In some ways it’s comforting, but not if that pain is raw.
End Spoiler
I do think if you’re ready to have certain conversations with younger readers, this is a great way to open them up to a huge variety of topics. And it can definitely be enjoyed by older readers (like me!) too. Though there are stretches of the book where it feels like nothing will go right for our brave little Pup, it does, ultimately, have the happiest ending a dog could ask for. This is a great book for younger and older animal lovers, and Lewis has done a great job with the characterisation of the different dogs along with the animal POV. This is a solid recommendation from me!
Reading Challenge
Musicals Reading Challenge 2024
Prompt: Annie – Sandy – featuring a dog
Progress: 12/24 Completed
Disney Reading Challenge 2024
Prompt: Dory – I suffer from short term memory loss – A book that will be unforgettable to you
Progress: 13/40 Completed
Unwrapping Words 