Bel Ria: Dog of war [Hardcover]

Sheila Every Burnford (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: 1977

Sheila Burnford, the author of The Incredible Journey, offers the spellbinding tale of a small dog caught up in the Second World War, and of the extraordinary life-transforming attachments he forms with the people he encounters in the course of a perilous passage from occupied France to besieged England.

Nameless, Burnford’s hero first turns up as a performing dog, a poodle mix earning his keep as part of a gypsy caravan that is desperately fleeing the Nazi advance. Taken on ship by the Royal Navy, he is given the name of Ria and serves as the scruffy mascot to a boatload of sailors. Marooned in England in the midst of the Blitz, Ria rescues an old woman from the rubble of her bombed house, and finds himself unexpectedly transformed into Bel, the coiffed and pampered companion of her old age.

Bel Ria is an exciting story about a compellingly real, completely believable dog. Readers of all sorts and ages will find in Bel Ria a companion to take to heart.

--This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“If you love animals in general, dogs in particular, and good stories about them, you will rejoice in Sheila Burnford’s novel Bel Ria…The scenes of war, both on land and sea, are as beautifully done as the rest, with a considerable cast of appealing human characters also. There is a special poignancy to animals in wartime, particularly those not involved in military uses, that not only makes us vibrate to them but points up the human folly, tragedy, and gallantry…With unerring touch, Mrs. Burnford draws the threads of people and animals together in resolution, by instinct as sound as that which once guided Homer in such a matter. Bel Ria is a magical story; Mrs. Burnford has benevolent witchery.”–The Wall Street Journal

“The Bel Ria can’t help but become another classic…Sheila Burnford has written a beautiful, moving story, woven from many fine threads. I can’t recommend it highly enough for readers from 12 to 90.”
–The Philadelphia Inquirer

“A magical, enchanting tale.”–Cosmo Magazine

“The reader will…long remember the little dog dancing to bells and flute, responding to cryptic signals from the cryptic old crone, straining mind and body to earn the cryptic reward of love.”–The Washington Post

“The author’s descriptions of war are consistently sharp and the texture of her prose is life-like in the extreme.”–The Christian Science Monitor --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

About the Author

SHEILA BURNFORD (1918—1984), a Scottish-born Canadian author, wrote books of fiction and nonfiction for both children and adults. In World War II she was an ambulance driver. Her most famous work was the children's classic The Incredible Journey. --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 203 pages
• Publisher: Joseph (1977)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0718116348
• ISBN-13: 978-0718116347
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #9,952,136 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful and astonishing book, December 26, 2006

By 

Native Texan (Houston, Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bel Ria: Dog of War (New York Review Children's Collection) (Hardcover)

Whether you read this book and come away moved by the heartfelt simplicity of its narrative, or whether you put it down after the final page and realize you've just experienced a complex metaphor of war and innocence, BEL RIA will never leave you. Like BLACK BEAUTY, this book is not just a children's book, although children will understand it completely - maybe better than adults. Like many earlier children's classics, it's a book of the real world, genuine and not at all diluted for young audiences. BEL RIA is a classic story of a dog's journey though a baffling human world as well as a simple and profound comment on the violence of war and what it means to the most innocent; the animals. Personally, at the instant I finished the book I understood that, when it comes to war, we are all Bel Ria. Professionally, as a writer, I deeply admire the author of this book and wish she had written many more books than she did. This is a book that will come into it's own, time after time, and I can think of no better answer to a child's question, "What is war all about?"

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of My All-Time Favorites, July 10, 2010

By 

Avid Reader (Coatesville, PA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bel Ria: Dog of War (New York Review Children's Collection) (Hardcover)

This is not a story for young children and it is not a light read !!! It has been over 15 years since I have first read this story, I picked it up because it was by the same author as the Incredible Journey (which I enjoyed), but I thought that this was a much better book than the Journey. It is one that I pick up and read every couple of years and there are certain points in the story which always bring a tear every time I read them.

It is a story of the effect & horror of war on the innocents (namely the animals). It is also a story of love and the companionship provided by animals even at the darkest of times.