Customer Reviews

The Boy Who Spoke Dog

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I just finished reading this book and it is the best book in the world.It shows how we all have a dog within us.When we really believe, you may find something unbelievable.It may have to do with your best friend being a dog.The end is the most saddest ending i've ever read.I even cried.You will love this book and I garentee you'll find your dog within you.I'll bet you'll even cry at the end.I'm hoping there will be a second book to this one.Read this book.If you hate dogs i just know that after you read this book you will love them with all your heart.I loved dogs before I read this book and now I can't love them any more than I do now.READ THE GREATEST BOOK IN THE WORLD!!!THIS ONE!!!

For kids whose fondest daydream is a world where there are no bossy adults to tell them what to do, this book will delight, enchant, and lure them into a world where the dogs take care of things--sheep, each other, and Jack (the boy)--using "dog language". The boy, definitely a "lesser species" learns to trust and obey the wisdom of the dog pack, and is spared a horrible death at the slavering jaws of the "fangos", wild cousins of the civilized herding dogs. Kind of like "Lassie" meets "Castaway".

The Boy Who Spoke Dog is a book about a boy who was on a ship that was headed to disaster in a storm. The boy, Jack, escaped on a lifeoat and came to an island where two packs of dogs lived. Feral ones, called fangos, which attacked sheep on raids and ate them, and sheep dogs, which protected the sheep, and if the fangos had to run off before they could eat the sheep that they had killed, the sheep dogs would eat them. The sheep were all the dogs' food supply, so they relied on each other despite being enemies. Jack first meets the fangos, where he escapes up a tree. Soon, he manages to escape, following a black and white border collie called Moxie by the rest of the sheep dogs. Moxie leads Jack to a broken-down hut surrounded by sheep and sheep dogs guarding them. Soon, a fango raid commences and Jack helps out. From then on, Jack tries hard to survive, eating some of the sheep that the fangos took down. Both sheep dogs, fangos, and now Jack live off the sheep. He got the meat by way of a knife. Sage, the oldest dog and the only one, besides Fango, the leader of the fangos, to remember humans, brings Jack to a sack filled with some items needed for Jack's survival. Eventually, Jack gets cornered by Fango and some others while trying to run for the shore, and Moxie saves him after Fango tries to stutter some words, but fails due to his corruption. Finally, the ship that Jack bailed out on comes back to forcefully pick him off the island. The arrival of the ship solved his problem of surviving, but he was reluctant to leave the dogs he somehow has suddenly formed a telepathic bond with. That is a plot point I didn't really understand. He communicates with Sage's spirit after he gets killed by fangos, then communicates with Moxie. I think you are supposed to believe the trauma or the extended living with the dogs caused it, but it is not fully explained. This is mainly why I rated it 4/5, instead of 5/5, since the author uses vivid language and creativity to express the story of the boy who learned to speak dog (somehow).

This book is a lovely story about a boy who is shipwrecked becoming part of a dog society. It's an enchanting book full of adventure, personal growth, discovery, and facing one's fears. Sad ending but aimed toward a sequel. Highly recommended.

My daughter Mariah says....The book was great except the ending because it had lots of sad parts. I recommend this book for people who don't mind if the book has a sad ending. If you are squeamish, you shouldn't read some parts of the book, you might not like it. It was good but not great. I am strongly looking forward to the second book.

Dogs are mans best friend!!!



The boy who spoke dog is an amazing book it first took place on a boat with jack and his friends a big storm came and they threw jack over board. Then he came to an island and there he saw a little dog and he followed it through the woods and then the fangos jumped him and to get away he climbed a tree and then he got away and he found the little dog at the top of the hill and then he found out that there were other dogs that were trying to protect sheep and that there was no one on the island so then he sleeps under a rock then one of the master dogs shows him a stash of stuff that he can use. H gathers sticks to make a fire and he makes a fire and then he is finally warm and then at night the fangos attack but I am not going to tell you the fest you will have to read it.


I think that this is an amazing book and that if you are looking for a good book you have found it. It is probably the best book I have read for a long time and I read a lot so if you are looking for a good book this is the book.

WARNING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This book is very very sad!!!
I do not want to give away to much, but don't say that I didin't warn you!The begining is sad but it is made up for in the end...well, most of it anyway.
In summery, there is a boy named Jack and he is a captan boy on a ship (I can't think of it's name) that crashes onto an islend with lots of sheep- dogs and sheep.
It also has a forest with lots of "fangos*" witch are a therat to the dogs and sheep.
The boy doesent understand the dogs at first but in the sad ending he does.

* Fangos are wild dogs that live in the forest.

I liked this book because it tells you that a dog is mans best friend and that a boy goes on an adventure on an island.
A boy named Jack is washed up on shore after a horrible storm on an Island. He sees a sheep dog on the beach and follows it up the Island. He finds more sheep dogs and while he's on the Island sheep are attacked during the night by fangos (wild dogs). As the story goes on he's watching a fight and he doesn't know what to do. He hears a voice in his head that tells him to fight with the staff. It was his new dog senses. So he fights but after the fight all of the sheep dogs are dead except for the one Jack saw on the beach. Then one day he was looking for other dogs that died a boat comes and takes him away it was his crew members.
A reader that likes dogs and sad stories would like this book.

This book isn't on my favorites list. To me, the plot was confusing and took to many twists. And at some points the word choice was unskillful and didn't have a fluency it needed. It might just be because this book is truely for younger readers then I am, I'm an odd rater, or this book isn't the best in the world. I really just didn't get hooked at all. I'm not really requesting it for tweens or over. Or for anyone honestly. I request 'The last dog on earth' much more then this book. I liked that one MUCH better.

Truly disappointing. This book, though well-intentioned, falls short of what I find to be compelling YA writing. There is a sense of illogic in this book and "over-writing" in many of the scenes within.

Relating the tale of a boy tossed from a ship during a storm (why?), THE BOY WHO SPOKE DOG is meant to be the story of the boy, Jack, and the dog Moxie. The intention is that the chapters alternate between Boy chapter and Dog chapter, but after about ten chapters, that falls apart. Despite some strengths in progressing the story, in the last fifteen pages, suddenly the Boy can telepathically speak with the dogs. Huh? I know it's THE BOY WHO CAN SPEAK WITH DOGS, but the sudden shift in story focus does NOT work.

Of the books on the 2006-2007 Sunshine State book reading list, this one disappoints the most for me.

3 generous stars out of 5 from me.