Customer Reviews

A Dog Like Jack

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

 

 

This picture book presents the life and death of a family pet truthfully, responsibly, and in a manner that its intended audience can understand.

Jack is adopted from a shelter when he's eight years old. The young narrator points out, "That's fifty-six in dog years." Later on, when the narrator turns 8 himself, he realizes Jack is now 91 in dog years. The concept of "dog years" will be a tough one to explain to very young children, but just hearing that the narrator has a 91-year-old dog will probably be enough to make them understand that this is a dog who's lived a very long life.

And it's a good, happy life as well. Jack is played with, taken trick-or-treating, taken on family vacations complete with romps on the beach -- and he's always shown wearing a collar with ID and rabies vaccination tags, a responsible touch that I appreciated.

The text has a light touch without sugarcoating anything. The pictures of old, tired Jack might be a little upsetting to a sensitive child -- I know sad, tired doggie eyes get me every time.

In general, however, this book's straightforward yet warm approach makes it a good choice for families looking for books that can help them deal with the pain of losing a pet.

...Anyone who has lost a pet, especially one as dedicated as a dog like Jack, will be moved and comforted by this tender and sad story. For many young children, the loss of a pet is their first exposure to death and grieving, so stories about what they’re going through are a helpful way of healing into that loss. Jack’s family has a ceremony when they bury his ashes and they always try to remember the good things about Jack. They allow themselves to feel what they feel, whether it be sadness or happy memories about times past. They may go on and get another dog sometime, but for right now, they’re not ready.

This is a beautifully written and illustrated book with soft watercolors and an easily flowing story that is a genuine pleasure to read. While it doesn’t address existential questions like “what happens to us after we die?”, it does explain the grieving process from a child’s perspective and encourages families to talk about their loss as a way of healing. The final page, written by Ms. Kathleen Dunn, chief social worker for the Vetinary Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, helps adults understand the grieving process in children and explains some of the things they may be looking for.

Even if you haven’t had the recent loss of a pet in your life, “A Dog Like Jack” is definitely worth reading and adding to your collection. Thank you, Ms. Disalvo-Ryan, for this wonderful work and the opportunity, however brief, to meet a beautiful dog like Jack.

I just bought two copies of this book. One for my 5 year old because our golden is 11 years old and starting to fail, and one for my friend whose dog is 14. It is a heartwarming story for children and adults alike. I think it would be very helpful to have it if you have a pet that is old. Another excellent book is the 10th Good Thing About Barney, which concerns another young boy whose cat dies and explains the way he and his parents deal with the death.

This book is a treasure. it teaches a lesson and is entertaining at the same time. A wonderful story with beautiful illustrations. It makes me think I should have everything by this author.

We found this book by coincidence several days after our beloved Miles died--he looked like Jack and was about the same age. It was just wonderful to read it, and it helped us recall all the good times we had with our dog. The part for adults in the back was very helpful. I especially loved that Jack was from a shelter. I just wish we had found it before our dog had died. I shed many tears as I read it to my little boy, and my older kids loved it, too.

My son cried several times over the week following our reading this book.
Having read hundreds of books to my 4 year old son, I found this one to have
uniquely missed the target audience. This familiar story simply failed
to sufficiently reconcile the dog Jack's death.
I'm sure that adult dog owners, who have lost a beloved pet, will love it.
Unfortunately, this is a children's book. Children need to have such stories
presented is a sensitive, better conceived manner. Admittedly, the imagery
and illustration are pleasant, but I can only recommend against this book
to parents.

My five year-old boy and I found this quite helpful. We are all very sad about the pretty sudden death of our seven year-old golden retriever due to cancer. We are grieving in our own ways but it's a difficult thing to talk about with the little one. He's sad but doesn't know what to say. There is another book, "Dog Heaven" which deals with the hope of a happy afterlife. However, "A Dog Like Jack" showed how loved the dog was, then how he slowed down, and then eventually how he went to sleep and didn't wake up. It mentions his ashes and burying them in Jack's favorite spot. It also dedicates a page to how it's sometimes sad and sometimes happy to see other dogs in the park and that the boy is not yet ready for another dog.

So, the emphasis is on happy times, the decline, and how it feels to lose a pet. While we've all read the anonymous essay, "Rainbow Bridge" and while it does bring some comfort, when the weeks pass and your child is still a bit lost, I would recommend "A Dog Like Jack." It may open up dialogue between you and your child as it did for us.