Lassie Come-Home: Eric Knight's Original 1938 Classic (Hardcover)

by Rosemary Wells (Author), Susan Jeffers Ph.D. (Illustrator) "She was sable, black, and snow white..." (more)
Key Phrases: Greenall Bridge

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal
Grade 2-4?In this lushly illustrated adaptation of Eric Knight's 1938 novel, Wells and Jeffers have combined their talents to produce a book irresistible to lovers of animal stories. Most children are familiar with the tale of how the loyal collie travels over 1,000 miles from northern Scotland to Yorkshire to return to her young friend, Joe. Lassie, having been sold to the wealthy Duke of Rudling because Joe's father is out of work, runs away and braves starvation and treacherous conditions to follow the pull of her heart toward the family who loves her. Jeffers's watercolor, ink, and pencil illustrations sensitively depict both the brightness and high spirits of Joe and Lassie as they play together, and the dark despair that overshadows the lonely dog as she makes her way through forlorn landscapes on her journey home. These rich pictures, combined with Wells's well-turned words, create a story that young readers will find moving, as they see the animal turn from a healthy, impeccably groomed pet into a pitifully thin dog too weak to continue homeward. Readers can trace her journey using the helpful map of Britain that shows all the towns mentioned in the story. A wonderful addition to any collection.?Christina Linz, Alachua County Library District, Gainesville, FL
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist
Gr. 3^-5, younger for reading aloud. An outstanding adaptation of Eric Knight's 1938 classic about the loyal collie who refuses to accept her fate when she is sold, out of financial necessity, to a wealthy duke. The picture-book adaptation, which contains considerably more text than the usual picture book, will attract children making the transition to easy chapter books as well as older readers whose attention spans are short or who need visual stimulation. Jeffers' superb, realistic watercolors range from snapshot size to breathtaking double-page spreads of the Scottish countryside. Raising such issues as poverty, black lung disease, and cruelty to animals, this powerful story is a perfect tool for promoting empathy and compassion in youngsters. Lauren Peterson --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4-8
  
• Hardcover: 64 pages
• Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR); 1st edition (April 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0805064230
• ISBN-13: 978-0805064230
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.8 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #271,753 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Exquisite illustrations, colorless text, February 6, 2000

By	Susan Shott (Chicago, IL United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Lassie Come-Home: Eric Knight's Original 1938 Classic in a New Picture-Book Edition (Hardcover)

This is a must-buy because of the wonderful illustrations, which are breathtaking in their beauty and their ability to capture the essence of a boy and a dog. But make sure you also buy the original Eric Knight Lassie Come-Home novel. For the heart and soul of the novel are absent from the text of this version, and the loss is grievous indeed. The novel shows real, cranky people struggling hard with moral choices, and hurting when they are bound to make the right one. The novel also guides the reader into concluding on her own that living things cannot rightfully be sold, unlike this version, which just blats it out. Moral lessons that children reach on their own are the ones that become deeply rooted, so it is a shame to deny them this process of moral discovery. The realism of the novel is absent from this version, which presents stick figures spouting politically correct platitudes that would be unthinkable in the communities that Knight described. The novel presents decidedly politically incorrect people who struggle to do the right thing. A child learns best from books that present life in its bewildering complexity. Without such guides, how will she deal with a real world that is not populated with politically correct stick figures? The ideal version of Lassie Come-Home would merge these illustrations, which are the best I've ever seen, with the original novel.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful!, September 22, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Lassie Come-Home: Eric Knight's Original 1938 Classic in a New Picture-Book Edition (Hardcover)

This is the true, gripping, and heartwarming story of Lassie, set in Yorkshire England and Scotland, not the Hollywood version. The sensitively rendered full color pictures of people, dog, and landscape would make the book a winner but this book also offers a wonderful story put carefully and artfully into words. As a book to read aloud to young children, I would commend it; its wording is rhythmic and exciting and holds the attention from chapter to chapter. The story, about poor people who have to sell their dog, is sad yet courageous and the ending is a very happy one!

10 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars dumbed-down w/ misleading title & beautiful illustrations, October 23, 2002

By	Susan Deborah Smith (Los Angeles, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The beautiful illustrations can't make up for the bland, dumbed-down text of this rip-off. The title seems to be a deliberate attempt to mislead the buyer into thinking they are getting Eric Knight's wonderful story.

Not a chance. The story is re-written, badly.

If you think your children are not bright enough to understand Eric Knight's beautiful, evocative, direct and vivid prose, or if you are too busy to bother to take the time to read it to them, or if you want to enrich a company that tries to trick people into buying a book, then I guess you can.

More discerning parents and readers should take the trouble to search out Eric Knight's original. Mr Knight's depiction of the beautiful collie's travails on her long journey home will touch the stoniest heart.

For the ambitious reader, try to find a copy of the Saturday Review (1932?) with Knight's original short story. He expanded it into the novel, and it contains such scenes as some people walking down a country road who happen to notice a ragged collie sleeping "in a ditch, with her nose pointed south" -- toward, of course, home.

Readers and animal lovers deserve the real thing, not this cynical attempt at money-making.