Waggit's Tale - Softcover

Peter Howe

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0007280823 ISBN 13: 9780007280827

Publisher: HarperCollins Children's Books, 2008

Synopsis

A heart-warming tale about a puppy who finds a new home with a pack of wild dogs when his owner abandons him in New York's Central Park.Waggit has been cruelly abandoned by his owner in Central Park, New York. Realising he now has to fend for himself he takes refuge with a group of stray dogs who have to work together to survive.But life for the wild dogs in Central Park is harsh, with the constant threat of starvation, fights with other packs of dogs and the fear of being taken to the "great unknown" (the dog pound) by the humans who patrol the park.Can Waggit face his fears and become a true member of the pack or will the yearning to be owned again lead him away from his new friends?

About this title

About the Author:

Peter Howe was born in London and has lived in New York for thirty years, where he currently resides with his wife and two dogs. He is a former New York Times Magazine and Life magazine picture editor. Waggit's tale his first novel for children is based on the real life of his dog Roo, whom he found abandoned in Central Park in 1981.

From School Library Journal:

Grade 4–6—An abandoned puppy meets Tazar, leader of a pack of dogs that ekes out a precarious living in Central Park. The animals accept him and name him Waggit, after his constantly wagging tail, and he gradually learns how to hunt and scavenge for food and negotiate the many hazards of the park. Most important of all, he learns to distrust humans, or "Uprights." Then Waggit is captured by animal-control officers and taken to the pound. When a woman adopts him, he discovers what it's like to be a companion dog and to be treated kindly by a human, even though it means being completely dependent. This is an engaging story, and the various canine characters are depicted in loving detail. Howe does not romanticize the lives of feral dogs; Waggit, Tazar, and the rest of the pack contend with hunger, illness, and serious injuries. However, the tone of this book is less somber than Ann M. Martin's A Dog's Life (Scholastic, 2005), which deals with similar subject matter.—Kathleen E. Gruver, Burlington County Library, Westampton, NJ
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About this edition

• Publisher: HarperCollins Children's Books
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 0007280823
• ISBN 13: 9780007280827
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 283