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A review by caitann
The Dog Who Lost His Bark by Eoin Colfer
4.0
I couldn’t bear to read the first two chapters of this book - it took two tries to get through them, and I almost considered not picking it up again because the abuse against this poor puppy by such hideous people was too hard to read, but I also couldn’t bear leaving the puppy in that situation - I had to see him get out of it (I also would have liked to see that abusive family destroyed, but you can’t have everything).
I cried when Patrick found him at the shelter, and when he was determined to bring him home despite all the odds and reasons not to - as an owner of a rescue dog myself with his own share of past trauma, I understood that determination 100% and loved reading about the rescue and the time and effort invested in his healing (it was such a refreshing change to read about a bond between a boy and a rescue “multigrain” with a heartbreaking history vs a perfect puppy with a blank slate, the more typical doggy hero of these kinds of books - and the patience and kindness required to help traumatized dogs (always possible, no matter what!), which I thought was a very fresh, worthy angle to bring into a book for young readers)!
I lost the thread of the story a little bit with the dog “singing” exact melodies back to the boy after the music initially brings him out of the crate (though that part was wonderful!) - while him singing these songs without prompt later on was very cute, it felt a bit farfetched, like it belonged in a different story, not this one of a boy and a dog rescuing each other from their own sadness and heartbreak. I also felt a bit betrayed by the boy bringing the dog BACK to the shelter, even though it was easy to see how his reasoning concerning having to choose his dad over his dog made sense in his head, but STILL. That part really, really hurt. All that being said though, I loved this book for Oz most of all - that puppy deserves the whole world and more - and the illustrations throughout were absolute perfection. I didn’t expect this little book to make me feel so much, but it packed an emotional punch bigger than any thousand page book I’ve read recently, and despite the fact that I feel as if it broke my heart more than it warmed it, you can always tell when you’re reading something important, and that was no exception.
I cried when Patrick found him at the shelter, and when he was determined to bring him home despite all the odds and reasons not to - as an owner of a rescue dog myself with his own share of past trauma, I understood that determination 100% and loved reading about the rescue and the time and effort invested in his healing (it was such a refreshing change to read about a bond between a boy and a rescue “multigrain” with a heartbreaking history vs a perfect puppy with a blank slate, the more typical doggy hero of these kinds of books - and the patience and kindness required to help traumatized dogs (always possible, no matter what!), which I thought was a very fresh, worthy angle to bring into a book for young readers)!
I lost the thread of the story a little bit with the dog “singing” exact melodies back to the boy after the music initially brings him out of the crate (though that part was wonderful!) - while him singing these songs without prompt later on was very cute, it felt a bit farfetched, like it belonged in a different story, not this one of a boy and a dog rescuing each other from their own sadness and heartbreak. I also felt a bit betrayed by the boy bringing the dog BACK to the shelter, even though it was easy to see how his reasoning concerning having to choose his dad over his dog made sense in his head, but STILL. That part really, really hurt. All that being said though, I loved this book for Oz most of all - that puppy deserves the whole world and more - and the illustrations throughout were absolute perfection. I didn’t expect this little book to make me feel so much, but it packed an emotional punch bigger than any thousand page book I’ve read recently, and despite the fact that I feel as if it broke my heart more than it warmed it, you can always tell when you’re reading something important, and that was no exception.