Soldier Dog

I couldn't put this book down. I laughed and cried so many times in reading this book. The story was haunting in nature this is the kind of story you remember years later with just as much affection. As a teacher I wouldn't read this in class but I will read it to my own children. It's very emotional and will spark discussions that will need to be honest, direct, and supportive for children to understand and appreciate. The bond between a human and an animal is universal and easily understood but the boy's personal trials will need some help to be understood.

I didn’t think I would like this. However, it surprised me. I started to really care for each of the characters. There were so many relationships that evolved throughout this book and it was heart warming. While war is never going to be a positive experience, it was descriptive and moving. It was also very humbling to read this is respects to the military. God bless them and their families.Overall a good read! Worth your time to read.

Enjoyed it thoroughly

This was for my grandson who is 13. He had heard about it and asked me to order it for him.He loved it!

Beware Parents. This book contains language inappropriate for young children. It is a shame to me that author's like Sam Angus think that they need to write adult or even blasphemous language into stories for young people. Why?! The frequent use (misuse) of God's name is especially dreadful. This story is a decent story, so I fail to understand why Angus feels the need to make it trashier with foul language. It is a trend in more modern authors, sadly, as if they have a duty to bring children into adulthood with their pollution. Sam Angus needs to read Lewis or even the more recent Enid Blyton to learn that excellent children's stories can be written with no curse words at all!

It is a good book and very moving. Seemed more like a young adults book which is why I gave it 4 stars. It is also good historicallyand learned how exception these dogs were during WWI. It is also very sad but in the end it shows that love between a boy and adog never leaves.

Very predicable but a good story for young readers.

great relationship of bfrave dogs amazing. with men.

Oh my goodness, where do I start? This is quite simply the best book I have read in a long while. Although recommended to me ages ago, I've only just got round to reading this, as it's one of the two books I'll read this month for the bookclub I'm a member of.I'll admit that I was initially a bit put off this book by the front cover picture and description on the back cover, as I'm not very interested in books about war and fighting. However, although it is set during the first world war and a lot of the scenes take place close to the front lines in France, this story is so much more than just a war book.Fourteen year old Stanley is the main (human!) character and he is endearing and well written. The supporting characters (human and canine) spring into life from the pages and managed to bring forth just about every emotion in me. Happy to angry, frustrated to sad, i finished this feeling wrung out and left me an emotional wreck!This book is extremely rare in that I didn't pick up a single grammatical error whilst reading. I have to say I can't honestly remember when that last happened. The use of vocabulary is wide and the descriptive language fantastic.This is a tale of love, betrayal, hurt, pride, family and, most importantly to me, it depicts the level of emotion that I feel for my dogs like nothing else I've ever read. A true masterpiece that I'll be recommending to all my friends, especially my fellow dog lovers. This book just made me want to cuddle my hounds all the way through. Brilliant brilliant writing.

This is a feel-good book, though it takes the reader through some pretty rough territory.Stanley loves dogs and when his father's thoroughbred accidentally gets pregnant he wants to choose where the pups go to. His dad has other ideas because the puppies will be mongrels.Stanley chooses the only male to be his own and names him Soldier, but his father is determined to give the pups to the gypsies or drown them. Soldier manages to escape the gypsies, then one morning Da rides off with him in the cart before Stanley can get to them.As a result Stanley runs off to join the army in the First World War because he thinks that if he can get to France he will find his brother Tom. Life is not so simple.Stanley joins the Messenger Dogs section, though he has to lie about his age to get in, and is soon training a new dog for work in the trenches. From there it is on to France where his troubles really begin.Sam Angus doesn't spare any details of the horror of that war and what the soldiers and animals had to go through. However, the book does come to a surprising and pleasant resolution. A great book for fans of War Horse.

We read this story as part of our World War I theme. Story was excellent and included lots of detail about trench life. Highly recommend for kids covering the First World War

Didn’t know they used dogs

A delightful story sensitively which brought to my attention a military support unit I had never previously heard of. It will touch the hearts of anyone who owns or has ever loved a dog. An easy read and a memorable one. I was really sorry when I got to the end.