Throughout
history when men have gone to war, so have their dogs. The first story here, War Dog, by Henry
Treece (1911-66), is a stirring tale set in south-eastern Britain, A.D.
43.
Bran
was a black, rough-haired pup who was entrusted to Gwyn, son of the
Catavellauni king’s hound keeper, to rear and train as a war-dog. When old enough, he was taken to the
blacksmith and fitted with the broad bronze collar that would protect his
vulnerable throat in confrontations with wild animals. Once Bran had
sufficiently honed his attack skills against wolves, he was tested against a different
foe – a Silurian prisoner. Though unused
to fighting a man and at first bewildered, Bran won this fight. Now he was
ready for war, and his bronze collar was overlaid with a massive spiked collar.
In
AD43, Claudius launched an invasion of Britain. Bran accompanied Gwyn and his
master, Caratacus, King of the Catavellauni, to war against the Roman
invaders. Though the Catavellauni fought
bravely, their chariots and stallions were no match for the great number of
heavily armoured Romans and their elephants.
At the battle’s end, Caratacus was led off prisoner, Gwyn lay dead on
the field, and Bran was beaten unconscious and left for dead as he lay over
Gwyn’s body.
He
did not die, however; there were more adventures for Bran before his journey’s
end, in Rome, far away from south eastern Britain.
While
Henry Treece does not gloss over the hardships, cruelties and uncertainties of
the time, he reminds us that the Ancient Britons were not savages but much like
ourselves, albeit minus radio, telephones, cell phones, satellites, and
television. This neat little book artfully combines an action tale with history,
and includes two pages of historical fact
at the end.
Although Judy’s
story is fact, not fiction, she was such a heroine of the war in the Pacific, she
deserves recognition. Robert Weintraub’s
book is a children’s version of his earlier adult book. It is a gripping tale
of one amazing dog, a true heroine if ever there was one.
Judy was born in a kennel for British
citizens in Shanghai. Ever adventurous, she
escaped from the outdoor pen at just a few weeks old. Her first encounter was then, when a Japanese
sailor kicked the tiny pup across the street. This, Judy’s first encounter with
them, led to a lifelong dislike of Japanese. Luckily, shortly afterwards a girl who worked
at the kennel found the pup and took Judy back.
The
story goes from Judy’s days as a Royal Navy ship’s mascot on a gunboat in the
Yangtze River to her ship being bombed, her long and dangerous trek through the
jungle, her narrow escape when she attacked a crocodile while saving ‘her men’,
to her days as an official Prisoner of War, and her many narrow squeaks from
being shot by the Japanese guards.
Throughout, Judy went about her work of alerting people to imminent
danger, saving many lives, and comforting those in distress. The last man she attached herself to was
Frank Williams, who she sensed was desperately in need of a friend.
While
it is a harrowing tale, it does have some funny incidents and young readers
will be happy to learn in 1946 Judy was
awarded the Dickins medal, the canine equivalent of the Victoria Cross.
My
last choice is the stories of three dogs, from the foul trenches of the first World
War, to Greenland in the early days of WWll, and finally to Vietnam. 
Sheila
Keenan provides the text and Nathan Fox the illustrations. I must confess I couldn’t follow the graphics
– too much – but I am prepared to believe they will appeal to a reluctant
reader.
The
first story is of Marcellinus, dubbed Donnie, and his Border Collie Boots. In December, 1914, they followed Dr. Fulham
to Ypres with the Nova Scotia Highlanders. A white band round his middle, with a broad
Red Cross either side, denoted Boots was a mercy dog. Her task was to crawl into no-man’s-land
after dark to sniff out wounded men; she could even detect life in those left
for dead. Then she would guide the
stretcher bearers to the rescue. After
one tremendous, blinding explosion Donnie and Boots were separated from the
doctor and ended up with an Irish regiment. Boots managed to catch a goose,
which made a welcome change from army rations.
The story ends with Boots rescuing a wounded Donnie, and both being
reunited with Dr. Fulham.
The
second story is a totally different setting, a brand new American Air Force
base in icy Greenland, spring 1942. New
recruit Cooper is assigned to work the dog team. Loki, the only white dog on
the team is labelled “tricky – he’ll do anything for food and is hard to
handle,” by the sergeant. Cooper forms
an immediate bond with Loki, much to the sergeant’s annoyance. When the sergeant learns Nazis have come on an
espionage mission, he sets out on reconnaissance. Cooper, with Loki leading the
team, goes with him. From then on it’s
all action – they hear, but cannot see, another sled – Nazis? An American plane goes down close to them,
when they reach it there’s only the pilot alive. He’s badly injured. The ice starts to move,
there’s a top secret weapon aboard the plane, it cannot fall into enemy
hands. One hazard follows another, and
Cooper has to depend on Loki’s smarts, strength, and courage to succeed in his
mission.
The
third story hinges between August 1968 in North Carolina and 1967-68 in Dau
Tieng, Vietnam. Henryis lonely. His mother assured him North Carolina, where she came from,
would be special. But the trailer park
was anything but special that summer – no other kids, and old Mrs.Johnson who
‘thought she was special because she was the only one with a working television,
and kept it blaring all the time to let folk know’. The trailer next to Henry’s was empty. One
day his mother brought home a Beagle pup that Henry named Bouncer. Alas, Bouncer fell foul of Mrs Johnson.
Tibbets, the park manager arrived just in time to see Bouncer knock over a
trash can. He told Henry he had to get rid of Bouncer, or he would. The ‘empty’ trailer door opens, and Lanford
orders Henry to pick up the trash.
Tibbets yelps that he won’t stand for it…Lanford grabs Tibbets by the
shirt front and stares him down. Tibbets
goes off, muttering, “Crazy Vet, crazy Vet”, which leads to Lanford having
nightmares about Vietnam.
Bouncer
leaps on him as he lies in his lounger outside his trailer, waking Lanford who
commanded, “Down!” and much to Henry’s surprise, Bouncer obeyed. Lanford had a dog once.
He
helped Henry train Bouncer, and little by little man and boy became
friends. Lanford is a super artist. His
trailer is full of drawings, of Vietnam, his buddy Hado, and his beloved German
Shepherd bitch, Sheba. She was one
wonderful dog. The graphics portray the hell that was Vietnam, Lanford’s pain
when Hado was blown apart and still tried to joke, and, even worse when he had
to leave Sheba behind.
This
story leaves the young reader with a lot of questions, because there are a lot
of Lanfords out there, now coming from Iran and Afghanistan.
The colours
chosen for the graphics are evocative of the particular times; the khakis,
oranges, scarlet and shadows of the trenches, the starkness of the Arctic, the
camouflage greens and duns of Vietnam.
As I’ve said, the written word is more powerful for me, but the
bilingual eleven year old grandchild to whom I gave this book loves it.
Teacher Vision has over a hundred items tagged as Historical
Fiction, including many book discussion guides.
Chris Eboch is the author of over 100 books for children,
including nonfiction and fiction, early reader through teen. Her novels for
ages nine and up include The Eyes of
Pharaoh, a mystery in ancient Egypt; The
Well of Sacrifice, a Mayan adventure; The
Genie’s Gift, a middle eastern fantasy; and the Haunted series, about kids
who travel with a ghost hunter TV show, which starts with The Ghost on the Stairs. 
