If you liked Sounder you’ll love these dog-themed classics

“Outside of a dog, a book is man’s best friend. Inside of a dog, it’s too dark to read.” –Groucho Marx

They’re loyal, they’re fuzzy, they have wet noses, and they’re man’s (and woman’s) best friends: they are dogs! Dogs have been at the heart of many famous and classic books over the years. Sounder, the story of a dog and his family who suffer from extreme racism in the Deep South, is one of these classic stories. If you liked Sounder, then we highly recommend that you read these classic books about dogs who have a special relationship with their owners.

The Incredible Journey –by Sheila Burnford

Inspired by her own pets, Sheila Burnford’s classic story tells of the love animals have for their owners and the lengths these pets will go to be reunited with them. The Incredible Journey is about two dogs and a cat that trek 300 miles through the Canadian wilderness to find their way home. Luath is a young Labrador Retriever, Bodger is an aging English Bull Terrier, and Tao is a blue-eyed Siamese cat. The animals support each other along the way and find strength and courage they didn’t know they had. They fight starvation, wild animals, exposure, drowning, and even a porcupine along the way. They set out without knowing the way and only their instincts to guide them westward. Will they ever be reunited with their beloved owners?

White Fang –by Jack London

Author Jack London is famous for his “a boy and his dog” themed books, and this one doesn’t disappoint. White Fang is born in the wild to a half-dog, half-wolf mother in the northern wilderness of Alaska. After his mother’s wolf pack endures several years of famine, she returns to her owner, Grey Beaver, with her young pup, White Fang, in tow. Poor White Fang is terrorized by the village dogs and soon learns to fight back. Grey Beaver encourages White Fang to become more and more vicious and soon he begins to kill other dogs. Grey Beaver eventually sells White Fang to Beauty Smith, who turns out to be an unusually cruel man. Beauty Smith takes White Fang on the dog-fighting circuit, without a care to whether or not his star fighter lives or dies. White Fang knows only cruelty, injustice and pain from both humans and other dogs until a man named Scott steps in and rescues him from the fighting ring. Will Scott’s care and devotion be enough to help White Fang learn to love again?

Old Yeller –by Fred Gipson

This story is set in Texas just after the Civil War in the 1860s. When his father sets off on a months-long cattle drive, 14-year-old Travis Coates takes his father’s place as man of the house until his return. The day that his father leaves, a dusty yellow dog shows up at the family’s farm and seems to want to stay. Travis, at first, tries to drive off the ugly mongrel, but is overruled by his mother and his five-year-old brother, Arliss. They name the dog Old Yeller for his “yeller” color as well as for the way his bark is like a “beller” (bellow). Initially, Travis loathes the dog, but slowly, over time, the big yeller dog wins over Travis’s heart by making himself invaluable to the family. Soon, Travis and the big yellow dog are inseparable and Travis can’t imagine living life without the dog’s help. When Old Yeller is bitten by a rabid wolf while trying to protect his family, Travis is stuck with the heart wrenching decision of what to do with Old Yeller. We dare you to read this book without crying.

Because of Winn Dixie –by Kate DiCamillo

Ten-year-old Opal Buloni is the new kid on the block. She and her father, a preacher, have just moved into a small town named Naomi, Florida. Opal becomes very lonely—her mother abandoned them when Opal was just three, her father is too busy with work to spend much time with her, and Opal is finding that she’s having a lot of trouble making friends in their new home. One day Opal is in the local supermarket chain Winn Dixie when an ugly stray dog gets into the store and creates quite a ruckus. Even though he looks like “a big piece of brown carpet that had been left out in the rain,” Opal claims that he’s hers and takes him home. Her father lets Opal keep the mongrel and she names him Winn- Dixie after the grocery store in which she found him. It turns out that Winn-Dixie is a lot better at making friends than Opal and because of Winn-Dixie, Opal begins to meet more people and make friends. Taking care of Winn-Dixie helps Opal begin to grow, but can a dog’s love also help her to come to terms with the deep emotional scar left by her mother’s abandonment?

Shiloh –by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

Eleven-year-old Marty Preston lives in rural West Virginia. One day, Marty finds a shy young beagle that is practically afraid of its own shadow. Marty’s family is just scraping by and doesn’t have enough money to be able to afford the food and vet fees for a dog. Marty’s father suspects that the dog belongs to Judd Travers, who owns a few hunting dogs and isn’t known to be particularly kind. Marty is disappointed when his father insists that they drive the dog over to Judd’s place, but his disappointment quickly turns to hatred, because as they approach Judd’s home, Marty feels the dog begin to tremble in his lap. When Judd punishes the dog for running away by kicking him, Marty decides that he has to find a way to buy Shiloh from Judd. Marty comes to an agreement with Judd, but the nasty hunter finds ways to trick Marty out of their deal at every turn. Will Marty ever be able to buy Shiloh from Judd and save him from a life of misery?