The Dog Who Lost His Bark, Reviewed by Alisa, 11

On an April morning, my sister Cici and I went to the Concord library to check out some animal books. I walked in with an excited mood. While I flipped through George Orwell’s section, a book from the top layer of the shelf fell on top. Of me.

That scared me a little. I stared at it for a moment and read The Dog Who Lost His Bark. Eoin Colfer? I never knew anything about this author. Why is it in this section anyway? Quickly, I skimmed through the back of the book. Hmm... That’s kind of cool. Hey, I might actually like this book! Wondering very thoughtfully, I grabbed it. Back to my home I went with my seven books about animals. The first book I plunged into was The Dog Who Lost His Bark.

Two days later, I finally finished it. It was about a little puppy named Dog who got sent to a dreadful family. They were really mean to him and when Dog barked, he was given no food. One day, Dog did something he shouldn’t do and the man was so angry that he threw Dog out of the house! Poor little puppy! But somehow, he got sent to a pet store. Then, a little boy named Patrick went to that same pet store with his granddad to buy a little puppy. Patrick looked around. He stopped wondering when he saw Dog. So he bought him home. He even gave Dog a new name - Oz. But when he tried to feed him, he just whined a little and jumped to the corner of his crate. Patrick tried so many times and it doesn’t work. Oz was now so scared of humans that he didn't even trust good people; like Patrick. But Patrick didn’t give up. He tried again and again. Reading this made me think how important it is to not give up and to keep trying. It reminded me of a time when I had to persevere like Patrick. For example, when I was little, I struggled with math. I just got that word problem wrong every time, but I just kept trying. I didn’t give up at all, but did find some help. Finally, I got it correct the sixth time I did it.

So, what do you think happened at the end of The Dog Who Lost His Bark? When I finished it, I felt like it was the best book in the whole world! It was so good! I think you should read it because it can make you feel how important trust and love is.