Beautiful Joe by Marshall Saunders

  • Adventurous
  • Christian Friendly
  • Easy Reading
  • Humerous
  • Youth Appropriate
Overall
3.8 Llamas

Review

Ok, this book was really hard for me to read… I usually struggle if there’s no action, and I was struggling. (I am really sorry, but if the book is written weird or it doesn’t make a lot of since… I don’t know if I can read it.)

Anyways, the book is about the life of a dog. And this dog had a hard life, the book takes you from start to finish on the dog’s life. (And it is VERY hard to read, but I think it would be easier if you read it with your family or a friend…) And I am saying this is a great book for a family to read, but I got to warn you the poor dog does get his ears and tail cut off… 🙁 Poor puppy… It’s not that descriptive, but it is a little descriptive….

Over all, I do believe this book would be a great book to read as a family. Or maybe you can read the classic’s better than I can, then this would be a great book for you! I hope you al have a nice day!-The Young Llama Reader.

Pros

  • An oldie but a goodie!
  • A good book for the family to read

Cons

  • Very hard to read

Originally published as a novel in 1894, “Beautiful Joe” is based on the true story of a dog who lived in Meaford in southern Ontario. The first Canadian book to sell 1,000,000 copies, the novel was written in 1893 by Margaret Marshall Saunders and was the winning entry submitted to a literary contest sponsored by the American Humane Education Society. Saunders first heard the story of the dog, who had actually been abused and then rescued as depicted in the book, from her sister-in-law, Louise Moore. Louise’s father, Walter Moore, had rescued the dog in 1890. Today the town of Meaford is home to a park and statue honoring the real Beautiful Joe, and a private heritage society was created in 1994 to preserve the Moore home and establish a museum.

Written as an autobiography from the dog’s point of view, the book includes a reference in the first page to Black Beauty, which had also used that device, as “a little book that she [my mistress] says is the story of a horse’s life.” Joe then explains that he has undertaken the writing of his life’s story in the belief that it will please his mistress.

The fictionalized story, which the author relocates to a small town in Maine, recounts numerous adventures of Joe and the other animals and people in and around the “Morris” household and the little barn and barnyard that serves as a playground for children and a home for a variety of animals.

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