Lassie Come-Home

What lifts this book above a simple dog story is its setting. Knight grew up in Yorkshire, and he writes about the hard times of a mining village with real feeling: the pride of Joe's father, the worry of his mother, the way the whole family pretends not to miss Lassie. The dialect can be a little tricky at first, but it gives the early chapters a strong sense of place.

The journey itself is the heart of the novel. Lassie travels through moors, storms and towns, and she meets a series of people along the way, some kind and some not. An elderly couple who nurse her back to health and a travelling pedlar who befriends her are especially memorable. Knight never makes Lassie talk or think like a person, which makes her persistence all the more touching.

A few scenes of danger and hardship may upset sensitive young readers, so it works well as a shared read. The ending is satisfying and gentle. Many readers know the story from films, but the original has more texture and more heart than any adaptation. About 256 pages in the Square Fish paperback, with the original illustrations.