Sunday, June 17, 2018

Jock of the Bushveld Paperback – December 12, 2012 by Sir Percy FitzPatrick (Author), Dwayne Bailey (Author), Heather Bailey (Author), E Caldwell (Illustrator)



This is a story of a dog told by his owner in South Africa in the time when goods were transported by oxen and wagons. Jock's master is a transporter--oxen train operator- and they travel through the bushveld hunting to supplement their food along the route. I enjoyed the description of the various wild animals and terrain. Jock is a loyal companion and always ready to hunt and defend his master. The whole book is tinged with sadness for me because the narrator is talking about their experiences in the past tense. You know that Jock is no longer with us. Maybe because I have an older dog, I kept wondering if this will be the chapter where Jock gets killed. This book took me to a place and time I never even imagined. I don't regret that I spent my time reading it. It has a glossary for the many Dutch and African words sprinkled in the text. This book was one the 5 best books about dogs suggested by an article in the Wall Street Journal.

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