The Dog Who Wouldn’t Be (Book Review)

Here’s an honest review of the book The Dog Who Wouldn’t Be.

“The prairies could be only half real to a boy without a dog.” ~ Farley Mowat

When I randomly picked up Mowat’s memoir about his dog Mutt, “The Dog Who Wouldn’t Be“,  little did I know that our family would be engaging with one of our favorite read-alouds of 2021. We immensely enjoyed Farley Mowat’s more well-known book, “Owls in the Family”, years prior. The author described his childhood, caring for two wild owls who each had such distinct personalities and quirks. When I found out Mowat had a story similar, but about his childhood dog, I was all in!

I love dogs, and so do my children, but that’s not a requirement to enjoy the story. The qualities of this book are many, starting with Mowat’s strength as a writer; his vocabulary is more vigorous than books published today. His sentences are a joy to read!

Mowat always has a strong sense of place in whatever he is writing, and the audience gets a clear picture of both the landscape and also the regional culture of the area he lands himself in. In The Dog Who Wouldn’t Be, he writes about his childhood in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, but also small towns and villages nearby. I have looked up a lot of his books to see if this atmospheric and geographical language continues, and I’m happy to say that it appears it does, and he has lived all over Canada. I can’t wait to learn about some of the provinces I’ve never (yet!) been able to visit, through his words and descriptive setting.

With Mowat’s youthful narration, the reader is absolutely delighted with the hilarity, escapades, and downright orneriness this boy and his dog can get into. He is perhaps eight years old when the book starts, and the book ends when he’s nearing adulthood. Each chapter is usually tied to something the family does frequently (hunting, sailing, etc.) and how Mutt gets himself involved…for better or worse.

Mutt has an almost human-like personality, and there is one section about him trying to round up ducks in a small pond that is quite memorable. The three of us reading together were crying and endured stomach aches from laughing so hard at this dog’s determination and ingenuity throughout the chapter.

Mowat takes his precise writing skills and humour, his passion for nature and place, and his deep love for his childhood dog, Mutt, and has written a simply superb book that will entertain everyone in the family.

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My name is Sarah Mast and I homeschool my two kids in Ft. Langley, BC. One of my favorite aspects of homeschooling is the community gained, and I  volunteer with a local support group to help foster that and connect others. My family loves the outdoors and travelling, and our weekends include skiing, swimming, hiking, or biking depending on the season. I found Classical Education Books at a conference and noticed their well-curated selection of children’s books. I kept tabs on their collection of the classics and hard-to-find books and reached out. Now I get to help customers hone their collections, and work on the ever-growing inventory here at CEB!