White Fur FlyingPatricia MacLachlanDog lovers beware, this book will get you hooked. White Fur Flying is a good read for that budding dog lover who needs a chapter book but isn’t quite ready for the older intermediate level. Zoe’s family rescues dogs and there are always dogs to be rescued. But in a turn of events, it’s a dog that does the rescuing. After a family moves in across the street with a little boy who doesn’t talk, it takes a special kind of a dog to take on the job of helping young Phillip find his voice. A sensitive story about two very different families that find they have more in common than they thought and sometimes, listening is much more important than talking. Parts of the story are a bit of a stretch in reality but they work for the young reader and help to build suspense leading to a happy and satisfying ending. A great addition to the elementary library for that in between reader who needs a push to the next level. The Cassidy family is filled with dog lovers. Their father works as a veterinarian, and their mother provides a foster home for Great Pyrenees until they can find their forever homes. When a new family moves in next door, it's clear that their animal-loving lifestyle is foreign to the Crofts. But Phillip, the sad boy who is staying with them while his parents work out their differences, is drawn to Kodi, and Kodi is drawn to him. Although he doesn't speak to humans, he does speak to Kodi. The story is told from the point of view of Zoe, the older Cassidy sister. She and her sister Alice, a writer, befriend Phillip too, and watch as he warms up to them. But it takes an almost-tragedy involving another rescue dog to get Phillip to speak once again. By the time he does, it is clear just how much he means to Phyllis Croft, and how little it matters that dogs, like any animal companion, bring fur and disorder to our lives, but oh, how much love, companionship, and meaning they also bring to our lives. As I read this quietly powerful book, I was touched by how much love this family has to give, even enough to find a place for a poetry-spouting African grey parrot named Lena in their home. MacLachlan clearly has a soft spot for living things in her heart, and it shows in every line. This book is a perfect read aloud choice, offering plenty of food for thought about what it takes to save a life, whether it be parrot, dog, or human.
What do You think about White Fur Flying (2013)?
Short, and Boring. O.K. You can read it, but I wouldn't recommend it.
—hyuki91
a sweet story that is accessible to some of my reluctant readers
—Rockstar24
