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A Scottish Border sheep dog, born in the wilds, is the object of a bet between two men; but their endeavour to train the pup to put first loyaylties towards the sheep is thwarted when the five year old son of one of them wins the dog's trust and affection and brings danger to the boy and the dog.
192 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1967
3 people are currently reading
66 people want to read
About the author
Joyce Stranger
112 books29 followersPsuedonym of Joyce Muriel Wilson (1921–2007). Lived in Anglesey, Wales.
Trained as a biologist, specialising in animal behaviour, and tried her hand at dog training too. Not surprisingly, animal themes, especially relationships between human and animal feature in all of her books. She thought that the human-animal/human-nature relationship was extremely important and that a co-existence between the two could improve quality of life. She said "for many people an animal can provide a harmony lacking in day-to-day relationships with people."
Her books are not very anthropomorphic, deliberately so. She thought that many animal books, especially childrens were inaccurate or sentimental or humanised the animal and wanted her stories instead to "show how animals live in a world that is real to them"
They are definitely not sentimental either, many are quite downbeat. Disasters often strike her fictional worlds and her characters are often unhappy, guilt-stricken or remorseful. However they usually end on a more upbeat and optimistic note.
Ms. Stranger was one of the few authors to write horse stories aimed at adults. Most of her pony books are either adult or teenage stories.
Trained as a biologist, specialising in animal behaviour, and tried her hand at dog training too. Not surprisingly, animal themes, especially relationships between human and animal feature in all of her books. She thought that the human-animal/human-nature relationship was extremely important and that a co-existence between the two could improve quality of life. She said "for many people an animal can provide a harmony lacking in day-to-day relationships with people."
Her books are not very anthropomorphic, deliberately so. She thought that many animal books, especially childrens were inaccurate or sentimental or humanised the animal and wanted her stories instead to "show how animals live in a world that is real to them"
They are definitely not sentimental either, many are quite downbeat. Disasters often strike her fictional worlds and her characters are often unhappy, guilt-stricken or remorseful. However they usually end on a more upbeat and optimistic note.
Ms. Stranger was one of the few authors to write horse stories aimed at adults. Most of her pony books are either adult or teenage stories.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
February 25, 2022
Feb 22, 830am ~~ Review asap.
Feb 24, 9pm ~~Rex is another of those books I found many years ago at library book sales in El Paso and have toted around with me ever since. This is my second reading, but my first was so long ago I could not remember any specific details of the story. I will be saying that about all of the books on this particular personal challenge list I call Every Dog Has Its Day, because it is made up of dog books I have collected at random over the years. All have been read, but not during the past thirty years or so.
Okay, background trivia is over, let's get to the book! Rex begins with a female border collie who is expecting puppies for the third time. But her owner had never allowed her to keep the other litters. He could not afford to be without a dog working his sheep while she took care of new puppies. Just like he could not afford to be without a dog in order to keep her locked away from male dogs so she wouldn't get pregnant in the first place.
It was a rough, cruel life poor Nan lived. But this time she would not give up her puppies. She runs off into the fells of Scotland, has her pups, and learns how to care for them in the wild. No one knows who she is, although some have gotten glimpses of her now and then and realize there is a feral collie in the area.
Only Ned Foley knows about the pups. He is an old man who lives outside the usually accepted norms of society. He loves nature, he knows about animals, he poaches a little here nd there, and he makes a bet one day with a friend in the pub. Ned bets that he can find a collie that Pete will be unable to train. And with that bet begins the 'civilized' life of the puppy who will be known as Rex. He was the most inquisitive of Nan's litter, but also the wildest. Could any person do anything with this wild creature? How is Ned even going to catch him, let alone get him tamed down enough to turn over to Pete with his wife who does not farm life and his youngest son who knows no fear of any animal and therefore would be in danger from such a wildling as Rex?
Joyce Stranger writes a good animal book. She does not make her animals people in fur suits. She presents their lives as they are in Nature. Of course around farming country there are situations that might bother some readers. but I much prefer the authenticity of a story that could actually happen than a cutesy tale cleansed of reality.
From his first moments around people, Rex tries to maintain his wildness, the awareness that he learned from his mother Nan that Man is a dangerous beast. Will he still feel that way by the end of the book or will he allow himself to discover the more noble side of the men around him?
Feb 24, 9pm ~~Rex is another of those books I found many years ago at library book sales in El Paso and have toted around with me ever since. This is my second reading, but my first was so long ago I could not remember any specific details of the story. I will be saying that about all of the books on this particular personal challenge list I call Every Dog Has Its Day, because it is made up of dog books I have collected at random over the years. All have been read, but not during the past thirty years or so.
Okay, background trivia is over, let's get to the book! Rex begins with a female border collie who is expecting puppies for the third time. But her owner had never allowed her to keep the other litters. He could not afford to be without a dog working his sheep while she took care of new puppies. Just like he could not afford to be without a dog in order to keep her locked away from male dogs so she wouldn't get pregnant in the first place.
It was a rough, cruel life poor Nan lived. But this time she would not give up her puppies. She runs off into the fells of Scotland, has her pups, and learns how to care for them in the wild. No one knows who she is, although some have gotten glimpses of her now and then and realize there is a feral collie in the area.
Only Ned Foley knows about the pups. He is an old man who lives outside the usually accepted norms of society. He loves nature, he knows about animals, he poaches a little here nd there, and he makes a bet one day with a friend in the pub. Ned bets that he can find a collie that Pete will be unable to train. And with that bet begins the 'civilized' life of the puppy who will be known as Rex. He was the most inquisitive of Nan's litter, but also the wildest. Could any person do anything with this wild creature? How is Ned even going to catch him, let alone get him tamed down enough to turn over to Pete with his wife who does not farm life and his youngest son who knows no fear of any animal and therefore would be in danger from such a wildling as Rex?
Joyce Stranger writes a good animal book. She does not make her animals people in fur suits. She presents their lives as they are in Nature. Of course around farming country there are situations that might bother some readers. but I much prefer the authenticity of a story that could actually happen than a cutesy tale cleansed of reality.
From his first moments around people, Rex tries to maintain his wildness, the awareness that he learned from his mother Nan that Man is a dangerous beast. Will he still feel that way by the end of the book or will he allow himself to discover the more noble side of the men around him?
June 10, 2014
The book revolves around Johnny who goes from five to seven during the book and Rex a border collie making this an animal story. It is not a children's book. It might be young adult at least in some of the happenings.
Joyce Stranger is British. She set the book in the Scottish fells, sheep country. Every person in the book is concerned with raising sheep in some way. Every shepherd needs a good dog.
Ned and Pete, Johnny's father make a small wager in the pub one night that Ned can bring Pete known for his dog training ability a dog he can not train to herd sheep. Ned has his eye on a pup born wild on the fells and captures it.
Johnny is the baby of the family at least ten years younger than his siblings. His mother Moira was ready to have more time for herself, then Johnny happened.
Moira is a city girl and dislikes sheep, hates dogs and longs for attention and appreciation from her family. Johnny is rambunctious, loves animals. When he finds Rex, the two become inseparable leaving his mother feeling abandoned even more.
Throughout the book are the different people whose lives touch and influence Pete, Moira and Johnny. Some of the happenings are poignant. Some are tragic. Many feel similar to happenings and feelings the reader might be familiar with.
When I started this book I expected a very different story. The story I found was intriguing with a depth often lacking in animal stories.
Joyce Stranger is British. She set the book in the Scottish fells, sheep country. Every person in the book is concerned with raising sheep in some way. Every shepherd needs a good dog.
Ned and Pete, Johnny's father make a small wager in the pub one night that Ned can bring Pete known for his dog training ability a dog he can not train to herd sheep. Ned has his eye on a pup born wild on the fells and captures it.
Johnny is the baby of the family at least ten years younger than his siblings. His mother Moira was ready to have more time for herself, then Johnny happened.
Moira is a city girl and dislikes sheep, hates dogs and longs for attention and appreciation from her family. Johnny is rambunctious, loves animals. When he finds Rex, the two become inseparable leaving his mother feeling abandoned even more.
Throughout the book are the different people whose lives touch and influence Pete, Moira and Johnny. Some of the happenings are poignant. Some are tragic. Many feel similar to happenings and feelings the reader might be familiar with.
When I started this book I expected a very different story. The story I found was intriguing with a depth often lacking in animal stories.
August 10, 2016
This has sat on my bookshelf since I was 8 years old. I think I tried to read it at the time, but don't think I ever got very far (though childhood is a very dim memory).
I thought after all these years I would finally read it, in part to offer some light relief after finishing the Dark Tower. Didn't really go to plan...
Maybe i'm being a bit unkind on this book, giving it it's first score under 3*, but I was just disappointed with it, and I don't think it has aged very well, being full of cliche's. I'm the last person to believe that all books should be happy clappy, or that 'young adults' who this book is surely aimed at, should be protected from unhappy thoughts, but this book was just too downbeat for me.
I'm glad I never read it as an 8 year old!
I thought after all these years I would finally read it, in part to offer some light relief after finishing the Dark Tower. Didn't really go to plan...
Maybe i'm being a bit unkind on this book, giving it it's first score under 3*, but I was just disappointed with it, and I don't think it has aged very well, being full of cliche's. I'm the last person to believe that all books should be happy clappy, or that 'young adults' who this book is surely aimed at, should be protected from unhappy thoughts, but this book was just too downbeat for me.
I'm glad I never read it as an 8 year old!
September 10, 2012
This book was a gift from my parents for looking after the house (and my brother?) while mom was in the hospital for an operation of some sort. I remember Dad taking me to Woolworth's and I could pick out any book I wanted, and I chose this one. Always loved those Border Collies! Luckily, it was well-written & a good story--knowing what I do now, it really would have been wise to go with a recommendation! As if I or my Dad knew anything about how to choose a book. Maybe there was less crap on the shelves then. Or maybe I just knew how to choose 'em. Nice to remember that at that tender age (9? 10?) I already was known as someone who loved books and would appreciate one (of my own choice! not Nancy Drew or Little House on the Prairie) as a present rather than clothes or something sparkly.
August 1, 2015
Also read in July 1998
November 29, 2022
A wonderful book about a boy and his sheepdog. Gives good insights into farming life and a rural childhood. Thoroughly enjoyable.
June 17, 2011
I really LOVED this book.
August 28, 2013
Another good read by Stranger
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews