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The Bomber Dog
Grey is just a puppy when he arrives at the War Dog Training School. Nathan, his trainer, is a brave young soldier. Wolf is a war dog who's seen it all.
Grey and Nathan soon become inseparable. Until the day a parachute jump goes tragically wrong...
As the Second World War rages, Grey faces his most important mission yet: to find his best friend. With Wolf at his side, he must journey across France and behind enemy lines. His path is fraught with danger. Can he reach Nathan before it's too late?
Grey and Nathan soon become inseparable. Until the day a parachute jump goes tragically wrong...
As the Second World War rages, Grey faces his most important mission yet: to find his best friend. With Wolf at his side, he must journey across France and behind enemy lines. His path is fraught with danger. Can he reach Nathan before it's too late?
304 pages, Paperback
First published August 1, 2013
19 people are currently reading
159 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
May 6, 2019
Great family friendly stories in which animals face challenges in their lives, allowing the reader to draw parallels and learn lessons on how to deal with situations not too dissimilar in their own lives as they grow up. Another great book by Megan Rix.
December 6, 2021
I loved this book. I've already read DDay Dog by Tom Palmer, so this being based around the original story researched by Megan Rix is just great. A german shepherd puppy is lost on a beach in Dover and is befriended by a Cocker spaniel, Molly, whose house was bombed and her owner taken away in an ambulance, without them knowing about Molly. She has been surviving, on scraps and living in a shed. She teaches this GS puppy about survival and he grows big and strong. Then one day their shed is hit and Molly is hurt, the GS pulls her free of the shed and tries to revive her with licks and nudges. An animal ambulance arrives and Molly's tag is checked, she is taken to the vets but the GS is heartbroken and cries after the ambulance. A young warden called Nathan had seen the GS trying to revive his friend and is astounded and horrified that such a beautiful dog could be put down. He manages to get the dog to follow him home. The next day he has to decided what to do because he is due to report for training for war teh next day. He names the dog Grey but soon realises people are scared of such a big dog, especially when Grey runs up to another cocker spaniel in the park thinking it is Molly. He hears of the WAR Dog Training school and decided he can drop Grey off there on the way to his barracks. But Grey has other ideas and isn't going to let Nathan out of his sight. Nathan is seconded into the war dog training scheme intead mo train as a paratrooper and paradog.... Nathan is afraid of heights but he'll do anything to stay with Grey!
Training begins...then war....but all doesn't go to plan.
Fabulous story, I'd love a dog that behaved so well!
TA,
Training begins...then war....but all doesn't go to plan.
Fabulous story, I'd love a dog that behaved so well!
TA,
March 16, 2023
This is the first book by Megan Rix I have read, and so I cannot compare to her other titles.
Bomber Dog is a story based loosely on a paratrooper and his dog back in the first world war, only the events are changed.
When Nathan finds his soon to be inseparable companion loyaly by the side of another injured dog who is taken away, Nathan takes in the Alsatian and together they become part of the Para regiment.
This was a super fast read that came across somewhat rushed by Rix. It was brief in its information about training and....well pretty much everything.
Keeping in mind this book is for children I let it's lack of depth slip.
Glad I read it. However now I wish I had my own dog to throw a ball for and feed my scraps to hehe
Bomber Dog is a story based loosely on a paratrooper and his dog back in the first world war, only the events are changed.
When Nathan finds his soon to be inseparable companion loyaly by the side of another injured dog who is taken away, Nathan takes in the Alsatian and together they become part of the Para regiment.
This was a super fast read that came across somewhat rushed by Rix. It was brief in its information about training and....well pretty much everything.
Keeping in mind this book is for children I let it's lack of depth slip.
Glad I read it. However now I wish I had my own dog to throw a ball for and feed my scraps to hehe
December 3, 2017
Enjoyed.
July 26, 2020
*2.5*
I don't like it very much......
It's a good story, but it was kinda boring for me.
This story happen during the Second World War. It's about a dog that is adopted by a guy named Nathan, he names the dog 'Gray'. But Nathan can't allow that Gray live in his house, because his parents don't let him. So he take Gray and wears it to the War Dog Training School for it to become a soldier.
But then Nathan get lost, and Gray and his new friends have to find it. ¿They will do it?
And yeah, it looks kinda interesting, but the true is that is a lot of boring. And the story never get my atention.
And the human characters are super stressful, i didn't suport them.
I don't like it very much......
It's a good story, but it was kinda boring for me.
This story happen during the Second World War. It's about a dog that is adopted by a guy named Nathan, he names the dog 'Gray'. But Nathan can't allow that Gray live in his house, because his parents don't let him. So he take Gray and wears it to the War Dog Training School for it to become a soldier.
But then Nathan get lost, and Gray and his new friends have to find it. ¿They will do it?
And yeah, it looks kinda interesting, but the true is that is a lot of boring. And the story never get my atention.
And the human characters are super stressful, i didn't suport them.
August 27, 2021
The Bomber Dog is a fantastic book that is suitable for anyone who loves dogs. Though it may be aimed for a younger audience, I feel like this book can be enjoyed by people of any age.
The story takes place during World War Two. Two dogs are rescued by the National Air Raid Precautions Animals Committee (NARPAC), one of which is a stray that gets put to use by the British army.
I found The Bomber Dog hard to put down because of how easy it was to read and how each chapter flowed perfectly into the next. I actually finished it in one night, which is unusual for me!
The story takes place during World War Two. Two dogs are rescued by the National Air Raid Precautions Animals Committee (NARPAC), one of which is a stray that gets put to use by the British army.
I found The Bomber Dog hard to put down because of how easy it was to read and how each chapter flowed perfectly into the next. I actually finished it in one night, which is unusual for me!
December 16, 2020
great book the includes great writing styes and will definitely
This book is about a dog in ww2. he is a stray, and is living on the street when it gets bombed. Somehow he escapes from the ruble. The people who come were going the leave him, but a young man decides he will take the dog. The man the joins a war group that allows paratrooper dogs. he takes the dog there and they go the a battle to fight for there friendship
This book is about a dog in ww2. he is a stray, and is living on the street when it gets bombed. Somehow he escapes from the ruble. The people who come were going the leave him, but a young man decides he will take the dog. The man the joins a war group that allows paratrooper dogs. he takes the dog there and they go the a battle to fight for there friendship
April 22, 2020
We really enjoyed reading this as a family. We loved the characters of Grey and Nathan. It was a good mix of ups and downs and a good introduction for the kids to life in France in the Second World War.
October 22, 2024
Ok, I picked this book for my book club pick month. I really did have a fun time with this book. I don’t think it was anything special but I can appreciate the book. And i most likely would have enjoyed it anyway since it’s about a dog 😏😏😉😉
April 8, 2018
This is a great Middle Grades book for a child who likes history and/or animals. The characters are believable and the plot is easy to follow. My fifth grade boys who are all ESL love this book.
May 15, 2019
very interasting
Read
March 23, 2020This book was heart warming and had lots of friendship and you should read it if you are a dog lover this also shows lots of devotion and bravery just by one young soldier.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 1, 2020
I think this book is quite good. I especially liked the part where Nathan found Grey again
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 12, 2021
Amazing love the story really made me feel different about things absolutely perfect for my readers taste
March 21, 2024
OBSESSED
September 10, 2025
Always hard to review a kids’ book properly because you aren’t the target audience, but this is a sweet story. Not Michael Morpurgo though.
November 5, 2025
a lovely easy read
December 31, 2025
what a lovely book, really enjoyed the story.
February 12, 2017
This really wasn't great. It was an assigned class novel as part of a social outreach programme. Last year, my class got There's a Boy in the Girls' Bathroom by Louis Sachar and loved it until Sachar ruins it. This year, my class got and, like myself, spent a lot of time waiting for Godot.
For a book about a dog that, at various points, lives with the French Resistance, lives as a stray on the streets of routinely-bombed Dover, joins the British Army, and is parachuted out of a plane into Normandy, Grey lives in a surprisingly uninteresting book. The author lacks an ability to create tension. She has an extremely detailed plot which she works very hard to link up but is entirely lacking in panache when it comes to pacing. The tension is persistently broken, not heightened, by shifts in perspective to completely unfamiliar characters, a point my charges very perceptively complained about. Rix always manages to tie these apparent strangers to the existing characters in some surprising way or another but there's only so many times you can pull the rabbit out of the hat and reveal that the rabbit is really a distant cousin of yours before the connections stop surprising you. When half the characters who appear disappear at the end of the chapter without progressing the tale giving no payoff to the reader you simply stop caring if they're the dogs brother, or Nathan's, or someone else's. It becomes hackneyed and played out. Once or twice could've been clever but when it's the only source of surprise at all in the book one really has to wonder.
I get that it's a kids book and that Saving Private Ryan style Normandy landings aren't an option but I really do have to wonder and sit in awe of the author that can stage a dull D-Day. Maybe you can't brutally kill off several members of the troop as they're landing but maybe just imply that it's possible to add some tension? Segueing from before to after the D-Day landing with a chapter break and simply saying "Thankfully everyone had landed safely" not only beggars belief, it squanders perfectly good source material.
All in all I didn't enjoy this book particularly, neither did my class, and I can't help but shake my head in wonder at all the author had to work with but didn't.
For a book about a dog that, at various points, lives with the French Resistance, lives as a stray on the streets of routinely-bombed Dover, joins the British Army, and is parachuted out of a plane into Normandy, Grey lives in a surprisingly uninteresting book. The author lacks an ability to create tension. She has an extremely detailed plot which she works very hard to link up but is entirely lacking in panache when it comes to pacing. The tension is persistently broken, not heightened, by shifts in perspective to completely unfamiliar characters, a point my charges very perceptively complained about. Rix always manages to tie these apparent strangers to the existing characters in some surprising way or another but there's only so many times you can pull the rabbit out of the hat and reveal that the rabbit is really a distant cousin of yours before the connections stop surprising you. When half the characters who appear disappear at the end of the chapter without progressing the tale giving no payoff to the reader you simply stop caring if they're the dogs brother, or Nathan's, or someone else's. It becomes hackneyed and played out. Once or twice could've been clever but when it's the only source of surprise at all in the book one really has to wonder.
I get that it's a kids book and that Saving Private Ryan style Normandy landings aren't an option but I really do have to wonder and sit in awe of the author that can stage a dull D-Day. Maybe you can't brutally kill off several members of the troop as they're landing but maybe just imply that it's possible to add some tension? Segueing from before to after the D-Day landing with a chapter break and simply saying "Thankfully everyone had landed safely" not only beggars belief, it squanders perfectly good source material.
All in all I didn't enjoy this book particularly, neither did my class, and I can't help but shake my head in wonder at all the author had to work with but didn't.
February 8, 2014
3.5 stars. Definitely not as good a read as her others, this is still enjoyable and informative.
It felt at times like a younger 'Soldier Dog' (Sam Angus), with similarities of plot and character.
Like Rix's other books, this is set in World War II and focuses on dogs. We have Grey, brought over from France by the Resistance as a puppy. Rescued from living as a stray by Nathan, called up the next day, he sees Grey's potential as a trained War Dog and takes the Getman Shepherd to the War Dog training school, expecting he'll leave him there.
For the first time in Rix's 'war dog' series (as it could be called), we see more detail about the training process of volunteer animals, about life for these dogs.
There's a few coincidences that children will thrill at, but that seem a little tired and convenient for an adult reader.
The climactic scenes overseas seem quite short and rushed. Much more could have happened, but I expect there are more books to come.
It was nice to see Michael (the only recurring character), though in a very small part - I hope he features again in future books and we see more into his life as a dog trainer.
Nice enough story, lots of detail as ever about the period and war but in my opinion the weakest of the three Rix dog stories.
It felt at times like a younger 'Soldier Dog' (Sam Angus), with similarities of plot and character.
Like Rix's other books, this is set in World War II and focuses on dogs. We have Grey, brought over from France by the Resistance as a puppy. Rescued from living as a stray by Nathan, called up the next day, he sees Grey's potential as a trained War Dog and takes the Getman Shepherd to the War Dog training school, expecting he'll leave him there.
For the first time in Rix's 'war dog' series (as it could be called), we see more detail about the training process of volunteer animals, about life for these dogs.
There's a few coincidences that children will thrill at, but that seem a little tired and convenient for an adult reader.
The climactic scenes overseas seem quite short and rushed. Much more could have happened, but I expect there are more books to come.
It was nice to see Michael (the only recurring character), though in a very small part - I hope he features again in future books and we see more into his life as a dog trainer.
Nice enough story, lots of detail as ever about the period and war but in my opinion the weakest of the three Rix dog stories.
March 2, 2015
This is the first book by Megan Rix I have read, and so I cannot compare to her other titles.
Bomber Dog is a story based loosely on a paratrooper and his dog back in the first world war, only the events are changed.
When Nathan finds his soon to be inseparable companion loyaly by the side of another injured dog who is taken away, Nathan takes in the Alsatian and together they become part of the Para regiment.
This was a super fast read that came across somewhat rushed by Rix. It was brief in its information about training and....well pretty much everything.
Keeping in mind this book is for children I let it's lack of depth slip.
Glad I read it. However now I wish I had my own dog to throw a ball for and feed my scraps to hehe
Bomber Dog is a story based loosely on a paratrooper and his dog back in the first world war, only the events are changed.
When Nathan finds his soon to be inseparable companion loyaly by the side of another injured dog who is taken away, Nathan takes in the Alsatian and together they become part of the Para regiment.
This was a super fast read that came across somewhat rushed by Rix. It was brief in its information about training and....well pretty much everything.
Keeping in mind this book is for children I let it's lack of depth slip.
Glad I read it. However now I wish I had my own dog to throw a ball for and feed my scraps to hehe
December 23, 2016
Would have been 4* if it had been paced a little more evenly, and with a more accurate synopsis. I enjoyed reading the story of how Grey and Nathan came together and trained, but then the front line bit was very short in comparison. And the blurb on the back suggested a tragic parachute jump (rather than man and dog just being separated), and a journey across France with another dog (which turned out to be staying pretty local and crossing paths with the other dog briefly). But on its own, a nice little story for 9+ readers, with likeable characters. Swept through it in a day thanks to the usual easy flowing writing style typical of YA books (some adult books try to show off and end up with meandering paragraphs of too many clauses and sub clauses) and engaging characters.
November 12, 2013
This book came in as new stock to the library where I work. Having just read 'Soldier Dog' by Sam Angus for Children's Book Day and enjoyed it far more than I expected to, I thought I'd give 'Bomber Dog' a try.
This one is aimed at a slightly younger reader and probably because of this it came across as far more simplistic than Soldier Dog. I think I would have enjoyed it better had I not had the teen title for comparison. As it was, I found it a little bit superficial. But then I'm a long way from the target demographic. A pre-teen reader would probably enjoy it. I did enjoy it, I just felt it needed that bit more.
This one is aimed at a slightly younger reader and probably because of this it came across as far more simplistic than Soldier Dog. I think I would have enjoyed it better had I not had the teen title for comparison. As it was, I found it a little bit superficial. But then I'm a long way from the target demographic. A pre-teen reader would probably enjoy it. I did enjoy it, I just felt it needed that bit more.
January 22, 2023
I think this was a pretty nice book 😉
Ok ... Many people completed about the name of the character (Gray)
However I think that the story matters much more than the names of the characters 🤔
Also I think that the author could have made it a little more interesting but I wouldn't call it boring.
I'm a HUGE fan of Megan Rix 😍
I'm also an animal lover 😍🐶
Ok ... Many people completed about the name of the character (Gray)
However I think that the story matters much more than the names of the characters 🤔
Also I think that the author could have made it a little more interesting but I wouldn't call it boring.
I'm a HUGE fan of Megan Rix 😍
I'm also an animal lover 😍🐶
December 18, 2025
I love it 🥰😍❤️ New favourite 😍
Love this author's writing style and I love reading stories about ww2. And it's a cute story for children as well for who loves world War 2 or animals. Highly recommended 👌
Love this author's writing style and I love reading stories about ww2. And it's a cute story for children as well for who loves world War 2 or animals. Highly recommended 👌
November 13, 2013
So sad a lot like cracker
September 15, 2015
I enjoyed this book and the bond between man and dog and the fact that even though it was fiction it was based on the real story of D Day great read.
September 13, 2015
An enjoyable read for middle primaries. The story jumps ahead a bit but quite well written. It has a similar feel to books by Michael Morpurgo but not as well written
October 14, 2015
was loaned this by a child in my class :)
it's been a lovely lunch time registration read!
it's been a lovely lunch time registration read!
Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews