The Dog With Golden Eyes

by Frances Wilbur

children

Genres: Animals, Childrens, Wolves, Young Adult, Fiction, Middle Grade

193 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 1998

About the author

Born in Mankato, Minnesota, and brought up in five Midwestern states, I graduated from Beloit College in Wisconsin as an English major, with teaching credentials in English, art, and chemistry. In my senior year, the Army War College asked me to enroll in a correspondence course in cryptanalysis. After graduation, I went to Washington and worked for four years in the Signal Intelligence Service, promoted to senior cryptanalyst.

My first husband was engaged by the USA Diplomatic Corps. He moved our family to Spain and Italy, where we spent seven years. When we were moved back to the United States, we settled in California, and later divorced amicably after raising four children. I joined the Rose Bowl Riders Club with my horse, Holiday, where I met my second husband, William, who graduated from Stanford Medical School and was a physician. Between us we had six grown kids, five dogs, and three horses, but we made a loving family. This summer we will celebrate 35 years of happy married life. We are very proud parents and we now have twelve grandchildren.

Bill and I bought some land in southern California where we ran a summer horsemanship camp, teaching complete care of the horse and, eventually, Combined Training, the Olympic sport known as the "Test for the Military." We closed the camp the day that Bill's horse died. It was the end of an era for us.

My first book, A Guide for Parents of Horse-Crazy Kids, was published in 1990. The following year, I suffered a stroke which left my left side paralyzed. We sold the ranch and moved back to town, but I continued to write. In my rehabilitation sessions, I re-learned how to walk and how to type. My second book, A Horse Called Holiday, was published by Scholastic in 1992, and has been translated into Norwegian, Swedish, Dutch, and German.

My third book, The Dog with Golden Eyes, was published in 1998 by Milkweed Editions, the winner of the 1998 Milkweed Prize for Children's Literature.

I belong to two writers' clubs, who are critiquing me as I work on my next book, The Horse Next Door.

**Frances Wilbur passed away on August 4, 2006, a champion of children's literature and reading.

Reviews

[Stephanie Fitzgerald · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was great! I can’t believe I put off reading it for so long.
If you have an interest in wolves and their behavior, this is a book for you. Obviously the author did thorough research before writing!
The “metamorphosis” that young Cassie underwent, due to learning how to love and care for an animal, reminded me of “The Shy Ones” by Lynn Hall, a favorite of mine.

[Stephanie A. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've always meant to read this, and maybe I have, but I didn't recognize anything. Exceptional children's book (prizewinning for a reason) about making friends with a stray "socialized" wolf while emphasizing why they're not built to be suburban or indoor pets. The main character, Cassie, is optimistic, conscientious and proactive about earning money to feed and care for "Tokie" - the ideal role model (if you're young) or admirable young person (if you generally take a dim view of those).

[JD Waggy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Huzzah for lessons learned on so many levels without being overly teachy. This book was a favorite of mine when I was a pre-teen because it works with one of my holy trinity of animals, wolves. It tells you a lot about them, it emphasizes that they're freaking awesome but definitely NOT good pets, but it also goes into Life Lessons For Kids like responsibility, taking care of yourself, not judging others before you have all the facts, and trusting yourself enough to do minorly great things. Yes, I identified with Cassie quite a bit at that age, and that helps how much I liked the book, but it's also just a really fun read with very lively characters and a beautiful wolf who needs to find his home.

[Nguyen Le · Rating 1 out of 5]

Call of the wild but Walmart clearance version. I get the idea that the story was for kids and teens, but it was pretty predictable and obvious. It irked me in several parts while reading this book. Struggled to finish it.

[Corrina Allman · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was nice story

[Katy Lovejoy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wondered if it was a wolf simply because dogs don't usually have golden eyes

[Antonio Aspericueta · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book "The dog with golden eyes" by Frances Wilbur is a book with a interesting plot. The book always puts a picture in your mind about the characters "Cassie" and "Tokie". I found the book to be very interesting its a book that actually makes you want to read and read. The book is about a girl who is sort of lonely and shy, she ends up seeing a big white dog walk up to her backyard. She feeds the dog everyday and does more research on the dog until one day she discovers the big white dog is actually is wolf. The book makes the relationship between Cassie and Tokie seems like a human relationship, like they grow closer and closer to each other. I would recommend this book to my friends and others its a book that doesn't make phase out it kept me interested. In the end as "Cassie" knows Tokie is a wolf she still treats him like he did before she knew he was a wolf she has to keep him in her house until Tokie's real owners come get him. But the police is outside wanting to take tale Tokie away from her. After all the dilemma Tokies original owners take Tokie back and Cassie is glad that its all over. But she is said that she lost a really good friend of hers even if it was a wolf. Overall "The dog with golden eyes" by Frances Wilbur is a book that i would recommend to others.

[Weldon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cassie, 13, is immature, overweight, terribly shy, and very lonely. She lives with her overworked single mother who does not seem to know how to relate to her daughter. One day Cassie sees a stray dog and becomes convinced on making it her own secret pet. She does odd jobs for her neighbors to earn dog food money. But soon Cassie learns that Toklata, as she has named him, is not a dog at all he's a runaway Arctic wolf! Can Cassie afford to take care of a wolf? And can she protect Toklata from animal control and the hunters who want to kill him? I think my sister "jadeyn"should this book she loves animals.

[Brady Geary · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought the book The Dog With Golden Eyes was a very suspenseful novel, full of real-world situations. I liked how the main charecter wasn't perfect, but had problems. I learned much more about Siberian Huskeys, Alaskan Malamutes, And Wolves. I think The End of the Book was a little exagerated (I don't think the whole police force would come because of one wolf). I liked how in this book almost everyone considers the wolf to be freindly, not a vicious, fightining, dog.

[Vauin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this when i was a bit younger, so this is more for the younger groupe, but if you ever had one of those little daydreams where you animal was special or you wanted a dog that was cumpletly unigue this book is smthing you will enjoy.

[Beast(scott G) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book it was funny how the dog wouldnt get near kate or whoever the main characters name wasbut in the end he would allowher to feed him. it was a good book to read in the winterbecause it wrapped me in the needed warmth

[Oliver]

One of those books that you get at a book fair when you are tiny, which just somehow stay with you long after you've left behind all your huge Goosebumps collection and most other books. I was a sucker for animal books even as a kid.

[Victoria]

big hart

[~Joe Jonas lvr~ Karishma]

Really cute book about a dog *spoiler alert* (wolf really!)

[Mary E. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Intriguing; insightful; well done.

[Anabel]

well this book give you some lessons about responsibility.

[Annabel Rider · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book as a child. Of course it a dog book and it was so fun to read. Unfortunately I read it a long time ago, but I remember the love I had for this book.