Hound on the Heath

Animal Ark Hauntings #6

by Ben M. Baglio, Ann Baum (Illustrator)

A spooky spin-off of the best-selling Animal Ark series, this new Hauntings title will have animal-lovers shivering in fear and delight.

Mandy and her best friend James are used to dealing with animals in distress. But ghostly animals in distress are a different matter...

While camping on mysterious Dalton Heath, Mandy and James hear a strange howling. The next day, local residents tell them the legend of a dog and an owner that were parted long ago. The dog is destined to howl every night until they are reunited. When Mandy and James investigate, they find a lonely greyhound whimpering near an abandoned house. But despite their coaxing, the dog won't come with them.

Will Mandy and James help the dog find peace?

Genres: Animals, Childrens, Fiction, Ghosts, Dogs, Mystery, Kids

133 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

Ben M. Baglio created the brief for two series of children's books - Dolphin Diaries and Animal Ark. Dolphin Diaries features a girl and her family from Florida, who travel around the world as marine biologists and study dolphins. Animal Ark features two children who work together to help animals and solve animal-related mysteries. The books were written by commissioned writers in the UK under Baglio's instruction using the pseudonym Lucy Daniels. Each ghostwriter is named with a 'Special Thanks' on the copyright page.

Using his real name he also wrote the book series The Pet Finders Club, featuring a group of three children who search for peoples lost pets.

Reviews

[Eliska · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tohle je jedna z mých nejoblíběnjěších z dětství. Je smutná, ale moc krásná.

[Rena Sherwood · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was one of those books you forget about completely about two days after reading it. There really isn't much here. It fails as a ghost story, and is almost a parody of an Animal Ark story.

Despite what it says on the cover, the real author was Ingrid Hoare, who wrote a few other books in the Animal Ark Universe, not just for Animal Ark Hauntings. Unlike most books in the Animal Ark Universe, this one has a dedication, to "Hayley". I wonder how Hayley felt about that. There is a girl in the book named Hayley.

The Hopes are on vacation AGAIN, and have James AND Blackie along with them. They are camping on Dalton Heath. They hear weird things, see weird things, hear about a legend of a ghostly Beast, yada yada. This book is like a bastard cousin of The Hound of the Baskervilles, only ghosts are real in this book.

This is in no way a scary story. It is, however, incredibly sad. Sad as in heartbreaking, but also sad as in pathetic.

There was a subplot involving kittens which was far more interesting than the main plot. The illustrations by Ann Baum were also better than the story. The restaurant they encounter has the delightful name of The Grubby Duck. England does have strange names for pubs. My absolute favorite name for a pub was Slug and Lettuce.

[Lianna Kendig · Rating 3 out of 5]

(LL)
So the story of the dog and his owner along with the end of this book was sweet and I almost cried, however, Mandy and James didn’t catch on to the most obvious freaking hints in history just to prolong the story so it could be the standard 130 pages.

This would have been a great short story. I think all the haunting novels could have been really good if they were all written as short stories and put together in one “super special” book to add to the series’ canon.

[Tessie Dragon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jak já milovala Archu zvířat,Mandy a Jamese a spoustu zvířátek,co se tam objevila.Knížka je od 9 let,je to nádherný dětský příběh plný zvířátek,přátelství a důvěry.Jako malá jsem ji přímo ''žrala'' a přečetla jsem celou sérii. ;)

[Jessie · Rating 5 out of 5]

While camping Mandy and James are told about a dog and owner that were seperated and they help the dogs ghost find peace.

[Vijay · Rating 3 out of 5]

mystery is good