Inky: Seeing Eye Dog

by Elizabeth P. Heppner

More than anything in the world, Jonathan wants a dog. Then he finds the frisky puppy in the woods. "If only I can keep you!" he cries. But the puppy - Inky - belongs to someone else. And now a man has come to take Inky away. "Inky is a very special dog," the man explains. But Jonathan is too unhappy to listen. Until the man says: "Jonathan, how would you like to take care of Inky for the next twelve months?"

Genres: Childrens, Animals

136 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1957

Reviews

[Charlotte]

Didn't have enough in the way of actual story, but lots of cute puppy content! Light a Single Candle is one of my favorite books, and a bit part of that is the main character getting a seeing eye puppy to raise, and so I appreciated this one as a connected story though it wasn't meant to be. Inky the seeing eye dog in training could have been a litter mate to Cathy's Trudy, and there was even a cameo appearance by a girl who could have been Cathy at the seeing eye dog school, so I enjoyed it on that account.

[Josephine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Inky" is pretty much as the summary says: a boy living on a farm in rural New Jersey dreams only of having his very own dog. One day he finds a puppy cowering in the underbrush who proves to be the valuable stolen from the nearby Seeing Eye school. The school allows him to foster the animal, on the condition that he bring it with him when he goes into town and to other places people go, to acclimate it to a wide number of places, some noisy, some quiet, so that it may better serve the blind person to whom it will eventually go. His father returns from the Korean War with a degenerative sight condition resulting from his treatment in captivity...guess who gets Inky?

I remember getting this book from Scholastic way back in grade school; you know, the books that you saved your allowance to buy for less than a dollar. It's a sweet book, though somewhat dated today; there's still a seeing eye dog school where things began in Morristown, NJ and the various schools still do place the puppies in homes to accustom them to the hubbub of family life...but the schools have switched almost entirely over to golden retrievers and labrador retrievers, as they work better in a wider variety of situations. (Alsatians tend to be a little too protective of their people--forgive the dogs this as it's only what they were bred to be and do, but it does mean that the retrievers are more trustworthy. Phlegmatic, if you will.)

[Teresa Thompson Arcangel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't remember the details of this story well enough to write a fair review, but I think the fact that I remember reading after 50+ years speaks well of the book

[Naomi McCullough · Rating 4 out of 5]

The hold this story had on me as a child, has remained to this day. There was just such a blending of family and heartache, growing up and the love of a dog (who does Not Die at the end) that lingered deep inside after finishing.

[Abigail · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not a ton of depth, but a heartwarming story with everything ending up perfectly. A good story for kids who love animals.

[LuAnn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a beloved book from my childhood that 30 years late led my daughter to raise Seeing Eye puppies! The process of raising and training Seeing Eye puppies are thoroughly explained through the story, including the bittersweet aspect of saying goodbye as well as a family dealing with the father's blindness due to his time as a POW during the Korean War. Another well-written book from the 1950s-1960s era. I'm glad I 'inherited' it from my cousin long ago!

[Tym · Rating 3 out of 5]

We read this as a class back in 4th grade, we never finished so I borrowed it from the library and finished it myself. I remember sympathizing a great deal with the young protagonist as I grew up in rural Idaho and wanted nothing more than a dog

[Rachel (Sfogs) · Rating 5 out of 5]

The cutest story ever!!

[Sharla · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reviewed for Heartland School. Very informative about the Seeing Eye dog program.