Shiloh by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

Genre: Realistic Fiction

Publisher Information: First Aladdin Paperbacks (138 pgs)

Awards/Honors: Newberry Medal, An American Library Association Notable Children's Book

Summary: This is a sweet story about a little boy, Mary Preston, who finds a beagle while playing in the woods behind his house. He falls in love with this puppy and calls him Shiloh. This dog comes with lots of trouble. This little puppy is owned by an alcoholic named Judd Travers who is very aggressive, abuses dogs, and owns a gun. Shiloh ends up running away to Marty, and Marty knows he just has to keep him hidden and protected from his mean, abusive, owner. This secret is too much for one little boy to handle and so he puts his whole family in the line of Judd's horrific anger. This story is about Marty's adventure to protect little Shiloh.

Personal Rating: **** This book is a great feel good book, but be careful while reading aloud and have some tissues!

Reading Level: 4.4

Interest Level: 3-5

Integration Ideas:

Reading: Have students do an animal rights research report. This can be a group effort or an individual project. Have them research the laws that protect animals and figure out who they would contact if they were in Marty's position (knowing someone is harming an animal on purpose).

Art: You can make a montage (a picture made up of many separate pictures) that tells the viewer about your family/community. Then have students share and compare their families to Marty's family.

Writing: Discuss dialect and Nonstandard English. You can choose some quotes from the story and have the students discuss in small groups what that sentence or quote means and how it fits appropriately in the story.

Possible problems: There are a few inappropriate words, so if conducting this as a read aloud just skip them...just remember this if the students are reading aloud with this story.