The Way of Dog by Zana Fraillon

"They say Cats have nine lives.

What I'd like to know as I tumble through the Sky

is how many lives do they say

a Dog has?"

Scruffity is being held in a concrete cell. He is just a pup and has been recently separated from his mother. There are nine pups in this small space. Then there are eight, seven, six and so on until Scruffity is left all alone. The owner of this ugly and dangerous place is an angry and violent man but luckily there is a boy who shows kindness to the pup. In fact he gives Scruffity his name and later, thank goodness, his freedom. But freedom comes at a price. It is dangerous in the city. The boy and his dog are now on the run. 

There is an accident and the boy is injured. Now Scruffity is on his own trying to understand and survive in the world of shoe-legs. All he has is the wisdom of the ages - the ways of dog from ancient times. 

"Dear Shoe-Legs

Are you coming? Are you? Are you?

Then shake wide awake and take my advice

throw the Burs from your fur and 

sliiiiiide on the Ice.

Come flat-foot follow and paw-pad on my way

for a I have thing

or four

to say about living this live according to

The Way of Dog."

I marvel at the way an author's brain works. The verse novel style of this book is so powerful. Every word is used so skilfully.  This is one of those special books that I would like to put into the hands of adults (and I seem to meet them regularly) who are utterly incredulous and sometimes also very negative about my passion for children's books. I am certain reading The Way of Dog would 'blow their mind' and demonstrate that the best children's books are for everyone!

This book is both a harrowing one and an uplifting one. Some pages are so hard to read but I knew I was in safe hands with this author and that she would protect Scruffity and hopefully help him find his true forever home. I highly recommend this book for readers aged 11+.

Here is some dog wisdom from this book:

"Meat is A Very Magnificent Thing. The Way of Dog is Meat."

"The Way of Dog is MyManpup"

"Run! The Way of Dog is to Run. Run. RUN!"

"To Dig is most definitely a Way of Dog too."

"The Way of Dog is to keep our shoe-legs safe."

In just one month the Children's Book Council of Australia will announce their notable titles for 2023. I am going to make a firm prediction that The Way of the Dog will be a notable title and from that list of around twenty titles, this book will go on to be short listed - one of the six top titles and in August, when the Younger Readers category winners are announced, I expect this book to be (fingers crossed) the winner!

Here is a review by a Primary school student.

What is outstanding about this engaging and emotional story is the visceral muscular poetry, crackling with energy, zooming all over the page. Fraillon captures the energy , the bounce and pounce of a young puppy, but also the loneliness and longing for family that is shared by both man and dog. ... This is the best verse novel I have read in a long time and I hope it wins every prize in the children’s literary universe. Mia Macrossan Storylinks

'Prepare to have your heart smooshed in the best possible way in Zana Fraillon’s tender and gritty The Way of Dog (UQP)...Fraillon’s unique verse novel zings with energy as she skilfully plays with language in a way that gives voice to Scruffity. His joys, losses, fears and hopes are all vividly conveyed thanks to Fraillon’s gift with words, and Sean Buckingham’s evocative illustrations. The Way of Dog has dark moments, but it’s a story that will warm readers’ hearts, not break them'  (The Sydney Morning Herald)

I think the verse novel (form) works well for something like this, because I can imagine animals might have these sorts of processes – the simple language, how they view humans as ManPups and Girlpups, what they think of what we do, wear, and the places we live – it’s their interpretation, the way they put the words they know together. It is these aspects that makes Scruffity such an engaging character – I didn’t want to leave him, because I had to know what he did next. The Book Muse

After reading The Way of Dog look for these other books with stories told from a dog's point of view:

I, Cosmo

The sequel is Everything for a Dog

For a younger reader Spunky tells all. 

For a younger reader age 6+ Choosing Crumble

Young adult novel Good Dog (contains violent scenes)

If you are not afraid of books that explore violence against dogs (for mature readers) you could also look for these:

Shiloh

The Truth as told to Mason Buttle