The Long Journey Home

by David Bedford

While trying to help other lost animals find their way home, Dixie the puppy gets himself lost in the woods, and becomes discouraged when he faces the possibility of spending the night alone.

Genres: Friendship, Picture Books

Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.

David Bedford has a BS and PhD in Biology. He gave up biology in 1997 to write full time.

Reviews

[Rod Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dixie the puppy is awakened by a sound and soon finds himself helping a series of baby animals get back to their mothers. But who's going to help him when he finds himself far from home in the dark?

A cute little adventure about the benefits and pitfalls of helpfulness.

[Whitney Maglott · Rating 3 out of 5]

This sorry is a cute book about a little puppy who helps other little animals find their mother, until he gets lost himself and the other animals work together to help him find his way to his mother. This story would be a good book for the library in a pre-kindergarten classroom. It would be best to introduce this book first as a read aloud to spike students interest in reading, then place it in the classroom library for students to read to themselves and each other.

[Tami · Rating 4 out of 5]

Title: The Long Journey Home Written and Illustrated by: David Bedford and Penny Ives Genre: Fantasy
Age Level: P Date: 2003.
A puppy name Dixie wakes up and hears a noise. Dixie finds a lost kitten and takes the kitten back to his mother. Then Dixie helps a baby owl, and then a baby fox get to their families. In his helpful journey he had gets lost in the woods. The foxes help Dixie get to the edge of the woods. The owl took him to the long grass area. Then the kittens helps him get to a place that was familiar to him. Dixie’s mom was waiting for him. She tells him that he shouldn't have gone out on his own in the dark.I think that the story is cute and well written for young children to relate to. The idea of getting lost is scary. This story shares the idea that if you are willing to help others they will be happy to help you. The pictures are nice and simple. The illustrator put big pictures but chose to leave negative space which allowed the readers to focus on the story and to see what was going on in the story without being caught up with random pictures.

[J · Rating 4 out of 5]

A cute story that describes the adventures of a curious pup whose service to others takes him on an adventure. Will he find that no good deed goes unpunished? Or maybe that all good deeds are returned in kind whether we expect them to be or not.

Children will enjoy this nice quick read which, if parents allow it, allow children make sounds for the various adventures met. The book can also be used to help your learning reader to explore the sounds that can help move a story from a passive experience to an active experience.

The illustrations are interesting for the animals they portray are more rounded than normal but the colors are bright and pleasing to the eye. And children will enjoy seeing these animals as they help one another to overcome being lost.

[Rose]

E Bed

[Ashley]

A sweet story of helping others! Wonderful drawings!

[Rob Morgan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great book. I am bad to spoil the books in my reviews.