The Dog, Ray

by Linda Coggin

A girl, a dog, a boy, a journey

'When my death came, it was swift. Swift as a racing horse.'

Twelve-year-old Daisy has just died in a car crash. But in a twist of fate, and through a heavenly bureaucratic mistake Daisy ends up, not where she is supposed to be - but in the body of a dog. Daisy may now be inhabiting a dog's body, but inside she is still very much Daisy, and is as bouncy, loyal, positive, energetic as she ever was.

Daisy's only thought is to somehow be reunited with her parents, who she knows will be missing her. And this is how she meets Pip, a boy who is homeless and on his own journey, and a lasting, tender and very moving friendship between boy and dog/girl is formed.

Genres: Middle Grade, Fantasy, Animals, Dogs, Death, Childrens, Young Adult

288 pages, Hardcover

First published August 1, 2010

About the author

Linda Coggin taught horseback riding in the West Indies before studying mime in Paris and Czechoslovakia and then becoming an actor and television presenter. She is now an author of poetry and books for young people and lives in Wiltshire, England, with her family and many animals.

Reviews

[Dana · Rating 4 out of 5]

I held off on reading this book because I was worried that this would be a tear-jerker, but it actually wasn't too hard emotionally. The story follows Ray, a young girl who died in a car crash and is reincarnated as a dog. She soon meets Pip, a homeless boy who is on a quest to find his long lost father.

I appreciated that this book tackled some harder issues, such as youth homelessness. However while there are some grim realities sprinkled throughout this book, the ending was unrealistically ideal. I would have liked to have seen the story continue with its realistic feel. Nonetheless what better age than middle grade for perfectly concluded stories. 4/5

Buy, Borrow or Bin Verdict: Buy

Check out more of my reviews here

Note: I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review.

[Carole (Carole's Random Life) · Rating 3 out of 5]

This review can also be found at Carole's Random Life

It has been almost forever since I picked up a book written for middle grade children. I decided to grab this one largely because of the awesome cover and the fact that I am a complete nut when it comes to dogs didn't hurt. This ended up being a nice quick read that I think a lot of readers will really enjoy.

I was a little worried that this was going to be a sad book since the dog in the book was a little girl until she died but it really wasn't at all. We don't get to know Daisy until she dies in the accident and the afterworld was honestly a bit odd. The way that her transformation from little girl to dog was handled wasn't emotional. If anything, I felt Daisy's confusion about what was happening.

I did feel poorly for the dog in her first home where she isn't really treated as a member of the family. She is kept outside tied to a doghouse and really doesn't get a lot of quality time. She remembers her life as Daisy and wants to see her parents. She dreams of finding them. The only person that really treats her well is the homeless man at the park, Jack, who talks to her and pets her when he can.

When she finally gets the opportunity to escape, she does and finds her place with Pip, a homeless boy. Pip names her Ray and the story really takes off. These two have an incredible bond and it was nice to see how much they truly cared for each other. Pip and Ray embark on a journey to find Pip's father and hopefully a home.

This book had a lot of great moments. I liked the fact that it was told from the perspective of the dog, Ray. There were a lot of interesting characters and a few heartfelt scenes. I would recommend this story to middle grade readers that love a good animal story.

I received an advance reader edition of this book from Candlewick Press via NetGalley.

Initial Thoughts
Interesting concept that should appeal to dog lovers. Middle grade readers should enjoy this one.

[Taylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is very interesting. It's about a 12 year old girl who dies in a car crash and is reincarnated as a dog. It's extremely different from anything I've read before and I doubt I'll ever read a book like it again. I did really like this book but the narrative wasn't quite for me. I had a hard time connecting with Ray because she was so young. I did really like how the author wrote everything so precisely. It really felt like I was reading the thoughts of a 12 year old.
Even though wasn't really for me, I still think it's a great book. I think this would be perfect for younger readers who are looking for something contemporary.

[Maci Fischler · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think the theme for this book is even though you may loose something you can also win something. I choose this theme because I think multiple characters experienced this. For example when the main character turns into a dog she looses her parents but gains the friendship of a homeless man. Also as the main character starts to loose her memories of her old life she gains many more great memories in her new life.

[Emma Carroll · Rating 5 out of 5]

Original, insightful, pretty much perfect.

[Raven H. c8b · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think it is a great day at first it is sad but then it gets so much better I love it

[Mallory · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is the least sensitive book I have ever read. The plot is simplistic to the point of being ridiculous. Despite the book being about death and reincarnation, the narrator spends very little of the book focusing on her own death. Grieving is done in brief, one-paragraph-long stints every 25-40 pages, and are more jarring and strange given the rest of the narrative than they are believable. The writing feels like it is meant for 2nd or 3rd graders rather than middle grade readers. If this is what Coggin thinks of the thoughts and emotional capabilities of 12-year-olds, she is doing them a grave disservice.

The setting and vernacular of this book is very English (the nationality, not the language), and yet it has been Americanized in the strangest, most unnecessary ways. All that was needed to Americanize this book was to change the punctuation and spelling. American children know that Mum means the same thing as Mom. They are fully capable of figuring out that a boot is the same thing as a trunk of a car. They've read Harry Potter at this point.

I could also go on a long rant about the sexist implications of the plot as a whole, but I'm too annoyed by this book to put the effort into doing so. I will highlight a few of the other offensive sections of this book, though.

Mild spoilers pertaining to the lack of sensitivity in this book below:
At one point the author refers to crafts in a shop as Indian crafts, and it's pretty clear she isn't talking about the country. The antagonist of the book is an unnamed man who 'steals everything', including Pip's bag and Marjorie's car conveniently, is referred to by his neck tattoo, with a very clear message that people with neck tattoos (or any tattoos at all) are automatically bad people. This is 2017. Come on.

[Adele Broadbent · Rating 3 out of 5]

Strange title - Fantastic Cover!

Daisy is in a car accident, leaving her dad in a wheelchair and herself facing a lady in a celestial office telling her she's looking to place her soul somewhere as quick as she can. But instead of going through the right door, Daisy goes through the left - to become a new-born puppy. She has to learn everything there is to know about being a dog and is soon adopted by a boy called Cyril.
Through Cyril's negligence, she meets an old man called Jack, who is homeless but kind. His kindness also stretches to a young runaway called Pip.
Pip names her Ray and together they have a bond that grows more and more throughout the story. Pip is searching for a father he's never met, while Ray's memories of being Daisy fade as her dog senses become more developed. Together they find a way to a new life - one they never imagined at the beginning of their friendship.

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Daisy is a twelve year old girl who is killed in a car accident and goes to the afterlife, which is like a Jobs center, and is reassigned as a newborn puppy. She is soon adopted by a boy named Cyril who keeps her tied up all of the time until Daisy finds a way to escape and sets out in search for her family, her mother and father.

This is a well written book, suitable for pre-teens and teenagers. It is fast paced and I was able to read it in an afternoon. It is a level 4 for Accelerated Readers. There are some sad moments but not too sad. The only violence is the description of the car accident which killed Daisy, and even that is kept mostly vague. No adult language or situations. I enjoyed this book.

[Lyndsay · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this in one sitting. It was very enjoyable to read, and didn't realize how sad the story truly was until I started writing my review! It was depressing, but funny, all while pulling at my heart strings!

[Claire Hutton · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was awesome. It tells a great story and doesn't get boring. I would recommend this book to people who feel empathy for characters in books.

[Terry Maguire · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great book for promoting empathy particularly for homeless persons- though I think Paper Things is even better writing and a better story for that. Daisy, who dies in a car crash, comes back to earth as a dog & develops empathy for the homeless people who become her new family. It's a touching read and will appeal to students who like dog stories as well.

[Yvette · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Dog, Ray is a good but quite short book about a girl called Daisy who gets reincarnated as a dog after a car crash???

[Joy Lane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quick read, somewhat predictable
AR 4.1 and 5 pts no lexile test

[Lisa Krigbaum · Rating 4 out of 5]

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ For my YA self.

[American Mensa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wish I could give this book more than 5 stars! Grief and hope are woven together to create this amazing and touching read. I didn’t think I would like this book at first because it seemed a little too serious; however, it quickly became one of my top ten favorite books. One thing that may disturb sensitive readers is that the story begins with death. Daisy Fellows, the main character, dies in a car accident and she soon finds herself coming back to Earth as a dog! Daisy is determined to find her human parents and be reunited with them, but trouble is around every corner. Along the way, Daisy befriends Pip, a homeless boy, who is also looking for his father whom he has never met. Daisy, now renamed Ray by her new friend Pip, decides to accompany him on his journey. Harvesting the hope that they can find a home together, Pip and Ray set out for the adventure of a lifetime. Will Ray be able to be reunited with her old life or will she find her way to a new home with Pip? Will Pip find his long lost father or will he remain homeless forever? Buckle your seatbelts and get ready to ride on this roller coaster of emotions; a story chock-full of loyalty, perseverance, friendship, and most importantly hope. Are you ready for the ride of your life?
Roksanna K, age 12, Local Group: Broward

[Ashleyd · Rating 4 out of 5]

Genre: ??? Realistic Fiction
Ages: 11+ Grades: 6+

This is a unique concept book. Daisy (aka Misty, aka Ray) is a girl who dies in a car crash. After dying she learns that her soul will come back to earth, but as a dog. Taking the wrong door, she is born into a litter of puppies, but she still has her two different colored eyes. Not liking her adopted family she runs away, with the intent of finding her human family. She finds another runaway, a human named Pip. Their journey will take them to their new family. Over the course of the book Daisy truly becomes Ray.

As I said this book has a different concept than I have ever thought about. It is a little deep for a middle grade book. I enjoyed the story and the point of view.

[Dimity Powell · Rating 4 out of 5]

A real humdinger that strikes with pinpoint accuracy for dog loving 7 - 12 year olds. Hefty subject matter is served up in a heartwarming little tale about a girl who dies tragically and returns to life as a dog. As pedestrian as that sounds, this sweet little story lopes along at a satisfying pace that will keep children entranced for hours. Daisy aka Ray's spiritual, emotional and canine journey is just as likely to make you grin as it is to move you to sadness, however one thing is for sure, it will captivate young readers enough to make them want to wag their tails (if they had them). Funny, spirited and stirring.

[Nicole · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a lovely, gentle book for younger readers aged 10+. Even though this is a book for children, I thoroughly enjoyed the story, the character developments and the relationships that evolve. This book is about love, relationships, life... and death and life AFTER death.

Daisy is killed in a car accident, she finds herself being reborn as a puppy. A mix up at the "job centre" means that her memories remain. Narrated from Daisy's viewpoint as a puppy and dog, this is a heart-warming tale of hope, love and friendship.

[La La · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is YA, but it reads like Middle Grade. It is a heartwarming story about death, grief, and appreciating the people in your life. The writing is very simplistic, there were some typos, and some vocabulary words were used incorrectly. It is a quick read and if you love dogs you will like ths story. I will not be reviewing this book on my blog because I have rated it less than four stars.

I was approved for an eARC of this title, via Netgalley, in return for an honest review.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting premise for sure. I loved Ray/Susie's narration. It was a great story of adventure and exploration. I just told someone last week "The beginning and the end are a bit odd and might confuse middle grade readers; but, the middle is such a great story!" Ray has an engaging voice, and for me the story rang true. It did require me to suspend my belief, but as a reader I found this easy to do.

[Sophia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a sweet little surprise. I won it in a goodreads giveaway. I was afraid it would be sad since the main character dies right at the beginning but she blows right past any sadness about her own death. The character of Daisy/Ray is so heartfelt that you can't help but love her. A very cute middle grade book!

[Nicholas Pliska · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book The Dog Ray was written by Linda Coggin and the main characters of the book are ray and pip. I found this book by looking for dog books like the dogs purpose witch in my opinion is an awesome book and in my opinion this is also a amazing book.
Pip is a boy who ran away from home in search of his parents and because of how we were left with his mother but his mother died and he was in search for his father . In the end he found them for awhile he did not have enough confidence to talk to them but in the end he went into his dads shop and told him he was his son and his dad was ecstatic and was wondering how his mom was doing. But sadly pip had to tell his dad that his mom died. A little after that he was with his father and they live on.
Ray is a girl that was killed in a car accident and was reincarnated as a dog that was in search for her family when she meet pip. A lot of the time ray is thinking that she went thru the wrong door when she was in heaven. She thinks this a lot because of how she remembers everything that she knew when she was a human. For example she still knew how to talk and still had rational feelings for animals like in the beginning she was getting chased by some hunters and then she encounters a deer and she runs away and then the dogs go after the deer and she talks to herself I feel bad for that deer.
The In the book twice I think that ray incounders her parents the first time was at the beginning and the second time was and the end I think but it may have not been. And this all happen in a area of 50 miles of her death and she met pip in that distance. And that is when you get to hear all about pip.
In my opinion this book was amazing i think anyone who likes their dog and dog books should read this book it can be a very heartwarming book.

[Thistle]

The worst talking animal books are the ones where the animal thinks, acts, and speaks like a human instead of like an animal. This book did that on purpose, and it worked.

The story opened with a girl dying. No details, she was in a car with her father, a horse jumped a fence, there was a crash, and next thing she knew she was sitting in an office, facing a woman behind a desk.

The woman kept telling her she had to pick a job fast before they were all gone, but (of course) the girl was quite confused. In the next breath, the woman told her all the good jobs were gone, but there was one in a "litter", just walk through the right door. She repeatedly told her to go through the right door, not the left.

So, of course, the main character went through the left by mistake... (There were a number of coincidences that happened to advance the plot.)

Turns out the right door would have made her be reborn without her memories, but since she went through the left, she remembered her whole life as a human. You'd think they'd put a lock on the left door or a chain or at least put a chair in front of it...

So the girl was reborn as a puppy, and lived her life as a dog while remembering her life as a human girl. It was really believable and an interesting story.

Though I suspect the author didn't intend it, and young readers would never pick up on it, the ending of the book was pretty horrific. As the dog grew up, her human memories faded, so it was like the human girl was slowly dying before our eyes. On the surface it was a happy ending though: The dog ended up in a wonderful loving family.

[Stephanie Bange · Rating 4 out of 5]

Twelve-year-old Daisy dies in a car crash. A mix-up causes her soul to be reassigned to the body of a newborn pup, rather than to one of a newborn baby. She tries desperately to be reunited with her father and mother, however forms bonds with several people in the process, until she finds a home with Pip who renames her “Ray”. Coggin imagines what it would be like to be trapped in a body and unable to communicate in this very quiet, compelling story of death, grief, and learning to accept your situation. This is not a religious book about reincarnation. Rather, souls are recycled in a “job center” just after death and are assigned to new bodies as they come into the waiting room. Daisy/Ray progressively loses her memories of her parents, her friends, her world, until all that she remembers and all that becomes important is caring for Pip and her new family. The reader is clued in that while they are reading what Daisy/Ray intends to say to people, what people hear is her barking. Characters are fully realized in this short novel of magical realism. Moments of humor are sprinkled in to balance tense moments of danger – for example when Ray takes off chasing after a hare, only finding himself separated from Pip. Animal lovers will especially enjoy this.

[Nancy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Twelve-year-old Daisy dies in a tragic car accident and finds herself in an afterworld job center. Although she is assigned to return to Earth as a dog, she still thinks like the human Daisy. Beginning her new life as Misty, she is adopted and mistreated by a boy, Cyril, but escapes from her collar after being abandoned by him at a park. Driven to locate her paralyzed father, who, she reads in a newspaper, survived the accident, she longs to be reunited with her parents. After meeting Pip, a runaway boy, who renames her Ray and who is also looking for his father, they join forces and are assisted by a kind elderly woman in locating Pip’s father. After surviving a series of unfortunate events, Daisy realizes that her human memory is quickly fading while her dog nature takes over. Although Daisy’s dreams don’t come through in the way she first imagined, Pip’s do. This is a heartfelt story for readers who will appreciate the authentically-voiced first-person girl/dog points of view.

[Mr. Holt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Have you ever looked at a dog and wondered what he or she is thinking? Well, if you are human, I'm sure that you have. Linda Coggin offers readers insight into the inner workings of dogs in her newest book "The Dog Ray." The novel tells the bittersweet story of a young girl who dies tragically at a young age but is reincarnated as a dog. Because her soul and memories stays intact inside the dog, she sees the world through the lenses of both a dog and human. What a cool concept. I loved it. The author's prose captured the essence of a sad young girl longing for her old life but who ends up finding so much more in the end. Get those tissues ready for the last few pages. I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a wonderful story about life and all of its possibilities.

[Sylvia Patience · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book, especially because the author does an excellent job of writing from a dog's point of view. The protagonist gradually transitions from a girl in a dog's head to a dog, comfortable in her own skin. But even before she makes this adjustment, her doggy behavior comes across as real and believable.
The plights of the homeless man and boy are sensitively portrayed.
I appreciate Linda Coggin's ability to write from the dog's point of view all the more because of the research I did for my own book from a dog's perspective, Toto's Tale and True Chronicle of Oz. This author knows dogs.

[Janelle Fila · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved this book! It was so cute and very clever. And emotional. Be prepared for the tears to flow! It's an easy, quick read. I read it in one sitting (two-three hours).

I do think being a dog lover helped me enjoy this book. I could see my dog in Ray's actions. Also, the writing isn't especially poetic or lyrical. But the overall story is really awesome. I would recommend this to everyone who loves dogs because I think they will especially enjoy it. Also, I would categorize this book as middle grade because the protagonist is young, but I'm not sure a younger audience would enjoy it as much as older reader, even though the writing style is fairly simple.

[Hayden Crowe · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is about a 12 year old girl named Daisy who died in a car crash and did not end up where normal people go, Heaven. Once died in a car crash, she ends up in the body of a dog. Although she looks and is a dog, she does not act like a normal dog, she still ends up having the same energy and personality of her when she was a human.

I enjoyed this book more than I thought I would. I really thought I was just going to think it was a normal book and just something normal to read, but it was a pretty good book which got sad at times but it was also a really happy book. I would definitely recommend this book to people who like a book with lots of different emotions and feelings.