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Cockleburr Quarters
Cockleburr Quarters is a little black community with a big puppy problem. Eight of them and the mammy‐dog are under the church, and the preacher wants them out before he has a flea problem. Dolph, from across the street, is a dog wanting boy who gets them out and then they're his problem to house, feed, clean up after, and find homes for. But he can't take them to his home because his mother says dogs are Public Enemy number one to her vegetable garden. And he can't take them food from home because there is not always enough for the two grownups, and the six growing that are already there.
176 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1972
11 people want to read
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April 22, 2024
Internet Archive has a way of reading my mind and showing me books that I read in my childhood and half-remembered scraps of sentences from. I've never forgotten "Dice, with his paunch like a football" or Dolph, the little boy with the big heart.
We're never told where Cockleburr Quarters is, though we know it takes place during the Viet Nam war, where Dolph's brother is a soldier. We know that "Projects" are being built to relocate the people in the Quarters, though not everyone is happy about that.
I like the fact that for a middle-grade novel published in 1973, relatively few punches are pulled. No secret is made of the plight of stray dogs and cats, or the attitude of many working people who still today think that "taking them for a ride" and dumping them somewhere is perfectly normal. After all, they're only animals! But as Blake Edwards said in his movie The Pink Panther: "Don't trust a person who doesn't like animals." No secret is made of the expense and work involved in caring for the dogs properly, or stopping the birth of unwanted puppies and kittens. Baker had a valuable message for children who might think that a puppy is just for playing with when you feel like it. There's a happy ending for the family...but what does the future hold for the animals?
As a friend of mine used to say: "Animals don't ask to be born, they just are."
We're never told where Cockleburr Quarters is, though we know it takes place during the Viet Nam war, where Dolph's brother is a soldier. We know that "Projects" are being built to relocate the people in the Quarters, though not everyone is happy about that.
I like the fact that for a middle-grade novel published in 1973, relatively few punches are pulled. No secret is made of the plight of stray dogs and cats, or the attitude of many working people who still today think that "taking them for a ride" and dumping them somewhere is perfectly normal. After all, they're only animals! But as Blake Edwards said in his movie The Pink Panther: "Don't trust a person who doesn't like animals." No secret is made of the expense and work involved in caring for the dogs properly, or stopping the birth of unwanted puppies and kittens. Baker had a valuable message for children who might think that a puppy is just for playing with when you feel like it. There's a happy ending for the family...but what does the future hold for the animals?
As a friend of mine used to say: "Animals don't ask to be born, they just are."
Displaying 1 of 1 review