From School Library Journal
Grade 5 Up?These two classics receive fresh and worthy treatment in this new series. Children raised on computer games and frenetic television images may find the writings of Kipling and London to be old-fashioned and unrelated to the worlds they know best. That's why these books are a welcome addition to most collections. Kipling's stories of Mowgli, Rikki-Tikki-Tavi, and Toomai of the elephants and London's story of the heroic dog Buck are superbly packaged. The original, unabridged texts are presented along with period maps and photographs, historical etchings and engravings, and newly created full-color illustrations that supply invaluable detail and background. Generous and colorfully presented details about the places, times, people, events, and natural life provide vital context. In The Jungle Book, readers learn about the English colonization of India, the domestication of elephants, purported cases of "wild children" raised by wolves, India's thick-lipped bears, panthers, wolves, mongooses, Bengal tigers, and myriad other details that contribute to fuller and more enjoyable appreciation of Mowgli's adventures in the lush jungle landscape of 19th-century India. Similarly, visual and print information about the Klondike, the Alaskan Gold Rush of 1896, sled dogs, wolves, and Jack London enrich the reading experience of young people first encountering The Call of the Wild. Both books are handsome to look at, inviting to read, and a boon to anyone charged with introducing today's youth to classic works.?Jerry D. Flack, University of ColoradoCopyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Library Journal
London's 1903 classic of a kidnapped dog and Yukon gold is revisited here by editor Dyer, who restored the text to its original form sans the editorial alterations that corrupt most of today's available editions. He also includes numerous photographs and maps as well as notes on the text.Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From AudioFile
London's Arctic survival stories will provide many listeners with compelling fare. However, enjoyment may be diminished, oddly enough, by Roger Dressler's deep and richly resonant voice. After a few minutes, the slow cadences seem plodding, the bass notes monotonous. There are also a few technical lapses. Perhaps the most annoying failing of this production is that all six tapes are labeled Call of the Wild. If you're looking for one of the stories, you have to be psychic to know where it begins. E.T. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine


From Book News, Inc.
An alternative title might be The Annotated Call.... Dyer -- a near-mad fan of London -- presents the definitive (unbowdlerized) text with maps, photos, drawings clarifying the text. Extensive notes and bibliography. Will surely supplant the Nelson-Hall Casebook cited in BCL3. Annotation copyright Book News, Inc. Portland, Or.


Book Description
Tor Classics are affordably-priced editions designed to attract the young reader. Original dynamic cover art enthusiastically represents the excitement of each story. Appropriate "reader friendly" type sizes have been chosen for each title—offering clear, accurate, and readable text. All editions are complete and unabridged, and feature Introductions and Afterwords.

This edition of The Call of the Wild includes a Foreword, Biographical Note, and Afterword by Dwight Swain.

Kidnapped form his safe California home. Thrown into a life-and-death struggle on the frozen Artic wilderness. Half St. Bernard, half shepard, Buck learns many hard lessons as a sled dog: the lesson of the leash, of the cold, of near-starvation and cruelty. And the greatest lesson he learns from his last owner, John Thornton: the power of love and loyalty.

Yet always, even at the side of the human he loves, Buck feels the pull in his bones, an urge to answer his wolf ancestors as they howl to him.



The Merriam-Webster Encyclopedia of Literature
Novel by Jack London, published in 1903 and often considered to be his masterpiece. London's version of the classic quest story using a dog as the protagonist has sometimes been erroneously categorized as a children's novel. Buck, who is shipped to the Klondike to be trained as a sled dog, eventually reverts to his primitive, wolflike ancestry. He then undertakes an almost mythical journey, abandoning the safety of his familiar world to encounter danger, adventure, and fantasy. When he is transformed into the legendary "Ghost Dog" of the Klondike, he has become a true hero.


Card catalog description
Taken from a kindly owner, Buck is forced into the perilous life of a sled dog in the treacherous Yukon Territory during the Klondike gold rush. Presented in comic book format.


From the Publisher
This book is in Electronic Paperback Format. If you view this book on any of the computer systems below, it will look like a book. Simple to run, no program to install. Just put the CD in your CDROM drive and start reading. The simple easy to use interface is child tested at pre-school levels. Windows 3.11, Windows/95, Windows/98, OS/2 and MacIntosh and Linux with Windows Emulation. Includes Quiet Vision's Dynamic Index. the abilty to build a index for any set of characters or words. This Electronic Paperback is illustrated. This Electronic Paperback is read aloud by an actor.

ANNOTATION

Tells the story of the magnificent dog Buck, who is a loyal pet until cruel men make him a pawn in their search for the gold of the Klondike, where he breaks free and becomes the leader of a ferocious wolf pack. This edition includes the short story B￯﾿ﾽatard.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Part St. Bernard, part Scotch shepherd, Buck is a sturdy crossbreed canine accustomed to a comfortable life as a family dog -- until he's seized from his pampered surroundings and shipped to Alaska to be a sled dog. There, the forbidding landscape is as harsh as life itself during the gold rush of the 1890s. Forced to function in a climate where every day is a savage struggle for survival, Buck adapts quickly. Traces of his earlier existence are obliterated and he reverts to his dormant primeval instincts, encountering danger and adventure as he becomes the leader of a wolf pack and undertakes a journey of nearly mythical proportions. Superb details, taken from Jack London's firsthand knowledge of Alaskan frontier life, make this classic tale of endurance as gripping today as it was over a century ago. One of literature's most popular and exciting adventure stories, The Call of the Wild will enrich the reading experience of youngsters, and rekindle fond memories of a favorite among older generations.

SYNOPSIS

Jack London became one of, and perhaps the most successful writer of the turn of the 20th century. Fifty-one of his books, innumerous articles and short stories were published, and in addition, materials from his letters and personal journals were published posthumously. The best known of these books is ￯﾿ﾽThe Call of the Wild.￯﾿ﾽ It was published as a serialized story on the Saturday Evening Post from June 20 to July 18, 1903.

FROM THE CRITICS

Children's Literature

With an introduction by Gary Paulsen, noted author of young people's stories, this Aladdin Classic edition joins 20 others of similar stature as must-reads for any age. The combination of man and dog against the elements of the then untamed North and the anything-goes adventurous nature of Buck, the protagonist, makes for exciting reading. London, the author, draws on his turn of the century experiences during the Goldrush in Alaska. The important element of the dogs in the life and survival of those adventurers brings an exciting element to the story. Dogs were as important as people, and London is at his best in describing this relationship through thick and thin. There is a reading group guide included for classroom use, but the story is a good one for reading aloud within the family, too. 2003 (orig. 1903),

AudioFile