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Orville: A Dog Story (Bccb Blue Ribbon Fiction Books (Awards))

Author: Haven Kimmel
Creator: Robert Andrew Parker
Publisher: Clarion Books
Category: Book

List Price: ~~$15.00~~
Buy New: $2.47
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New (29) Used (19) from $0.01

Avg. Customer Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars

6 reviews
Sales Rank: 287871

Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1
Reading Level: Ages 4-8
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 32
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 10.8 x 6.8 x 0.4

ISBN: 061815955X
UPC: 046442159555
EAN: 9780618159550
ASIN: 061815955X

Publication Date: September 22, 2003
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Brand New, Never Used, Excellent Condition, Pages Clean and Crisp, SHIPS SAME DAY.

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Editorial Reviews:

Product Description
A big, ugly dog is happy to meet a farmer and his wife who decide to give him a name and a home, but not so happy when they chain him to the barn. All Orville can do is bark to tell the world how unhappy he is, and the more he barks, the more he is left alone. But everything changes when Sally MacIntosh moves into the little house across the road and Orville falls in love. A beautifully crafted text that blends wry humor with the poignant twang of a country-and-western song is accompanied by dreamy, spare watercolor-and-ink illustrations for a fresh, original picture book that will resonate with anyone who has ever felt lonely or misunderstood.

Customer Reviews: Read 1 more reviews...

5 out of 5 stars

A Wonderful, Wonderful Book June 6, 2006
7 out of 7 found this review helpful

I am a big fan of Haven Kimmel's adult fiction, so I decided to buy this children's book. I LOVED Orville: A Dog Story. I loved it so much that I actually became choked up at the end and could barely read the last two sentences out loud to my son. This has never happened to me before.

Like all of Haven Kimmel's books, this book flows as smoothly as silk. A homeless dog who has been taken in by various people and always chained up. His longing for love, yet anger at being chained up for days on end. His "adoption" by the farmer and his wife who do not understand him and chain him up too. Just when he starts to give up and lose hope, a girl moves across the road and he knows she needs him.

I loved reading the dog's thoughts as he lay for hours on end at the end of a chain. I loved how he could tell how people were just by their smell; how he could tell what their wishes were. I loved how the farmer, his wife, Orville and the girl all got their wishes. How their lives became intertwined with one anothers because Orville came along.

You must read it for yourself. This book is truly a gem for adults and children both. I loved it.

5 out of 5 stars

A perfect book July 14, 2004
6 out of 6 found this review helpful

This book is such a gift -- to animal lovers, to children, to their parents, to book lovers. It tells a moving tale in exquisite prose, and the illustrations are perfect for the story -- they're beautiful and evocative without being overpowering. I can't recommend this book more highly, for both adults and children.

For cat lovers (and others), Margaret Wild's "The Very Best of Friends" (illustrated by the wonderful Julie Vivas) is another powerful heartbreaker about human-human love and human-animal love.

5 out of 5 stars Couldn't put it down November 25, 2003
9 out of 9 found this review helpful

I work in a library and was looking at this book to catalog it. Usually I just look at a few pages of children's books, but I had to read this one from cover to cover. It really is exceptional, and my eyes were tearing up by the end. (Happy tears!) This would be great for any child (or adult) who loves dogs, has been concerned about a stray dog, or who is going through a lonely period.

5 out of 5 stars It made me want a dog November 24, 2003
4 out of 4 found this review helpful

Orville is one of the best children's books I've dicovered in a long while. It has the wit and soft spoken charm that speaks to children as well as adults. The storyline is no sachharine tale --- instead it uses reality and real characters to illustrate the finer points of love and synchronicity and the need to not judge by appearance. Parents who want their children to grow up with wise and age-appropriate books will want to get Orville. I've also purchased extra copies for my nieces and nephews. A lovely, strong and moralistic tale. The artwork was fresh and evocative as well.

Other titles I recommend are Crictor by Tomi Ungerer and also Moon Man by Tomi Ungerer. The McDuff series is also very fine and lovely (that made me want a dog also) Enjoy!

5 out of 5 stars simply marvelous November 12, 2003
7 out of 7 found this review helpful

haven kimmel is an extraordinary author of sublime and rare gifts; now she turns her hand to children's fiction/ as a mother who reads, i humbly submit that Orville is superior to what else is out there. in many cases, young children's books simplify emotions and stay pristine, surreal or silly. this one shines : the impressionistic yet spare illustrations and the bright, funny, often surprising story unfolds like a desert flower. lovely and worth purchasing in bulk so that the next time your child attends a birthday party, you're ready with a gift to cherish and be read time and again.