White Fang by Jack London

White Fang was written by Jack London and published in 1906. I listened to the audio version, and the whole time I was listening wondered if the producers of the first nature shows had read this book and gotten the idea for their shows from this book.

In White Fang, London shows the brutality of nature. The story follows the life of White Fang beginning with his mother before he was born. London is an amazing writer who paints vivid pictures with his words. I could see the beauty, the humor, and the violence of the Alaskan landscape.

We see White Fang as a puppy as he encounters new things for the first time. We also see what happens when he meets his first owner - one who wasn't a very good master, but who also wasn't the worst that White Fang will come upon.

For tenderhearted readers, the violence depicted toward animals in this story may too much for them to handle. London deconstructs the hows and whys of both good pet owners and horrible pet owners.

We see what happens to dogs and their minds when they are subjected to the cruelty of dog fighting and there is no question about how London feels about this despicable practice. He gets so into the mind of White Fang that it seems he becomes this dog.

I loved the ending of this story, but the path to the ending is rough and rocky at times - well written, but dang, I wanted to rescue that dog. In this story we see the progression of White Fang, and I think anyone who reads this book will want to be a better pet owner and spend even more time with their pets.

Read to a child today even if that child is you. 

Link to our NICU book registry if you'd like to donate books to babies in the newborn intensive care unit.