Every Dog

Full of gentle humour, sharp observation and brilliant dialogue, this story for newly confident readers published just before his death, shows William Mayne had lost none of his unique talent. Robert’s parents have sold off a field in which a new school is to be built for the village. Fascinated, Robert watches progress. But he is not the only creature watching the site. A strange dog is also taking an interest, a dog that comes and goes mysteriously, making Robert’s fierce ginger cat Oggin behave like ‘a mad rocket losing its orbit’. Mysterious objects from the old school start to appear on the site. How can they have got there? Will Robert be blamed? Eventually of course, the new school is opened with a flourish, but not before the older members of the village have been reunited with objects from a shared past that they had long forgotten. The influence of the past on the present was one of Mayne’s favourite themes, but there is nothing tired or unoriginal about this story that seems fresh and inventive, with entirely modern children more interested in play station games than books. Not all children will like this book – if they require breathless action and constant car-chases, then this is not for them. But, for a sensitive child, the poetic force of Mayne’s feeling for nature and his consummate skill with language will make this story a real treat.