I started reading this to Carter & Max last fall. It was moving pretty slow what with different bedtimes and hurried evenings, so I bought it for my ipod and we started listening when we drove. We just finished the part where Old Dan and Little Anne won the contest and the box of money. I know what is coming next, my boys have no clue and I think that is where the book is most effective. The ending hits you like a punch in the gut, you really aren't expecting it. Everything is going so well for Billy and his dogs, then BAM. I remember my fourth grade teacher (Mrs. Gunnerson) reading this story to us (in my memory she finished it on the last day of school--I don't think that is true because now that I am a teacher I would never be finishing up a story on the last day)
But you know, ultimately this book is about answered prayers. Billy prayed several times during the story: to get the money for the pups, for strength to finish cutting down the big tree, his mom and dad's prayer to move them out of the mountains so that their kids can get a better education, etc...(I know there are several others, but they are escaping my mind at this moment). It is really a story about faith and I didn't get that when I was younger, but I get it now. Pick it up and read it again if you haven't in a long time--it is definitely a story to revisit!
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