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Toby by Margaret Wild is a book about a family dealing with an elderly dog named Toby. The book starts out explaining Toby at the age of fourteen and how he's been big sister Sara's dog his whole life. Sara is twelve now and is having a hard time dealing with the fact that old Toby just can't do what he used to. She's getting older too and dealing with her own stress at school, etc. It's hard for her younger brothers to understand her as well. The children wonder why Toby can't live forever.

This has to be one of the most emotional children's books I've read this year. The story feels genuine and anybody that's gone through it can understand how difficult it is to say goodbye. Dogs become family and it's hard to let them go. This story highlights the dynamics of a family dealing with loss. Each one of them deals with it differently.

5***** ( )

Toby, the family dog, is two years older than Sara, the oldest child. Sara and Toby have always been close and Sara reacts to Toby's decline in health with anger, impatience and denial. Sara does spend Toby's last night with him. The comfort found in memories is shown at the end. The concept of death is not explained, the euphemisms and subtleties used by Margaret Wild means that the book would be more accessible to an older age group.