Incredible Journey

by Sheila Burnford

Paperback, 1978

Status

Available

Publication

Bantam Books (1978)

Description

A Siamese cat, an old bull terrier, and a young Labrador retriever travel together 250 miles through the Canadian wilderness to find their family.

Rating

½ (549 ratings; 3.9)

User reviews

LibraryThing member Bellettres
No matter how many times I read this book, I always cry when Shadow emerges over the hill in the final chapter. This is a truly lovely story of faithfulness, bravery, and love. I've read it several times (and was pleasantly surprised when the movie with Michael J. Fox, Sally Field, and Don Ameche
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did such a great job of bringing the animals to the screen) and am never disappointed.
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LibraryThing member susanbevans
The Incredible Journey is the captivating story of three family pets and their dangerous journey home through the Canadian wilderness. This was really an emotional story for me. I am a born animal lover, and the trials that this intrepid trio suffered, along with their intense bravery and devotion
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to their owners, brought tears to my eyes more than once.

The Incredible Journey is a wonderfully entertaining story of love, loyalty, and perseverance. Full of adventure and excitement, it was an excellent choice for me.
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LibraryThing member mblaze
Two dogs and a cat travel on a 300 mile journey to try to reunite with their family that they deeply miss. This book is full of adventure and is very heart-warming, but is largely predictable. Middle school students, especially animal lovers, will really enjoy this book. I do appreciate that the
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interest level and the reading levels of "The Incredible Journey" are appropriate for middle schoolers, and that it has positive themes of friendship and determination.
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LibraryThing member AMQS
This was a favorite of mine when I was a child, and the girls and I loved reading this 1961 classic aloud this summer. The book tells about, well, the incredible journey of two dogs and a cat who cross several hundred miles of Canadian wilderness to reunite with their family. The book describes the
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quirks and personalities of the animals; their strengths, their weaknesses, foibles, bravery, and goofiness, without "telling" the story in the first person, or taking the cute path and contriving personification. Their tale of survival, possible only by the loyalty and love they show each other is deeply moving. The rugged and wild Canadian wilderness could well be a character also -- Burnford's descriptions are breathtaking. As with a few of our read alouds recently, I choked through the last few pages in tears. A wonderful, heartwarming read.
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LibraryThing member eembooks
Incredible to believe, but impossible not to love and "a must" for pet lovers everywhere. January 2011
LibraryThing member belindamcdonald
This book is about two dogs and a cat trying t get back home.

I liked it because they stayed together and found their way back home.

I would use this in the classroom by showing the kids that dogs and cats can be friends, and how to stick together .
LibraryThing member lnaeole
An all top favorite of mine. HOnestly I haven't read the book but was able to see the movie. Homeward Bound was what first interested me in the book. And like many times the book is always better. I very much enjoyed this adventure of three different pals as they made their way home. he graphics
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are very plain in color but the detail in the shading is what brings the picture to life. And I believe that the colorless actually gives the text the right to shine. In my opinion the graphics are there to emphasize the emotion and action of the text to help readers better visualize the scene.
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LibraryThing member harukaA
I love animals.So I read this book.
This book tell us how important friendship is.
The three animals help each other.
Finally they could see their family.
This book gave me warm and kind mind.
LibraryThing member kkcrossley
A families animals, two dogs and a cat get left behind when the family moves. The animals meet many people and animals and have many adventures to get back to the family.
LibraryThing member sunnyburke
I am a real sucker for stories about animals that find themselves in precarious circumstances. This is truly a heart warming tale of three animals, a cat and two dogs, who are the bravest, strongest, most determined, loyal, loving, and patient animals ever. These animals fight against all odds to
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make their way across the Canadian wilderness to be reunited with their owners. This is a story of true friendship and that it you stick together no matter what, you can overcome anything...even thousands of miles of rugged terrain and wild predators. The way this story is written is so beautiful that I could hardly put it down. I had to find out what happened next and I love that about a book. I will also admit I cried at several points in the story, not just at the end! This book has something for everyone...adventure, love, perseverance, and more!
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LibraryThing member Altarasabine
A heart warming story. Encompasses the devotion of animals to man and their devotion to each other. Overcoming all odds against them and working together to make sure all survive. Though it is fiction there are many true stories of animals finding their way to the humans they love. Being a lover of
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all animals some of the food scenes are a tad bit sickening. I know that this is nature but I could of done without those details. Despite this it is charming and a good read.
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LibraryThing member rheasly
Touching, suspenseful, endearing, memorable. Seila Burnford's story about three pets who journey across the Canadian wilderness to get back to their owners. This book is a great follow-up (or preface to) The Call of the Wild, as themes of wilderness survival, loyalty, bravery, and friendhip are in
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both but The Incredible Journey is considerably less violent. Good as a read aloud for younger audiences (ages 5-7) or as an independent read (ages 8 and up).
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LibraryThing member rosedrakon
This heart-warming story is for animal and non-animal lovers indeed. There is nothing that can be quite as stirring as a story of where the heart always leads to, especially since the movie that was based off of it wasn't the best show of this book....
LibraryThing member anniecase
For those who love E.B. White and other anthropomorphic tales, this is a good fit. The story has a brisk pace and the adventure of it all will engage kids, even younger kids.
LibraryThing member nyakyakyanya
In this story, three animals, Siamese cat, Bull terrier and Labrador retriever went to journey to meet Their owners again. They fought with bear and big cat and meet many people. Some people were kind but some people were not. At last Siamese cay and Labrador retriever reached their owners
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together. Did Bull terrier reach too? I thought this book boring because it was written objectively.
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LibraryThing member seoulful
A story illustrating the sometimes overlooked capacity of animals to develop a fierce love for one another as well as an overwhelming love for their masters. Three well-loved and well-trained pets--two dogs and a cat--try to make their way back to their family across almost 300 miles of Canadian
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wilderness. We see how the task is accomplished by each animal bringing a skill to aid the others in times of danger or lack. We see the personalities of each animal displayed by their experiences along the way. A lovely story for young and old.
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LibraryThing member benuathanasia
Not as good as I had hoped. Very old-fashioned and dated, but still interesting.
LibraryThing member bobble
John thinks the animals are safe at home and the housekeeper thinks John took them with him. All the while, the two dogs and one cat are on a 250-mile walk through the northern Ontario wilderness in which they face many difficulties and dangers.

Astonishingly, I had never read this Canadian classic,
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nor have I seen the well-known movie. the animals get hurt by bears, porcupine, hunger and exhaustion. I am not at all an animal lover, but I really enjoyed this story. I thought it was written for children, but according to Wikipedia, it wasn't specifically.
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LibraryThing member vcg610
A charming and heartwarming adventure of three Canadian house pets, The Incredible Journey has captivated young readers for over 50 years, losing nothing over time in its capacity to draw the reader into the dangerous and unlikely adventure of these three animal friends.

The older of the two dogs is
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an English Bull Terrier, Bodger, long past his prime. The Siamese cat, Tao, is Bodger's closest companion, but it is the young Laborador Retriever who is intent on returning home to the master he misses so much. He does not intend to leave the others behind however, and when the occasion presents itself, Luath leads his companions out the gate and down the road, beginning a journey that will last for hundreds of miles.

They face a harsh environment, uncertainty as to food, water and encounters with wild animals who inhabit the wilderness they must cross to get home. They suffer hunger, injury and exhaustion, but they stick together, inspiring generations of readers with the awesome power of friendship.
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LibraryThing member fuzzi
Last night I felt like a comfort read, so I pulled this favorite off the shelves and took a trip back to my childhood.

This story of three pets heading home across the Canadian wilderness is an engaging tale for all ages. It works well as an adult read: I appreciated more of the descriptive
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passages that I'd not noticed with previous readings. Never boring or unbelievable, this story grabs the heart as well as any book I've read.
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LibraryThing member BookConcierge
Digital audio book read by Megan Follows

Three beloved family pets – a young Labrador, an aged bull terrier, and a Siamese cat – head home across 300 miles of wooded and mostly uninhabited territory in Ontario, Canada.

This is a wonderful tale of adventure, friendship, loyalty, teamwork, and
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kindness. The animals face considerable danger, fight bravely, work together to survive, are fortunate to find a few kind people to help them along, are sometimes separated, but continue with a sense of purpose.

I saw the original Disney movie when I was a child and read the book at about that same time. I’m glad I revisited it now. The text copy is illustrated at the beginning of each chapter with drawings by Carl Burger.

Megan Follows does a fine job narrating the audiobook. She has clear diction and imbues the work with the drama and tenderness appropriate to various scenes. I especially liked her interpretation of the more dangerous episodes – the flood and the bear attack, for example. My one complaint about the audio is the cheesy dramatic music. It really irritated me, but I imagine it would add much to a child’s experience listening to the story.
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LibraryThing member dbsovereign
The story of how two dogs and a cat join forces to survive and manage to travel all the way to their masters. A good children's book that models loyalty, cooperation and perseverance.
LibraryThing member loewen
I am glad I finally got to read this classic Canadian animal story. I was captivated by Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey as a child, and only recently found out that movie was a remake of The Incredible Journey from the 60s, which in turn was based on a book from the 60s. The animals are a
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little different but the overall story is the same. But the best thing about this book is the emotional vigour of the story, and they don't make the animals talk or read their minds, but you really know what they are thinking and feeling. It was a great story and I'm glad I got a chance to read it.
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LibraryThing member pengvini
Read this many years ago and loved it. Wouldn't mind reading it again to see if I'd still enjoy it as much 2nd time around. As far as I can recall I also enjoyed the film that was based on this book.
LibraryThing member APatricia
While Jim Hunter and his family are in England, John Longridge is taking care of Luath a young Labrador, Bodger an old Bull Terrier and Toa a Siamese cat. John goes on a trip with his brother and leave the three animals in the care of Mrs. Oakes. John leaves a note for Mrs. Oakes but part of the
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notes lands in the fireplace leaving Mrs. Oakes to think that John took the pets with him. The animals begin a 200 mile journey through the Canadian wilderness to reunite with the Hunter family. During their journey the animals face starvation, the coldness of the wilderness, encounter wild animals, become injured and separated. In the end all the animals are reunited with each other and with the Hunter family.
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Language

Original publication date

1961

ISBN

0553246526 / 9780553246520
Page: 0.7559 seconds