The Incredible Journey (1961)

[The Incredible Journey] is a children's literature classic and childhood favorite of mine; first published in 1960, it became a bestseller with 11 printings through 1962, and a 20th printing by the time of my 1969 illustrated edition. I was pleased that I remembered key plot points after 30+ years.

This is the story of a young trained-hunter golden retriever leading his companions--an elderly English bulldog and consummate hunter indoor-outdoor Siamese cat--300 miles across northwestern Ontario back to their family home. Through a concatenation of coincidences, their departure from the pet-sitter's home isn't discovered until weeks later; the first two and last two chapters are from the pet-sitter's perspective, while the bulk of the story follows the animals on their journey and their encounters with assorted humans and animals. When I was a child, I loved realistic animal-centered fiction, including this, Kjelgaard's [Big Red] books, Walter Farley's horse books (especially when few people appeared, such as [The Black Stallion and Flame]), John L. George's [American Woodland Tales] series, and the like. This story stands the test of time. ( )

"Genom otillgängliga vildmarker vandrar de tre djuren. De drivs av sin hemlängtan och ingenting får hindra dem.
Det är den unge vältränade labradoren Luath, den gamle stridslystne charmfulle bullterriern Bodger och den lilla siameskatten Tao som tillsammans trotsar utmattning, svält och skador för att nå sitt mål.
Människorna som djuren möter - indianer, pälsjägare och nybyggare i Kanada - spelar en underordnad roll. De är bara till för att hindra, ibland hjälpa, djuren på deras färd.
En ömsint djurskildring - ett sällsynt bevis på förståelse för hur djur känner, tänker och handlar."

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