I admire the book for facing such a deep problem in human nature, by raising the questions we all need to face, in a simple story. I was immediately taken in by the language of the book, by the lack of a wasted word, by the ability to create such a complete voice and character in such a small book. So, it was with a bit of skepticism that I began to read Shiloh. I simply cannot relate totally to the mushy attitude people extend to a puppy. You need to understand that I avoided the book, because even though I loved the two dogs I grew up with and I liked a few more that I met along the way in my life, I am not a true animal lover. Of course, since Shiloh won the Newberry Award for Literature, it seems that it would be more likely to have been well written than other children's books.
I have read so much adult literature that is just plain awfully written or simply just plain, but most literature written for children has grace and a unique voice. Although I am sometimes embarassed to whip out an obvious childish book when I'm sitting on the subway, I must admit I am rarely disappointed with the level of the literature I discover. The little dog haunted her so much that she had to write a story about him to get it out of her mind.Īs a fourth grade teacher, I make it my business to read many of the books that sit on my classroom's shelves. "Shiloh" was inspired by a little abused dog she and her husband found. Naylor gets her ideas from things that happen to her or from things she has read. One of these books, "Shiloh," was awarded the Newbery Medal in 1992, was named a Notable Children's Book by the American Library Association and was also Young Adult Choice by the International Reading Association. Phyllis has written over 80 books for children and young people.
Her parents enjoyed reading stories to the children-her father would imitate the characters in Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer-and her mother read to them every evening, "almost until we were old enough to go out on dates, though we never would have admitted this to anyone."īy the time Phyllis reached fifth grade, writing books was her favorite hobby and she would rush home from school each day to write down whatever plot had been forming in her head - at sixteen her first story was published in a local church magazine. Though she grew up during the Depression and her family did not have a lot of money, Naylor stated that she never felt poor because her family owned good books. Her family were strongly religious with conservative, midwestern values and most of her childhood was spent moving a lot due to her father's occupation as a salesman. Phyllis Reynolds Naylor was born in Anderson, Indiana, US on January 4, 1933.
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