The Lost War Dog

Megan Rix's The Lost War Dog is a Second World War story for 10 year olds about a Jewish girl in Hamburg and the little dachshund who never leaves her side.

What happens

Tilly Abrams is thirteen. Her mum died of pneumonia in the spring, and since then the family has been forced out of their house into a cramped flat in the Jewish quarter. There's Dad, Oma, Opa (who is deaf and talks with Tilly in sign language) and grumpy Aunt Hedy, who calls Tilly cheeky in Yiddish every morning.

And there's Wuffly. She's a black-and-tan dachshund with a red and gold collar, and she's the heart of this book. Some chapters are told from her side, sniffing out mice and patrolling the flat at night.

Tilly's best friend is Gretchen, who isn't Jewish. Gretchen still turns up on her bike with jam sandwiches, even though her family would rather she didn't. When the children at school call Tilly names out of a hateful book, Gretchen wades into the fight beside her.

Then Wuffly escapes and races all the way to Tilly's classroom (much to the teacher's disgust). Tilly takes her out to the woods where they used to live. There she finds her deaf friend Hans hiding out, and a brand-new fenced camp among the trees that nobody seems to know about.

Wuffly is brilliant company. Her tail practically wags off the page, and her cheeky behaviour gives you something to smile about when everything else is getting scarier.

Worth knowing before you hand it over

This book doesn't soften what was happening to Jewish families under the Nazis. There are signs on shops, rules against Jewish children, a teacher who tells Tilly she won't be welcome anywhere, and talk of deaf people being taken away. Nine chapters in, men smash windows and set the synagogue on fire, then hammer on the family's door in the night.

For a sensitive reader, that last scene could be very frightening. But if your reader is learning about the war, or loves a dog story with real stakes, this shows them history through the eyes of a girl their own age. Tilly and Gretchen's friendship is lovely too.

What to read next

If they'd like to see that same terrible night through another girl's eyes, try Anna at War. Anna hides in a wardrobe while her home is wrecked, then travels to England alone with one small suitcase.