I have not personally read this book, but it is why we/I started looking for and collecting older vintage books for children. We started homeschooling when my 4th child, a son, was in 4th grade. He was a voracious reader and had already read or listened to his father read some common classic children's literature. I asked my father who was in his 80's if he had any recommendations of books for my son. Not being as computer savvy as most people my age, he still managed to get online and secure a copy of Silver Chief, Dog of the North for my son. That copy is his own and will be treasured for a long time!! My son wanted to read more stories about Silver Chief and that is how we started on our search for vintage children's books. It was my father and my son making a connection with this book! I now have copies of my own to share with others.

My, that's silly. It doesn't work for me even at the level of fun fluff. The magical thinking that takes a wild animal - not even feral, he's had no real contact with humans - and within weeks at most makes him totally loyal to...well, the first white man he's encountered... The last takes it from silly to annoying, though at least it seems to be more a matter of finding his True Love than just a racial thing. Still, it was bad enough it tainted the rest of the book for me. Aside from that, it is fluff. Oh, and the language is occasionally excessively high-flown - amusing. The first chapter, in present tense, in particular, but also some later bits. Not dialog, that's fine, usually in descriptions and the like. The end is coincidentally convenient, but not beyond the bounds of the genre. Not a favorite, or even one I much want to read again. ( )

I recall enjoying the Silver Chief series when I was young. Another male friend of similar age also remembered enjoying them, but his wife and other female friends did not, so we thought it might be a "guy thing." Rereading the opening, I was struck by the grimness of it; Silver Chief's mother mates with a wolf but rejects him after the pups are born; Silver Chief's siblings are killed very young, and his mother is later shot . Only when Silver Chief is alone does he make friends with a Mountie who become his permanent ally. O'Brien, the author had served with Byrd on a polar expedition, apparently with mixed results. ( )

I read this book and the entire series about Silver Chief back when I was a child, and have reread it whenever I could find an available copy at the local library. The story isn't just about the half wolf, half dog who comes to love a man, but it's also about the Canadian wilderness, the people who live there, and the mounties who always manage to "get their man". It remains one of my all time favorite books. Considering how many thousands of books I have read in my lifetime, that's saying a lot! ( )

Silver Chief is a hybrid of dog and wolf, living alone in the wild he is caught by Mountie Jim Thorne.
This book is brilliantly written, the text so vivid it's not hard to see the images in your head. It's exciting and for anyone who understands the love one can have for their pet it is a good read. It is still my all-time favourite book, it just causes a relationship between itself and the reader and it's hard to put it down.
It is for young adults but the vocabulary used is older than what children nowadays are used to so it's excellent for learning new words. Jack O'Brien just creates a connection between the characters that goes so deep and attaches the reader to them.
Without being biased I would recommend this book to anyone; young adults to adults.