Review
The Story of Edgar Sawtelle is a long, eventful, and
whisper-quiet book. The story envelopes you so completely and so gently that you
can almost hear the brush of Edgar's sleeves as he signs to his parents.
David Wroblewski hit on a brilliant narrative device when he decided to rob his
main character of his voice. Edgar can hear and understand but not speak—just
like his dogs. Bringing Edgar down to the level of his dogs shows just how
elevated they are as a species. The book gathers speed by building scene upon
scene of subtly amazing communication between boy and dog. In one instance,
Edgar and Almondine conspire to be secretive. Edgar painstakingly discerns where
to step on each floorboard of the creaky staircase in the old farmhouse so that
he can descend without making a sound, and he teaches her the path, picking up
and placing her paws...
Beyond the Book
Dog Training Methods & The Seeing Eye
Edgar Sawtelle would not have much to say—or sign—to the Dog Whisperer. Cesar
Millan, the star of "The Dog Whisperer" on the National Geographic Channel, is
known for his "pack-oriented" philosophy, which traces canine behavior back to
their survival instinct for living in highly organized packs led by a single,
strong leader. As Millan's
website states, "[I]n order to properly fulfill both our dogs and ourselves,
we each need to become our canine's calm-assertive pack leader." And so Millan
teaches dog owners to exert dominance over their dogs—a practice found in many
dog behavior books. His work has drawn criticism from other trainers who believe
that countering canine aggression with human aggression...
