A Dog for Christmas

By: Linda Byler / Narrated By: Scott Merriman

Length: 4 hrs and 17 mins

A very touching story of living faith… not much about Christmas

Henry and Harvey are twin brothers born to a poor Amish family (With a multitude of children) during very hard times. They don’t know much about food, hygiene, education, but they have each other, and soon they have Lucky a Newfoundland they discover, adopt, and soon love as a best friend.

Sorta adopted by another family (Just too many mouths to feed at home), they learn what it is to have full bellies, how to brush their teeth, and have long walks to school. And they always have each other as they learn the ways of this new Amish family, learn of hard work and jobs well done, learn of community, of faith, of God.

Soon, however, Harvey drowns trying to save a little dog from a flood-swept creek, and Henry is left with this new family with only Lucky to pour his heart out to. Life goes on, Henry finds his true love, lets her grow up and move and marry another man, and soon he’ll lose Lucky too.

A Dog for Christmas is very much just one man’s journey from boyhood to manhood, from a questioning faith to a stronger more enduring one. There are no big bells and whistles, but the writing is lovely, and it was nice to read of a young man who simply wants to do the right thing, live life the best he can, trying not to get hurt again, but learning to open himself up to the world, to life, to God, and ultimately to love. There’s not very much Christmas except for at the very end when Henry’s life work comes home to him in a single Christmas of love and best wishes.

Scott Merriman does a lovely job with the narration, and while his female voices were a tad off at times, ultimately it in no way detracted from either the story or the character development. He takes a slow-moving book and doesn’t make it drag, but gives it a sweet solemness instead. Henry is a quiet boy, young man, man, but Merriman doesn’t make him dull; rather, he comes off as thoughtful and earnest. And by the time we get to that Christmas, we feel that he’s guided us through a very sweet journey indeed.

While I was a bit disappointed that this wasn’t the Christmas-themed story I thought it’d be, I must say that it left me with a warm, fuzzy feeling, like I’d just eaten something that hit that sweet spot without being cloying (Which, perhaps, say Christmas Jars might be for some people).

And what’s wrong with warm and fuzzy at Christmas?

Almost like having a cat on your lap, or a dog by your feet while you sit by the fire and dream of faith and friendship. Ho, ho, ho!