The Call of the Wild
Jack London · 1903
This book is rated Ages 10+. It isn't available on your library card.
Buck is a big, proud dog who rules a sunny California estate. Then he is stolen and shipped north to the Klondike gold rush, where he must learn the law of club and fang to survive in the frozen wild, and where something ancient inside him starts to wake.
A harsh adventure with beatings, dog fights and deaths of animals and people. These are shown by the moment before or after, at a distance or in shadow, never in gruesome detail.
Characters
Buck
A huge, proud dog who is stolen from his sunny California home and must learn the harsh law of club and fang in the frozen North.
John Thornton
A kind, weathered gold prospector whose gentle ways win a love and loyalty from Buck that no other master ever earns.
Spitz
The sly, cold-eyed white husky who leads the team and becomes Buck's bitter rival from their very first days together.
François
The towering French-Canadian dog-driver who rules the team firmly but fairly with his whip and comes to admire Buck.
Perrault
A small, quick, fearless government courier who buys Buck in Seattle and races the mail across the frozen trails.
Hal
A foolish, careless young newcomer to the North who knows nothing about dogs, sleds or the dangers of the trail.
About the story
The Call of the Wild follows Buck, a big, good-natured dog who lives a comfortable life on a judge's sunny estate in California. In 1897, when the Klondike gold rush creates a sudden demand for strong sled dogs, Buck is stolen, sold and shipped north to the frozen Yukon. There he must learn a hard new life in harness, pulling mail and supplies across hundreds of miles of snow and ice.
The story is told mostly through Buck's eyes. He meets fair drivers and cruel ones, loyal teammates and dangerous rivals, and he slowly gives up the habits of a pampered pet. Jack London had gone to the Klondike himself in 1897, and his frozen trails, rushing rivers and mining camps feel real. The book is about survival, loyalty and the pull between civilization and instinct, as the wildness of Buck's ancestors begins to wake in him.
First published in 1903, the novel made London famous and is still one of the best-loved animal stories in American literature. It is short and fast-moving, and it is told with real feeling for its animal hero. Readers have returned to it for more than a century, and it is still widely read in schools.
This edition is a condensed picture-book retelling in 41 illustrated pages, with about 15 minutes of synthetic-voice narration and AI illustrations drawn for this edition. Jack London's full original text is in the public domain, free to read, and well worth reading too.
Adapted from The Call of the Wild by Jack London (1903), public domain.
Questions
What is The Call of the Wild about?
It tells the story of Buck, a pet dog from California who is stolen during the Klondike gold rush and sold as a sled dog in the Yukon. As he learns to survive the harsh North, his wild instincts slowly wake up.
Who is the main character in The Call of the Wild?
The hero is Buck, a large St. Bernard–Scotch shepherd mix. Most of the story is told from his point of view, and the human characters come and go in his life.
Is The Call of the Wild suitable for children?
This edition is rated 10+. The story shows dogs being beaten, fierce dog fights and the deaths of animals, and these scenes can upset younger children, but there is nothing graphic beyond that. Older children and teens often read the novel at school.
How long does this edition take to read or listen to?
The narrated edition runs about 15 minutes over 41 illustrated pages.
Is this the full book?
No. It is a condensed retelling that follows the main events of the novel. London's complete text is in the public domain and free to read.
Read the text version: every page's caption, with its picture, on one page.
