top of page
Close
 

Log In

Email or User Name:
Password:

Forgot your password?

Please register with Shopping.com.
Share your opinions and help others make informed buying decisions.Close
Email Address:
User Name:(4-14 characters.)
Password:(At least 7 characters, different than username.)
Verify password:
Verification code:

By clicking on the button below, you agree to the Shopping.com User Agreement and Privacy Policy.


Sign me up to receive Shopping.com's great deals and promotions.

Thank You  for registering at Shopping.comClose
The confirmation message has been resent to your inbox.
 
Please check your email account below to activate your membership:


No email yet?
Forgot PasswordClose
Your temporary password has been resent to your inbox.
 
A temporary password has been sent to your email. Once you sign in, please visit your member profile page to change your password.

No email yet?

Please enter the email address you used to register your account. If you can't remember your email, please contact customer service at support@shopping.com.
Email Address:
Clicking on "Submit" will reset your password. A temporary password will be sent to the email you enter above.
 

William Armstrong - Sounder

from $0.25 11 offers
William Armstrong - Sounder
 
 
 
 
 
Lowest Price!
HotBookSale
$0.25
Free Shipping!
 
Second Lowest Price
HotBookSale
$0.25
Free Shipping!
 
Featured Offer
HotBookSale
$0.25
Free Shipping!
 

Product Review

Sounder: not a book about the dog, but it is about a boy

by   aubmom ,   Jun 30, 2005

Pros:  good story that older children can enjoy, great underlying messages of life.

Cons:  may be confusing for some young readers, the characters do not have names.

The Bottom Line:  Encourage your children to read Sounder. It has great messages of life. You may need to read it also to help your children see more than just the story.

Overall Rating: 3/5 stars
 

Author's Review

My three oldest children had to do a book report with an adult for a summer read. Instead of me reading 3 books, we had our own book club and we all read Sounder by William Armstrong. The book was 110 pages (short) and my 10 year old could read it, plus my 12 and 13 years old sons didn’t think it was a “kid” book. I found it to have lots of underlying messages but wondered if my children would have got more than just the story if I had not pointed the messages out. The picture cover and the name of the book may suggest the story is about a dog, but it is more about a young boys life and how he grew from loss.

The Story itself

Sounder is the story a poor black sharecropper family living in the Deep South. The main character, a young boy, is simply referred to in the story as “boy.” He lives with his mother, father, siblings, and his beloved coon dog, Sounder. To feed his family, the father is driven to stealing food in order to put a meal on the table. The father is eventually caught by the authorities and is imprisoned for his crime, sentenced to years of hard labor. Throughout this ordeal the family finds way to survive. The mother acquires a saint-like patience in waiting for the return of her husband, while the boy goes on endless quests, to locate the whereabouts of his father. The mother often refers to stories from the Bible and these stories are comfort to the boy. As the boy makes his journey through life, he comes across a teacher that takes the time to teach him to read. Literacy does change the boy’s attitude about life. The boy quits trying to locate his father and matures. The boy’s father does return changed also.

Who should read the book

The book is easy to read, but may be confusing to a young readers. Any children ages 11 and up could read this book as well as adults. There are no names in the story of the characters except the dog. This may be confusing to some readers, but the author gives great descriptions of the characters. This would be a great book for a teacher to teach in literature class. There are messages of hope, endurance, loneliness and prejudice.

What about the dog?

The role the dog plays in the story seemed smaller than the story itself. The dog is shot by the deputies that take the boys father away. Sounder run off and returns injured. He is part of the boy’s life, but does not take up the story.

Final thoughts

The story of Sounder was a great story. The read was easy for me. All of the my children finished it quickly. The said it wasn’t the best book they ever read, but it was good. I think some could love the book and not interest others because of the content. There is a small bit of violence in the book that may bother some children. The part of the book where the father is taken away and Sounder is shot is one. The other is the boy’s encounter with a prejudice jailor. I think the book gives messages of endurance and how literacy can be part of a solution in loneliness.

Side note:
There is a movie that is taken from the book. After we read the book, we saw the movie. There were several differences in the two. So don't watch the movie instead of reading the book.
 

Compare stores & prices  |  See All Reviews »

 

Back to top

Stores and Prices

 
Paperback, Sounder

Paperback, Sounder

( In stock )
Sounder cannot save his master--a father driven to steal for his hungry family--from the sheriff's posse, or from the cruel fate that awaits both...
HotBookSale
 
FREE SHIPPING
See only offers from HotBookSale (4)
Paperback, Sounder

Paperback, Sounder

( In stock )
The Powerful Newbery Award-Winning ClassicA landmark in children's literature, winner of the 1970 Newbery Medal, and the basis of an acclaimed fi...
HotBookSale
 
FREE SHIPPING
See only offers from HotBookSale (4)
Paperback, Sounder

Paperback, Sounder

( In stock )
Sounder cannot save his master--a father driven to steal for his hungry family--from the sheriff's posse, or from the cruel fate that awaits both...
HotBookSale
 
FREE SHIPPING
See only offers from HotBookSale (4)
Paperback, Sounder

Paperback, Sounder

( In stock )
The Powerful Newbery Award-Winning ClassicA landmark in children's literature, winner of the 1970 Newbery Medal, and the basis of an acclaimed fi...
HotBookSale
Featured Store
 
FREE SHIPPING
See only offers from HotBookSale (4)
Paperback, Sounder

Paperback, Sounder

Fantastic prices with ease & comfort of Amazon.com! ( In stock )
Pages: 116, Edition: Revised, Paperback, HarperCollins
Amazon Marketplace
2.5/5.0 store rating Trusted Store
 
See only offers from Amazon Marketplace (5)
Paperback, Sounder

Paperback, Sounder

Fantastic prices with ease & comfort of Amazon.com! ( In stock )
Pages: 96, Paperback, Harper Perennial Modern Classics
Amazon Marketplace
2.5/5.0 store rating Trusted Store
 
See only offers from Amazon Marketplace (5)
Hardcover, Sounder

Hardcover, Sounder

Fantastic prices with ease & comfort of Amazon.com! ( In stock )
Pages: 128, Edition: 1st, Hardcover, HarperCollins
Amazon Marketplace
2.5/5.0 store rating Trusted Store
 
See only offers from Amazon Marketplace (5)
Paperback, Sounder

Paperback, Sounder

Available ( In stock )
A landmark in childrens literature, winner of the 1970 Newbery Medal and the basis of an acclaimed film, Sounder traces the keen sorrow and the abidin...
Christianbook. com
Featured Store 4.5/5.0 store rating
 
Paperback, Sounder

Paperback, Sounder

Free Shipping on orders of $25 or more! ( In stock )
Classics Fiction - Angry and humiliated when his sharecropper father is jailed for stealing food for his family, a young black boy grows in courage an...
Barnes and Noble
2.0/5.0 store rating
 
Audio - Compact Disc, Sounder

Audio - Compact Disc, Sounder

Fantastic prices with ease & comfort of Amazon.com! ( In stock )
Edition: Unabridged, Audio CD, HarperChildrensAu dio
Amazon Marketplace
2.5/5.0 store rating Trusted Store
 
See only offers from Amazon Marketplace (5)
Hardcover, Sounder

Hardcover, Sounder

Fantastic prices with ease & comfort of Amazon.com! ( In stock )
Pages: 161, Hardcover, Steck-Vaughn
Amazon Marketplace
2.5/5.0 store rating Trusted Store
 
See only offers from Amazon Marketplace (5)
 

Compare all 11 store offers

 
 

Sponsored Listings

About sponsored listings
 
 
 
 
advertisement
 
 

Copyright © 2000-2009 Shopping.com