ALA Booklist

When a white puppy gets lost in the park, he earnestly assumes that his owner will search for him. Only later, when he joins a well-organized pack of homeless dogs, does he recognize that he has been abandoned. His new friends name him Waggit for his lively tail and train him in the ways of survival. Led by the astute Tazar, the dogs have staked out a secluded tunnel in a place much like Central Park, where they spend their days gathering food, protecting one another, spying on a rougher gang of dogs, and avoiding the "Great Unknown" e pound. Enhanced by Rayyan's chapter-header drawings, Howe's children's-book debut presents a charming, mostly episodic tale complete with endearing characters and a convincing, invented lexicon: humans, for instance, are "Uprights," and winter is the "Long Cold." Though a development that takes Waggit away from the close-knit pack may leave some readers disappointed, the thoughtful questions raised by his decision elevate this gentle fantasy a notch above simpler animal-survival tales.

Horn Book

Abandoned pup Waggit finds a family with other strays, each of whom has a distinctive voice. Scrounging for food and keeping away from the Uprights (humans) who want to carry them off to the Great Unknown (the dog pound), they hide in a city park and try to avoid an enemy pack. Dog fans will enjoy this tame adventure.

Kirkus Reviews

<p>Howe makes an auspicious children's-book debut in this satisfying novel about an abandoned puppy who finds a family among a pack of stray dogs in Central Park. The pup, dubbed "Waggit" by his new friends, soon finds himself adapting to their ways and discovers his talents as a hunter and tracker. A fearsome group of enemy dogs, however, shares the same domain and leads an equally precarious life. Readers will get caught up in the dogs' adventures and the sad realities of life as a stray: The pound is an ever-present threat, one that Waggit learns about from first-paw experience. His rescue by a loving woman leads to a touching conclusion. Waggit's relationship with his compatriots develops well and lovingly, with humor. While the dogs speak English for readers' convenience, children will nevertheless get a realistic and sobering idea of the dangers strays face, and they will be heartened by the dogs' intelligence and camaraderie. A pleasant read for middle graders, dog lovers or otherwise. (glossary) (Fiction. 9-12)</p>

Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

Photographer Howe's first novel, based on his rescue of an abandoned dog in 1981, is a coming-of-age tale told from the canine perspective, with ample anthropomorphizing. Believing he has been separated from his owner, Waggit crisscrosses Central Park until he is befriended by Tazar, leader of a band of generally affable strays (“We are our own masters; we owe obedience to no one,” Tazar sternly tells Waggit). Waggit's new “brothers and sisters” teach him survival skills that may make vegetarians squirm, and he contributes by trapping “scurries” and “hoppers” when winter descends and food becomes scarce. A battle with a rival pack and the ever-present threat of park rangers who take dogs to the Great Unknown provide tension—Waggit gets captured, but ultimately gains a new home and owner. Dog lovers (especially New Yorkers) will enjoy the knee-high view of the park and Howe's take on canine vernacular—it's not Central Park West but “Goldenside,” and humans are “Uprights.” (A glossary and birds'-eye-view map marking both geography and plot points are provided.) Howe doesn't sugarcoat the lives of homeless dogs, and readers will find themselves drawn into the struggles and triumphs of Waggit's found family. Ages 10-up. <EMPHASIS TYPE=""ITALIC"">(July)

School Library Journal

Gr 4-6 An abandoned puppy meets Tazar, leader of a pack of dogs that ekes out a precarious living in Central Park. The animals accept him and name him Waggit, after his constantly wagging tail, and he gradually learns how to hunt and scavenge for food and negotiate the many hazards of the park. Most important of all, he learns to distrust humans, or "Uprights." Then Waggit is captured by animal-control officers and taken to the pound. When a woman adopts him, he discovers what it's like to be a companion dog and to be treated kindly by a human, even though it means being completely dependent. This is an engaging story, and the various canine characters are depicted in loving detail. Howe does not romanticize the lives of feral dogs; Waggit, Tazar, and the rest of the pack contend with hunger, illness, and serious injuries. However, the tone of this book is less somber than Ann M. Martin's A Dog's Life (Scholastic, 2005), which deals with similar subject matter. Kathleen E. Gruver, Burlington County Library, Westampton, NJ

Voice of Youth Advocates

Abandoned in New York City's Central Park, Waggit, a small terrier, is adopted into a pack of homeless canines. Tazar, the leader of the feral pack, is a wise, admirable patriarch who looks out for lost and stray dogs and teaches them the rules of survival. As a member of Tazar's band, Waggit manages to endure a harsh winter and escape many perils before finally being captured and placed in one of the city's stray animal shelters. There he is lucky to be rescued and given a new home with a more responsible owner. The novel celebrates the wild freedom of the feral dog pack, while also emphasizing the many hazards of urban life for homeless companion animals. Waggit's biography is like a Victorian orphan story (think Tom Jones or Oliver Twist): The hero is born into a good home, and then abandoned by mischance to a dangerous and squalid yet colorful and swashbuckling life of urban crime before finally being rescued back into respectability. Nearly all of the novel's external events are realistic. In the usual way of talking animal stories, however, the canine conversations contain ideas more complex than those one normally ascribes to the barking and body language of dogs. The story will appeal to young dog lovers and to devotees of New York City and Central Park. The layout of the Park is simplified both in the story and on the accompanying map showing the locations of Waggit's important adventures.-Walter Hogan.