Hurry Home Candy

by Meindert DeJong, ill by Maurice Sendak

252 pages, ages 9-12

I've never heard of this one, but apparently many people have very fond memories of it from their childhood.  Here is the info from Ine inside cover:

The Dog had no name.  For a dog to have a name, someone must love him, and a dog must have someone.  The dog only had the silent empty counryside of the few houses.  The dog had only the crumbs and bare bones he could pick up at the few houses.  The dog had only himself, so the dog had nothing, and he was afraid.

Once he had a name.  When he was still too young to be taken from the warmth and security of his mother, her had been carried away to a strang place to become the pet of two young children.  The boy and girl named the little dog Candy, and after a fe days he grew to love them.  But in the middle part of the day, when he children were at school and he had no one to play with, Candy was lonely and frightened.  Whenever he did something wrong, the children's mother came at him with a broom and he had to run to his corner by the stove.  Even there he couldn't always escap her, and a broom came to be the most terrifying thing in life.

Then one day when the family took him for a ride in the country, a bad storm came up and the car broke down.  In the confuson Candy was left behind.  His life as a stray had begun.

In an exciting story told with great compassion and a deep understanding of both people and animals, the little dog eventually finds security in a warm companionship and mutual trust.  The human characters who take part are obliquely revealed as the relate to the little dig, and, as the sory evolves, a deeper meaning emerges and gives it striking univerality.

The many lovely ink and pen drawings are by Maurice Sendak, the distinguished author and illustrator.

This sounds like a book my daughter would really enjoy.  It recieved the Newberry Honor in 1954.