{"product_id":"bel-ria-isbn-9781681374475","title":"Bel Ria","description":"Sheila Burnford, the author of \u003ci\u003eThe Incredible Journey\u003c\/i\u003e, offers the spellbinding tale of a small dog caught up in the Second World War, and of the extraordinary life-transforming attachments he forms with the people he encounters in the course of a perilous passage from occupied France to besieged England.Nameless, Burnford’s hero first turns up as a performing dog, a poodle mix earning his keep as part of a gypsy caravan that is desperately fleeing the Nazi advance. Taken on ship by the Royal Navy, he is given the name of Ria and serves as the scruffy mascot to a boatload of sailors. Marooned in England in the midst of the Blitz, Ria rescues an old woman from the rubble of her bombed house, and finds himself unexpectedly transformed into Bel, the coiffed and pampered companion of her old age.\u003ci\u003eBel Ria\u003c\/i\u003e is an exciting story about a compellingly real, completely believable dog. Readers of all sorts and ages will find in \u003ci\u003eBel Ria\u003c\/i\u003e a companion to take to heart.“If you love animals in general, dogs in particular, and good stories about them,  you will rejoice in Sheila Burnford’s novel \u003ci\u003eBel Ria . . . \u003c\/i\u003eThe scenes of war, both on land  and sea, are as beautifully done as the rest, with a considerable cast of appealing  human characters also.  There is a special poignancy to animals in wartime, particularly  those not involved in military uses, that not only makes us vibrate to them but points  up the human folly, tragedy, and gallantry…With unerring touch, Mrs. Burnford draws  the threads of people and animals together in resolution, by instinct as sound as  that which once guided Homer in such a matter.  \u003ci\u003eBel Ria\u003c\/i\u003e is a magical story; Mrs.  Burnford has benevolent witchery.” —\u003ci\u003eThe Wall Street Journal\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/i\u003e“\u003ci\u003eBel Ria\u003c\/i\u003e can’t help  but become another classic . . . Sheila Burnford has written a beautiful, moving story,  woven from many fine threads.  I can’t recommend it highly enough for readers from  12 to 90.”—\u003ci\u003eThe Philadelphia Inquirer\u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “A magical, enchanting tale.”—\u003ci\u003eCosmo Magazine\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “The reader will . . . long remember the little dog dancing to bells and flute, responding  to cryptic signals from the cryptic old crone, straining mind and body to earn the  cryptic reward of love.”—\u003ci\u003eThe Washington Post\u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “The author’s descriptions of war are  consistently sharp and the texture of her prose is life-like in the extreme.”—\u003ci\u003eThe  Christian Science Monitor\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cb\u003eSHEILA BURNFORD\u003c\/b\u003e (1918—1984), a Scottish-born Canadian author, wrote books of fiction and nonfiction for both children and adults. In World War II she was an ambulance driver.  Her most famous work was the children's classic \u003ci\u003eThe Incredible Journey\u003c\/i\u003e.","brand":"NYRB Kids","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44887292510437,"sku":"NP9781681374475","price":12.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9781681374475.jpg?v=1767722403","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/es\/products\/bel-ria-isbn-9781681374475","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}