Shiloh (the book) by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor vs. Shiloh the movie

Shiloh

By: Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

Though I have heard about Shiloh for years and knew most of the story , I had never seen the movie or read the book. I decided it was time to do both! I read the book first. It was very good. As I was reading I thought about how I just discussed negatives with my class. This book contains many examples of the characters using double negatives in their dialogue. Also, I remember from an article I read a while back that the main character in stories is usually a girl. This book has an eleven year old male main character.

The book and the movie were very similar. They both made it very clear the love between he boy and the found beagle. Both book and movie did a fantastic job showing the strong relationship between Marty and his family as well as the strong dislike between Judd Travers and Marty. The overall stories were the same. A boy finds a dog and hides it from his family. When his family finds out they insist he gives the dog back to the owner. The dog gets hurt so the family works together to get him well before returning it to the owner. The owner finds out and gets upset. Marty makes a deal to work for the owner to buy the dog. The owner doesn't want to, but eventually gives in. (With help from a little blackmail). In the end of the book and the movie Mary ends up with a new addition to his family, Shiloh.

Though there were many similarities, there were some small differences as well. The differences I noticed didn't change the story, just a few of the scenes changed from book to movie. One of the biggest differences is the character "Sam" in the movie. She is a granddaughter of the Doctor and is one of Marty's friends. In the book she doesn't exists. The book has Marty's only friend being David. Thought the movie does mention David, he is never seen. Sam has several roles in the movie. Another difference is the blackmail Marty uses against Judd Travers. In the book Marty sees Judd kill a deer and says he will turn him in to the game warden if he doesn't sale Shiloh to him. In the move he sees Judd shoot at a fox and catch rabbits out of season. He makes the same deal, if he doesn't sale Shiloh to him he will turn him in to the game warden. In the movie the mom goes looking for a job to help the family. She tries to sale nail polish and get a job as a hair dresser. This does not happen in the book. There were a few other small differences, but like I said, the overall story and message from the book and the movie were alike.