Jack London: The Call of the Wild and Other Stories

 

In the North it is so cold in winter that everything is covered with ice and snow. The rivers are frozen. If you want to travel, you must use a sledge pulled by dogs. If you walk around in the cold, you must take great care to keep warm and dry. Getting your feet wet can mean that you will die.

 

Why do people want to go to the North? There is gold there. Some people want to find gold and become rich. Other people want to trade with the gold miners. Some understand the North, and live well. Others do silly, dangerous things, and they die.

 

These short stories are about some of the people and animals who lived and worked in the North. You will read about a Californian dog who became a wolf, a man who thought he would become rich by selling eggs, another man who had to build a fire to stay alive - and much more.

 

Jack London: The Call of the Wild and Other Stories. Oxford Progressive English Readers; Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1992

Grade 1 (1,400 headwords)