The Call of the Wild

The story

Buck is a large, comfortable house dog in California until a gardener sells him to pay a gambling debt. Within days he is in the frozen Yukon, learning the law of club and fang as a sled dog during the Klondike Gold Rush.

He survives brutal owners, fights the vicious lead dog Spitz, and finally finds a master he would die for, John Thornton — while the wild calls to him more loudly every night.

Themes: survival, instinct, loyalty, the Klondike Gold Rush.

Why it's a good book for language learners

Jack London writes in clear, muscular sentences with a strong forward pull. Most of the story is told through action, which makes it easy to follow even when you meet new words. It is short enough to finish, and the emotional story of Buck keeps you reading to the end.

What you'll practise

• Action verbs: drag, haul, lunge, snarl
• Weather and landscape vocabulary
• Past simple vs. past perfect in narration
• Describing feelings without dialogue

Did you know?

London spent the winter of 1897 in the Yukon during the Gold Rush, and the book draws on what he saw there.

The PageWalker adventure

In the adventure you live Buck's journey through his choices — whom to trust, when to fight and when to wait. The first page is free to play in your browser, and the adventure is available in 13 languages with click-to-translate.

The Call of the Wild in other languages

• EnglishThe Call of the Wild
• العربيةنداء البرية
• DeutschRuf der Wildnis
• EspañolLa Llamada de lo Salvaje
• FrançaisL'Appel de la forêt
• हिन्दीजंगल की पुकार
• ItalianoIl richiamo della foresta
• 日本語野性の呼び声
• 한국어야성의 부름
• PortuguêsO Chamado Selvagem
• РусскийЗов предков
• TürkçeVahşetin Çağrısı
• 简体中文野性的呼唤