National Geographic Kids Everything Dogs: All the Canine Facts, Photos, and Fun You Can Get Your Paws On!
Paws up if you love everything about dogs, from their irrepressible cheeriness to their slobbery tongues. Baines starts with the basics (“What is a dog?”) and moves on to discuss small and large breeds, answer doggie-related questions (“Why do dogs roll in smelly stuff?”), and imagine your pet’s daily schedule (“1:10 P.M. Napped. Dreamed I ran and barked”). This also presents a chart for decoding canine moods and looks at the dog family, which includes coyotes, dingoes, and jackals, among others. Then there are fun sidebars like the one on toilet training Fido (accompanied by a hilarious dog-on-pot shot) and a quiz that reveals your perfect pooch mate. Finally, there’s information on the importance of rescuing and how to get involved if mom and dad won’t let you bring a friend home. It’s a random hodgepodge of all things dog grouped under four main categories. Casual browsers will do best with this and may come away with greater insight into besties everywhere. Grades 3-6. --Ann Kelley