Big Dogs, Little Dogs: A Visual Guide to the World's Dogs

PreS-Gr 3—Chinese crested, English cocker spaniel, puli, corgi, and more: breeds both familiar and unfamiliar are positively bursting out of this oversize volume. A table of contents breaks down the dogs by general groups and provides a bit of information. There's a spread for each of the seven major categories (working dogs, hound dogs, sporting dogs, and so on) as well as sections on European, world, and mixed-breed dogs. A final spread is devoted to puppies (the authors explain that "some puppies look very different from the adult dogs they turn into"). Unlike most animal reference guides, this one lacks photographs and contains very little text. Each playful image is accompanied by the breed's name, and a listing at the end features a brief description of each dog, along with a page number indicating where in the book the canine is located. However, what this offering lacks in content it more than makes up for in personality. Medway imbues each of his canines with individuality (an admirable feat, given the sheer number of dogs covered), from the sad-eyed bullmastiff to the scowling bulldog to the cheery American Eskimo dog. These expressive creatures have a gentle, almost old-fashioned look to them, but the artist never veers into anthropomorphism.