02 Jul Review: Dogs and Us: a Fifteen-Thousand-Year Friendship
Dogs and Us: a Fifteen-Thousand-Year Friendship
Written and illustrated by Marta Pantaleo; translated by Debbie Bibo and Yvette Ghione
Groundwood Books, 2024
ISBN: 9781773067711 (hardcover)
$21.99 CAD (hardcover)
48 pages
Ages: 3 to 6 years old
Review by: Elisabeth de Grandpré
Marta Pantaleo’s brightly illustrated journey of the relationship between dogs and humans takes us from prehistoric times to the current day. The linear tale through time is engaging and accessible. It shows the reader how dogs and people weren’t that different in their undomesticated forms, as wolves and early humans, hunting and living in packs. Dog and Us is a translation from Pantaleo’s original Italian and its prose remains smooth and crisp thanks to translators Debbie Bibo and Yvette Ghione. I love that at the end of the book there are pages giving details about the oldest dog breeds that are shown throughout the book: for example, how the Pharaoh Hound’s “likeness [can be found] throughout the tombs of the pharaohs.” The added information at the end, with illustrations of each dog shown in the book, can also add a search and find element. I recommend this book for school library collections because it both educates and entertains.