This one I saw in a bookstore a while ago, but back then didn't buy it. Not much later I regretted it, and to make things worse I'd forgotten the title and author, so I couldn't look it up online, either. So recently I went back to the bookstore and than the Lord they still had a copy. So I took it home with me, this book is just too "me" not to own. Let's have a look.
In this non-fiction, author Dan Jones counts down fifty dogs throughout history who have in some way or another played a major role. From the famous ones like Hachiko and Balto, Togo and Fox to the lesser known ones, some even fictional. All of these dogs get a brief time in the spotlight and some illustrations to go along with it.
Overall this book is pretty much what I expected going in, and it was good. Each dog has a small chapter dedicated to them, accompanied by one or more illustrations of them. Some of the chapters are a little longer than others, but the gist stays the same. It's a short but enjoyable read, though there's also definitely some sad stories in here as well.
If I do have a gripe or two, it'd be the illustrations and some dogs not being as influential as others. By illustrations I mean that, while most of the drawings looked, cute, others look crude and rushed and don't do the dog they're speaking of justice. I'd personally also have liked the book to have included photos or perhaps historical illustrations where possible (e.g. for the chapters on Hachi, Laika and the Serum Run dogs). Because these overly simplistic illustrations don't do every dog justice. They also made Hachi (just to name one) look like a modern Akita Inu for whatever reason, which is just not what he looked like in real life. The real Hachiko was blonde/white (not red-and-white) and had a floppy ear. The illustrations just made him look like a generic red-and-white modern Japanese Akita with pricked ears. There's obviously dogs where their looks are up to interpretation (e.g. dogs we don't have any clear images of from long ago), but others like Hachiko, Balto, Togo, etc. we know exactly what they looked like. So that was something I didn't like quite as much about the illustrations.
Also, some of the dogs I don't feel really...belong in this list. Don't get me wrong, some dogs such as photo model dogs or "influencer" dogs definitely are popular, but it just feels a bit weird to put them on the exact same list with other animals who saved lives or did other major things. In comparison being a dog which is just posted a lot to Instagram and has a lot of followers is by far not as impactful and I don't think it's exactly "changing the world" as the title implies. If this book had been called "Famous Dogs" perhaps this wouldn't have been an issue, but it just feels a bit weird to see model and influencer dogs being talked about in the same breath as mythological, heroic, etc. dogs. One definitely had a bigger hand in "changing the world" than others.
Overall this was still a super enjoyable book and I absolutely recommend it, though. These two minor gripes just held me back from giving it a full five stars. If you like dogs, definitely check it out, just beware that not every chapter is wholesome as there's also some sadder ones in here, Laika and Hachiko being the most famous ones.
Rating: 4/5
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