Tuesday, August 23, 2016

Unlikely Friendships: Dogs ~ Jennifer S Holland (earc) review [@WorkmanPub]

Unlikely Friendships: Dogs: 37 Stories of Canine Compassion and Courage
Workman Publishing Company
August 23, 2016
248 pages
add to Goodreads/buy from Book Depository/or Amazon

A new book from the New York Times bestselling series.

Enhanced with beautiful full-color photographs, these true stories of camaraderie, affection, and remarkable bravery are from the author of the New York Times bestsellers Unlikely Friendships, Unlikely Loves, and Unlikely Heroes, as well as other books and calendars, with nearly two million copies in print.

Meet Rex, a Belgian Malinois who learned to love and trust again through the improbable friendship of a goose. The pit bull named Dolly, whose antics with her best friend, Sheldon the tortoise, include games of tag.

For the millions of dog lovers, this heartwarming and inspirational book celebrates 37 stories of unusual canine companionship.

Unlikely Friendships: Dogs is a great book that shows just how amazing, surprising and loving dgs can be. There are dogs who have helped mother kittens, one who likes hanging with their birds (see the cover), a dog wo looks after a goat and dogs who've helped save lives - of all kinds.

There are a few stories in the book that are more about dogs doing jobs than friendship. They are still amazing and are 'friendships' of a sort, but I mention them because they don't really fit the theme.

A few stories are 'classics' from the other Unlikely books (ie reprinted, exactly, from those earlier books) so if you've read them you may recognize a few animals and their stories. I was still happy to have them included, though.

Aside from the great/humorous/loving/sweet/astounding/beautiful stories about dogs and the, honestly, unlikely friendships they sometimes can form, I loved who was included in this book. Holland's narratives for each story could be cutesy but they seemed to give the best parts of the friends' tale.  What was great was that they were several dog breeds included that I did not know about before. Seeing them here was a great introduction. There was also mention (and usually a brief description) of some rescue organizations, animal welfare groups, service dog trainers that I am glad to now be aware of.

Not all of the friendships in Unlikely Friendships: Dogs have happily ever after endings. I thought that it was very nice that the author still uncluded those. The animal kingdom itself does not always allow for happy endings (in fact, those almost endings are how several friendships began) and to include tales that might include death or (required) separation at some point was appreciated.








digital copy received for review from publisher, via NetGalley

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