Barron’s Illustrated Guide to 140 Dog Breeds

This book was written by Katharina von der Leyen. My 10-year old son has been wanting to have a dog for the longest time. Unfortunately, his grandmother is not only not a pet lover but is also highly uncomfortable when dogs are around.

I guess my son will have to wait until he has his own place before he can have a dog. In the meantime, he is doing his research by reading up on dogs. This book which he picked up at the book fair last weekend is a visual feast! It is filled with a lot of nice and attractive photos of dogs of all sorts of breeds that you never even knew existed.

There’s a lot of useful information here presented in a “reader-friendly” way. A page is devoted to each featured breed and everything is tackled from height to need for grooming to suitability for city living and even common health problems.

There’s a discussion likewise of each dog’s personality so you will find out which breeds for example are good for children. It’s funny but when my son checked out his desired breed, the personality characteristics of the dog matched his personality. My pet, on the other hand, which I had years ago, had a personality that matched mine. Eerie.

So, if your child is looking out to buy a dog or just wants to learn more about dogs, check this book out.