BEST IN SHOW

Eighteen children’s book illustrators portray favorite dog breeds, from Labs to mutts, showing their stuff.

In their closing statements, the artists pose with favorite pooches, sometimes in childhood snapshots. Elliott’s accompanying comments, which range from two words for the Old English sheepdog (“Hair! / Everywhere!”) to affectionate rhymed or free verse sentiments, add further buoyant notes. Still, the illustrations steal the show—beginning with Ebony Glenn’s gallery of Labradors and their owners (all exhibiting a range of hues) and continuing to Charles Santoso’s pile of rumpled, sleepy bulldog pups (“Head like a melon. / Face of a felon”), Matthew Cordell’s Scottish terrier marching proudly at the head of a line of full-dress bagpipers, and other purebreds large and small. Capping it all is Oge Mora’s equally proud, paper-collage mutt: “A little this. / A little that. / A little everything but cat.” Notes in smaller type accompanying the entries point out each breed’s distinctive history and characteristics as well as their less savory tendencies to shed, drool, pass gas, or snore. For dogless readers eager for companionship and undeterred by the latter, a reference to shelters at the end offers a suggestion about where to begin a search.

Utterly fetching.