Captured: The Look of the Dog Book Review & Giveaway!!
February is Spoil Your Pet and Love Your Pet month and I have the perfect book that celebrates the joy each of our dogs give us, often conveyed in their lovely eyes. I just finished the charming and delightful Captured: The Look of the Dog. Written by Fern Goodman with photos/graphics by her sister and renowned pet photographer, Gloria Yarina, The Look of the Dog is special in so many ways. It is rooted in Fern and Gloria’s love of dogs, a sentiment that brought these estranged siblings back together to write this book.
Fern and Gloria are women for whom dogs are the only children they needed. As my friend, Carol Bryant of Fidose of Reality says, their heart beats dog. They marvel at the little, yet powerful, things, and they focus on that special look our dogs give us that show their gratitude and love. Fern and Gloria call it Lovitude.
l to r: Big Tony, Fern, Sonny, Gloria, Lady
photo credit: Dave Yarina
The Look of the Dog is broken into short stories, poems and stream-of-consciousness meanderings about dogs Gloria has met along the way; their tales, really, often told from their perspective. The names of some of the dogs have been changed to protect their parents or facilities from which some of the dogs came. Many of them are shelter dogs, and each has a compelling, humorous or heartfelt story.
The Showgirl
There’s the prancey Show Girl and the Salty Dog, whose weathered face contains a distinct grimace and eyes that express a flat sadness. There’s Picture Perfect about Toliver, a Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever with OCD. In Fern’s words, I felt this dog’s compulsion and his parents’ frustration. And, Gloria’s photo of Toliver on the bed, with a sampling of what he’d retrieved to satisfy his unquenchable desire for order, was picture perfect.
Salty Dog
Toliver of Picture Perfect
There’s a dog who loves tissues and one who’s a digger. There’s Jerry the King Size Optimist, trusting he’ll find a new home and a graceful poem about the virtues of a senior dog. There’s the Dancer and the Princess; the Wiseguy and the Runner. There’s even one called LBD (not your Little Black Dress) that cuts to the heart of discrimination against Large Black Dogs. The stories are rich slices of many different kinds of lives, but they all have “the look.”
King Size Optimist
I loved Blizzard’s Adventure, Soldier Service, Canine Couriers and Saved by the Law. And, I loved the heart of these dogs, captured beautifully through their eyes by Gloria, who created custom backgrounds for over 90 photos to compliment their stories.
The Thinker
On the cover is Gloria’s girl, Jen, one of three. Here’s what she shared about the inspiration for the book: “Jen was sent to me as a foster dog. She charmed my husband. He suggested I see if she would work as a permanent member of our pack. She looks up at me when we are outside with those loving eyes. She became my inspiration for The Look of the Dog.”
She added, “I have a large portfolio of pictures of dogs (clients dogs, foster dogs, rescued dogs from no-kill shelters and more…) taken over many, many years. I wondered what I could do with all these wonderful, expressive faces. I wanted to share them. I remembered my sister Fern could write. Over the years, we both had dogs and different experiences. I asked her if she would be interested in a project writing a book together using my pictures (which later turned more into illustrations than photos) and she said yes. We hashed out a game plan on how to proceed. We shared ideas, stories and after many false starts, you see the final book.”
The Dancer
Gloria and Fern’s story is inspiring. We often hear and many of us experience how our dogs make us better people, help us grow. Through the process of writing this book, Fern and Gloria went through their own journey of learning how to be better sisters and friends. “The hardest part was criticizing each other’s work, the written word and pictures,” Gloria revealed. “Some of the stories started with a picture, a dog’s expression. Some of the stories started with me, but in a serious manner. Fern re-worked my stories so that they would have punch, pop, humor, a snap ending. And I learned how to critique her writing, too.” Pretty powerful stuff.
I can’t recommend Captured: The Look of the Dog enough. Run, don’t walk, to order your copy from Amazon OR enter our GIVEAWAY!! One lucky Bark & Swagger reader will win a copy of the book, courtesy of Fern and Gloria. Thank you!
** The giveaway runs from 7am EST on Thursday, February 26th to 11:59pm EST on March 5th. Good luck!!
Here’s how to enter…
The giveaway is open to U.S. residents, 18+ years of age. Required is to:
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Note the extras you can do to tally up more points!
What is your dog’s look saying?
