Puppy Dog's ABC

Laughing Elephant presents a reproduction of a shaped ABC book (circa 1905) featuring various breeds of dogs and puppies (A is for Afghan etc). The book features breeds both familiar and not so familiar and the charming Victorian illustrations prove that affection for our canine friends is by no means a new phenomena.

 

Alphabet books are much loved by children, and so there have been many of them published over the years.  Happily they provide a stimulating challenge to artists and authors.  This reprint, from 1908, features dog breeds.  The poodle, greyhound and collie are familiar friends, but a few breeds, such as the harrier and the lurcher, show that even dogs change with time's passage.  the rhymes that accompany each letter are delightful and informative, for example:

    N is for the Newfoundland
    Who springs in the wave
    And strives to his utmost
    The drowning to save..

Other passages are more moralistic, as was common in children's books of this era:

    Q stands for the Quarrel,
    It's most sad to see
    Both Puppies and Children
    Who cannot agree.

Some of the dogs herein are less pampered than their more modern counterparts:

    E stands for the dogs of the Eskimo
    Who draws laden sleds for miles over snow.

Charming pictures of dogs leaping, swimming, playing and doing all manner of canine things take us from a to Z in this delightful alphabet book.