Starred Review ALA Booklist

Starred Review Award-winning illustrator-author Jenkins offers readers a delightful and insightful grab bag of facts about a human's best friends. Yes, friends ural. Because this book is a twofer: when you've finished reading about dogs, you simply turn the oversize book around, and there esto a similar format about cats. The two animals meet in the middle in a double-page spread that shows the natural antagonists harmoniously sharing a space. The information out the respective species' origins, special characteristics, "amazing" facts, etc. widely available elsewhere, but this offers a good introduction for novice naturalists. Moreover, this title has something the others don't: cut-and-torn-paper collagepictures that alone are worth the price of admission. Dynamic, intricate, and informed by affectionate humor, they show dogs and cats of all shapes and sizes and packed with personality. The clever collages have an almost 3-D effect, so much so that kids d adults ll want to reach out and pet.

School Library Journal Starred Review

K-Gr 5-This could have been just another book about pets, albeit with a clever gimmick (after reading about one of the species, youngsters can flip the volume over to learn about the other). However, Jenkins has created a book that reaches beyond the mundane and into the spectacular. The two halves of this whole are intertwined throughout. In the part about dogs, cat icons serve as teasers for the other section, and vice versa. The two halves meet in the center with a large illustration of a cat and dog lying together on a rug-a seamless transition from one subject to the other. The lively narrative provides a copious amount of information, examining each species in human history, describing evolution and domestication, highlighting physical characteristics and behaviors, and finishing up with amazing facts about each animal. The layout is excellent, with images dominating the text. Jenkins's cut- and torn-paper collages are stunning. Rough edges look like tufts of fur; patterns in the paper give these flat images vitality. This is a thoroughly attractive package from start to finish. Shared aloud, it is a treat not to be missed.-Kara Schaff Dean, Needham Public Library, MA Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information.

Horn Book

Jenkins clearly presents scientific information in this uniquely styled flip-book comparison of dogs and cats. The extensive text and sidebars explicate characteristics, along with plenty of trivia. Muted cut-paper illustrations convey texture, color, and form. Generous formatting leaves room for small illustrations in page corners to earmark tidbits about the opposite species. An inviting, multidimensional introduction to the pets we love.

Kirkus Reviews

A turn-it-around-and-flip-it-over volume delivers from ends to middle the straight goods on the world's most popular house pets, a cleanly innovative design allowing interaction between the two parts throughout. Jenkins's usual striking collages of cut and torn paper create his subjects in all their textures as he describes their prehistoric passages to domesticity and various and sundry facts about our canine and feline friends. The two narratives mirror each other, essentially following the same structure and at times asking the same questions (the answers to "Are dogs smarter than cats?" and "Are cats smarter than dogs?" for instance, hedge their bets diplomatically). Each double-paged spread features one thematic discussion, images arrayed on a clean white background and smaller sidebars providing additional information. Nothing new here, but the addition of icons at the bottom of each spread shows the other animal and gives one small, related fact, adding an element of interactivity that both teases and pleases. Sure to see plenty of use. (Picture book/nonfiction. 6-10)

Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

Man's best friend and its feline counterpart receive some stunning paper collage treatment in Jenkins's (<EMPHASIS TYPE=""ITALIC"">Actual Size) latest work. The two-in-one format offers wide-ranging facts presented in an easy-to-digest, conversational style (with a flip of the book, dog lovers and cat lovers can zero in on one or the other). Section headings in red typeface introduce substantial text blocks and lengthy captions, which touch on topics from ancestry and hunting skills to anatomy and body language. Both halves also include a spread of "amazing facts," and another entitled, "I wonder...." The latter offers explanations for the more unusual characteristics of each animal, such as why cats chase their tails ("They still enjoy acting out this hunting behavior") and why dogs might roll in manure ("A wild dog will roll in the dung of grazing animals to hide its own scent, allowing it to sneak up on its prey"). Jenkins's trademark cut- and torn-paper vignettes, with their subtle shadings and fuzzy or crinkled textures, are so carefully crafted that images of a few of the creatures (e.g., the English mastiff, the Siamese cat) could almost pass for photographs. The book's middle spread acts as a transition, depicting both a cat and dog stretched out on the same green rug, beneath the heading, "Friends or enemies?" (and alongside instructions to "turn the book over and start from the other side"). No matter what side readers are on, they'll come away with a better understanding of both species. Ages 6-10.<EMPHASIS TYPE=""ITALIC""> (May)