Canine alphabet finds eager audience

Caroline Skelton
cskelton@nsnews.com

Like so many good stories, this one began with cookies and chihuahuas.

"It started off with a drawing," explains Dianna Bonder, author of the recently released Dogabet, a canine-themed alphabet book.

The drawing, which was inspired by her own chihuahua, featured several of the dogs, along with the occasional chinchilla and cat, munching on chocolate chip cookies; naturally, she titled it "Chubby Chihuahuas Cheerfully Chew Chocolate Chip Cookies."

Then came the "perky pink pugs," and soon Bonder had herself a deal for a new book.

The resulting alphabet book features a different breed for every letter, as well as special seek-and-find clues for older readers, and, of course, alliterative captions.

Yet through its 24 silly illustrations, Dogabet is also helping to promote a very un-silly message about animal welfare.

While putting together Dogabet, Bonder decided to take her support of animal charities to a new level, donating partial proceeds from the book to charitable groups in the U.S. and Canada.

"I've always been one to give to animal charities on my own, but there's only so much that I as a person making a limited income can ever do," she says.

Bonder will donate 10 per cent of the royalties from the book to animal charities - in the U.S., proceeds will go to Noah's Wish, while in Canada, they will go to Big Heart Rescue.

And for Bonder, it's not just a matter of donating funds. When she began communicating with Big Heart Rescue about the Dogabet fundraising effort, she was quickly impressed by the Victoria-based organization, which helps to find homes for dogs from areas with pet overpopulation problems, like Bella Bella.

Soon, this communication led to her adopting a Neapolitan mastiff, Sara, into her own home.

"It has really come full circle," says Bonder.

Sara joins Bonder's two other dogs, a pomeranian and the aforementioned chihuahua, at the family's Gabriola Island home.

She also joins Bonder's two-year-old daughter, who is the family pack's biggest fan. In touring through schools with the book, Bonder has found this enthusiasm a common trait among her young readers.

"The response from children on dogs is unbelievable," she says. "There's particular dog breeds that classes just go crazy for, and it's usually chihuahuas and dachshunds."

The more unique breeds, like pulis - or, as they're called in the book, "unusual pulis" - also spark questions and discussions in classrooms.

But the most popular question, of course, is what dog breed was chosen for each letter.

"Every kid in the class wants to know what dog I've done for that letter, because they may own, you know, a maltese," she said.

Some letters, said Bonder, were easier to work with than others. While the "nine noble Newfoundlands," "rambunctious retrievers" and "mischievous mutts" may have been more readily apparent, letters like Z, U and the infamous X presented big challenges.

"I think X was definitely the most challenging," says Bonder. "It's always the same. Every alphabet you ever look in it's always X-Ray and xylophone."

In her book, it was "Six Fox Terriers Wax Six Exotic Saxophones" - with an emphasis on the Xs - that finally made the cut.

Bonder is no stranger to alphabet books, having written and illustrated Accidental Alphabet, and illustrated A Pacific Alphabet.

In this one, she aimed to increase her readership demographic by including some challenging words and puzzles for older readers. But with its bright, beautiful illustrations, it shouldn't be hard to convince young readers to pick up the book.

Besides, the subject matter seems to be irresistible. While she's not sure why kids love dogs so much, Bonder can make a guess: "Maybe with a dog it's just somebody that gives you this unconditional freedom to be who you are."

Tomorrow morning Bonder will visit Indigo Books in the South Mall at Park Royal Shopping Centre for a reading at 11 a.m.

published on 04/20/2007