Coffee Table Book of: Puppies (Paperback)

Description

Coffee Table Book of: Puppies is a large format book of puppies, printed edge to edge in colour, one picture to a page and the widest carried across two: newborns asleep with their eyes still sealed, first wobbly steps, puppies of many breeds at play, in mischief and fast asleep, faces, ears, noses and paws seen close, paw prints in snow, mud and sand, and the meadows, beaches, barns and gardens where puppies grow up, at many hours and in every season.

The youngest are only days or weeks old: two newborns asleep side by side on clean straw, one crawling blind across a soft blanket, a tiny pink paw and a face with its eyes just opened, still a cloudy blue, and a black puppy taking its first wobbly steps.

Play and mischief run through the book: a dachshund digging up the tulips, a fox terrier chewing an old slipper, a bichon beside a ball of wool unwound across the floor, two boxers in a play bow, two fox terriers at tug of war, a springer with a red ball and a golden retriever carrying a long stick. Then come the naps: a golden puppy asleep on its back in a patch of winter sun, a husky curled in the snow with its tail over its nose, and two cream puppies asleep in long summer grass.

The places stand empty at dawn, noon, dusk and night, in mist, frost, rain and snow: an orchard in blossom, a barn of clean straw, a clear stream in a summer wood, a garden in the first snow, a lane of puddles after rain, a frosted lawn, a bare room with one bright patch of low sun, a still lake at dawn, a snowy field under the stars, a beach, a heather moor and a buttercup meadow.

Short notes run through the book, on how puppies grow from blind newborns into bold young dogs, how they play, learn and sleep, and the breeds and the old work each was made for: golden retrievers were bred to fetch game birds from land and water, puppies are born with their eyes and ears sealed shut, and find their way by smell and warmth, snow dogs sleep curled tight with the tail over the nose, warming the air they breathe, and a puppy’s upright ears are often soft and floppy at first, and one may stand before the other.

Printed in full colour on heavy 150gsm coated paper at 216 x 279 mm (8.5 x 11 inches), as a paperback.