"Gobi: A Little Dog With a Big Heart" by Dion Leonard, Illustrated by Lisa Manuzak

Gobi: A Little Dog With a Big Heart is an adorable children's book that shares the true story of a stray dog who runs with ultra-marathon runner through the Gobi desert.

Rather than focusing around a conflict, this book instead focuses on the power of friendship. The biggest challenge the runner and dog duo must overcome is a water crossing, which the runner carries the dog across. After the story ends, an author note expresses further challenges, including losing the dog in a city and having to wait an quarantine period before being able to take the dog back to his home country to live. I liked that the book stayed focused on their friendship, though I was also interested to read more of the story in the author's note.

I loved the illustrations of the dog, Gobi. She's a scruffy-looking pup with big, loving eyes. The author's photo on the book jacket shows Dion holding Gobi, who looks very similar to the illustrations, though less scruffy.

I really enjoyed the writing, too, which shared perspectives of Dion and Gobi.

The cover is very well done with Gobi's name in large glossy letters and Gobi herself glossy and bounding through a matte desert scene.

I received a copy of this book from Book Look, but was not required to post a positive review.