Dugga

MY THOUGHTS

*Wordless Picture Book*

I believe that as pet parents, we tend to anthropomorphise our pets and believe they are saying and loving a lot more than they probably are. So, a book or even a movie featuring a dog will immediately move us to tears, and we will begin to see our fur baby in the role of the protagonist.

Dugga moved Giggles and Gurgles (ok me too) to tears. That’s the power of this wordless picture book. This is a story about a carefree stray pup who goes about his day playing with chickens and chasing after food. He meets with a terrible accident and loses one of his hind legs. The road to recovery is long and painful, but he emerges happy, smiling, and a true ray of sunshine!

Illustrator Rajiv Eipe, draws each panel from the POV of Dugga. So we see the world from the ground up. The only human faces we see are those that rescue Dugga and get him help. From looking bemused to sniffing aromas and feeling hungry; from scratching that itch to lighting up a room with a smile — Eipe manages to make you feel like you are in the room with Dugga. And the best part? He has captured idiosyncracies like that long stretch post wake up, curling up like a ball to sleep in the middle of chaos, that anger when they miss a fly, and that head-in-the-lap expression.

In our increasingly intolerant world, kids are growing up learning to dislike stray animals and believing that they are dangerous creatures. Books like Dugga are so important to change that mindset, and they teach young readers to look at animals through kinder eyes. 

If it wasn’t clear already, I ❤️Dugga and you should bring him home too!