Loki the husky is the central character in this lively saga. In dog daycare, he joins a cohort calling itself F5, whose friendship offers human readers an inside view of canine beings. Loki's pals include the attention-seeking Chihuahua, Pixie, who frantically tries to control her young keepers. Then there's Weekday, a bearded collie and natural leader who, after a cozy puppyhood, loses his dog mother and his human godmother. Akita Kiko is a powerful runner whose maltreatment eventually leads to happier placement. Rounding the friends off is Luke, a Belgian Shepherd exploited for pit fighting who escapes to a warm adoptive home. Loki's recollections are perhaps the most distressing. Torn from his mother and confined to a puppy mill, he waited agonizing months for adoption but now lives comfortably with a cheerful Indian family. But lately, Loki pines for his birth mom. Does he dare run away and seek her out?

Both authors of this engaging tale have canine connections. Vemuri's began when a daughter gifted a dog to replace children now flown from the nest, and Gupta has studied dog behavior closely for ten years. Their observations come to fruition in this, the first volume in Loki's epic. Readers who have dogs will be well satisfied with the authors' depiction of canine experience, the emotive illustrations, and the "translation" of language. Meanwhile, those considering adopting a puppy or older dog can gain valuable insight from the memories shared by the F5 brigade. The authors have taken into account how dogs differ from mankind physically and their possibly superior moral code and heightened sense of intuition as they study human traits as closely as people study theirs. This is an affecting story for dog lovers and potential dog owners of all ages.

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