DOGS vsHUMANS: A Showdown of the Senses

OWLKIDS BOOKS, 2025

I'll begin by admitting that the lively, colorful visuals of this new picture book nudged me into choosing to read and review it. Certainly, I love nonfiction picture books. And the topic under consideration (comparing the effectiveness of the five sense between humans and dogs) would undoubtedly be fun to read. My only quibble was that title- why would anyone set HUMANS against DOGS, even with humor? Dogs and humans are such an ideal pairing that I flinched at the prospect of pitting one against the other, even if in fun ways. 

Then I took a deep breath and got over myself.

OWLKIDS BOOKS, 2025, Interior

I'm happy that I did. As you can see from this small image on the dedication page, the creators of this book are clearly on close personal terms with dogs, in all their glory, "good boy" days and bad, and they charmingly share their delight, even when canine shenanigans are involved. 

The book in question is DOGS vs HUMANS: A Showdown of the Senses, written by Stephanie Gibeault and illustrated by Bambi Edlund. Endpapers stamped with little dog biscuits made me confident that dogs would fare well in this competition of information, and they did just fine.

 I never doubted that dogs would be the undisputed winners in a comparison of their sense of smell.  The section (Round 2!) entitled WHO SMELLS BETTER? confirmed my prior knowledge but added details that surprised and engaged me. Small side notes (set into dogbone shaped white spaces) are called FIDO FACTS. For larger supplementary text, including my surprise discovery that explains the particular shape of dog nostrils, despite the variations in breeds, full sidebars are used. 

Each sense is given several double page  spreads in these delightfully digestibly-sized passages and tidbits, concluding with a "score" for that sense. In the case of SMELL, dogs won in both categories: detecting smells and communicating with smells. I shared some details about this portion because so many reading here are likely to know something about the power of dog-sniffers, and perhaps even make your own successful guess about that outcome. Trust me when I say, even here i encountered intriguing new facts. The exploration of remaining senses, and their comparative "competition" discussions held even more discoveries, about both dogs and humans. 

The final score comparison was an even bigger surprise! 

Throughout each spread, the competitions are clearly friendly ones and the characters (humans and many breeds) are diverse and delightful. Everyone is having a great time, this reader included. A bonus is a final single page of simple words to know, graced with yet another illustration line-up of fun fidos who seem to be begging for a pet, a scritch behind their ears, or at  least a rereading.

Nonfiction frequently has innate appeal, and  many offer some quite surprising entertainment value. This new book sets a high bar in its thoroughly well-stated facts, great layout and design, and engaging illustrations. Dog-lovers will be delighted, and even those who aren't already fido-fans (WHAT?!) may just be won over to greater appreciation for canines. Kids of any age will love this one, and adults are likely to be intrigued by more than a few surprises in the well-organized content.