Laika: Astronaut Dog

In stylized figures and faded hues that recall advertisements in vintage magazines, Davey (Night Knight) remembers a brave animal hero, but rejects the story’s tragic end. Laika, a Moscow stray, “had no family and nowhere to call home.” She hangs her head when a forest of arms points to a “no dogs” sign. Then a silhouette of a man under a streetlamp beckons. On the next page, she has already begun training for the Soviet space program, panting on a treadmill as her heart rate is measured. “Blast off!” reads a central spread, as Laika looks out the rocket’s window—but then something goes wrong. Davey contrasts the story’s known ending (“Many think Laika perished”) with one of his own imagining, in which the dog is rescued “by a loving family that she had always dreamed of finding.” Laika is pictured cuddled on an extraterrestrial father’s lap next to a small blue child. Davey writes that this account “is the one I choose to believe,” but his rewriting of history may lead to some difficult conversations. Ages 5–8. Agent: Folio Illustration Agency (U.K.). (Oct.)