In his preface to this lovely hand-drawn paean to a real-life construction project, Huneck, author of the beloved Sally-based children's books, explains how his canine church came to be. When Huneck fell victim to Adult Respiratory Distress Syndrome after breaking some ribs, he had a near death experience in which a dog-headed figure came to him, and sold him a fantastic dog sculpture that seemed to contain the secrets of life itself. When Huneck, against predictions, recovered, he was seized with the idea of building a dog chapel on his "Dog Mountain" spread in Vermont. He began construction in 1997, and the eight pages of color photos here show a dignified New England structure as enjoyed by canine denizens. But the real impression of the book is made by Huneck's signature prints and captions ("If your dog is your guru, you could do a lot worse")—featuring dogs of various breeds and deeply empathetic miens. Few of them seem to involve the chapel itself, making the book somewhat disjointed, but beautiful blocks of color and careful hatching work make for wonderful canine tableaux: dogs as portrait sitters, children's companions, objects of affable affection, guide workers, and angels. Even the most jaded cat lovers will have trouble dismissing it. (Nov.)
