Most of us love to brag about our dogs-and your favorite children’s book illustrators are no exception. Here, in memorable stories and marvelous pictures, are forty-three moments from the world of dogdom, presented by some of the best illustrators who ever won a dog’s love.

These good dogs and their owners are speaking up for a worthy cause: royalties, contributors’ fees, and a portion of the publisher’s profits have been donated to The Company of Animals Fund, which provides grants for veterinary services, homes for stray animals, humane educational programs, and aid for the animals of elderly and the ill.

As one of the contributors to Speak!, Richard Jesse Watson tells about his dog, Frodo, along with a humorous depiction of Frodo with his cohorts in crime. The original painting is in a permanent traveling exhibition with Mazza Collection, University of Findlay,in Ohio.