Dogs Vs Humans - Perfect Picture Book Friday #PPBF

In the vein of other showdown books, this entertaining picture book takes dogs and humans through the paces in a competition to determine who has the best senses.

Book cover - in front of a fan of blue rays and blue and white stars, a boy and a St. Bernard square off.

Dogs Vs Humans: A Showdown of the Senses

Author: Stephanie Gibeault

Illustrator: Bambi Edlund

Publisher: Owl Kids (March 18, 2025)

Ages: 6-9

Themes:

Dogs, five senses, competition, and biology.

Synopsis:

Whose five senses are superior: dogs or humans?

In a showdown of the senses, who would come out as top dog: canines or humans? This junior nonfiction book for ages 6 to 9 creates a fierce but fun competition, comparing the ways dogs and humans perceive the world through each of the five senses: sight, smell, taste, touch, and hearing.

As dogs and humans are playfully pitted against each other, with one round for each sense, young readers will discover the scientific and evolutionary explanations behind our differences. It’s a close race! Humans win for sight, with better depth perception, distance, and color vision. But dogs are stronger sniffers―with their noses, some can even locate people buried in an avalanche or detect an illness before a doctor has diagnosed it. And the winner is … Well, in the end, it’s a tie!

With lively, cartoon-style illustrations, this book is an engaging and informative introduction to dog behavior that can help kids better understand and appreciate their canine companions.

Opening Lines:

DOGS can do some incredible things, like find hikers lost deep in the woods or spot intruders sneaking around in the dark.

How do they do it? They use their keen senses!

What I LOVED about this book:

A conversational text, aimed at older readers, introduces each of the five senses and evaluates the differences between the ways humans and dogs use their senses. I love Bambi Edlund's illustrations, especially the ones involving sight, where she shows exactly WHAT and HOW dogs and humans see. It is such a great visual. I had never seen an example of what a dog actually sees and their peripheral vision. It's so cool.

Internal spread - on the left, above a human head is the neighborhood image a person sees. On the right, above the dog's head everything - except for a moving object - is blurred.

Text © Stephanie Gibeault, 2025. Image © Bambi Edlund, 2025.

I also didn't realize exactly what parts of the light spectrum dogs can see. Using half portions of a rainbow is a fun way to concretely show readers a comparison of the color range. In addition to word play in the text - such as, "dogs are super hear-oes!," - the book is full of silly dad jokes in orange bubbles ("Q: What do you call the dog who found a lost hiker? A: A scent-sational sniffer!"), bright colorful images of dog antics, a cartoonish dog score assistant, and interesting "Fido Facts" set off within a little bone. As noted by the assistant, humans win Round 1 - with a score of 3 to 1.

Internal spread - on the left, a rainbow with a human at one side & dog at the other shows the difference in the color spectrum each sees. On the right, person in bed turning on light as a dog standing on another is caught trying to swipe the person's glasses.

But, what about the other senses? It will be no surprise that dogs overwhelmingly take the win for "Who Smells It Better?" After all, the noses are built to smell. But did you know their nose prints are as distinct as human fingerprints? Or exactly what they can detect with smell - including the health of both other dogs and humans.

This same humorously factual competition continues through an evaluation of taste, touch, and hearing. With a super interesting, unexpected "Bonus Round." The marvelously diverse caste of humans and dogs help the reader discover that the winner of the Showdown of the Senses is … well now, you are just going to have check out the book.

Internal spread - a girl in a wheel chair, with a dog on her lap, four dogs and two other kids cluster around listening to a cricket singing on a branch.

This informational picture book is a really fun way to examine the differences, similarities, and exceptional abilities of dogs and humans. And includes a glossary for some of the more scientific terms. It's a book that will be enjoyed by dog owners and dog lovers alike.

Resources:

do an outdoor or indoor sensory scavenger hunt and many others.
try some experiments with your senses (here) and (here).
pair this with Trouble Dog: From Shelter Dog to Conservation Hero by Carol A. Foote, illustrated by Larry Day and Sniffer Dogs: How Dogs (and Their Noses) Save the World, by Nancy Castaldo.

If you missed my interview with Stephanie Gibeault on Monday, find it (here).

This post is part of a series of blog posts by authors and KidLit bloggers called Perfect Picture Book Fridays. For more picture book suggestions and resources see Susanna Leonard Hill's Perfect Picture Books.