Hi everyone! I hope you’re all well. Today is Friday, and it’s time for another review. Today, I’m reviewing Amanda Sobotka’s children’s picture book, The Twelve Days of Christmas Dogs.
The Twelve Days of Christmas Dogs will be released on 7th October 2025, by Applesauce Press and is 32 pages long.
The Plot
This delightful picture book reimagines the traditional holiday song “The Twelve Days of Christmas” but with the words changed to make it about dogs, such as “five golden retrievers.”
Characters
There are no characters as such, although the book does feature charming dog breeds, such as Golden Retrievers, Beagles, Dalmatians, Huskies, and more—all taking part in holiday festivities.
Writing Style
The book itself is beautiful. It’s laid out in a way that depicts The Twelve Days of Christmas (but with dogs) so whimsically—and as with the original song, the structure is the story: verse after verse stacks repeating lines, numbers, and dogs, creating a rhythmic, lyrical and lighthearted sing-song momentum that will invite kids to chime in.
Illustrations
The illustrations by Chris Dun are gorgeous. They’re bright, festive, and full of motion, with the artwork bringing each breed to life as they act out festively whimsical scenes.
Each page is colorfully presented with warm tones, vibrantly capturing the essence of the holiday season and the personalities of each dog breed.
Final Thoughts
This festive doggy rhyme is a lovely little read. My child is too old for books like this now, which makes me a little sad, but he would have loved it when he was small. I’m 39 years old and I really enjoyed reading it; it has all my favourite things: Christmas, rhyming, and most of all, dogs!
I got such a nostalgic vibe reading it that it made me wish I could go back in time to when my parents would read me books at bedtime. But, I digress…
I am giving this cute little picture book a full 10/10.
Have you read this one?
Thank you, as always, for reading my review!
Until next time,
George
© 2025 GLT
Categories: Book Reviews, Reading
GEORGE L THOMAS 
I imagine a lot of dog owning adults would love this book! What a fun book and so imaginative to adapt the story to feature dogs!
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Thank you for sharing! My dog-loving seven year old would love this book!
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