The Dangerous Book for Dogs is not really written by two dogs named Rex & Sparky as the cover claims. The reality is that a number of authors co-wrote this book as a parody of Conn Iggulden's The Dangerous Book for Boys – as if the readers and authors were dogs. Joe Garden, the editor of The Onion magazine, has co-written and written several other books and currently lives with his wife in Brooklyn. Janet Ginsburg has extensive experience as a field producer, producer and writer for television programs, a former staff writer for The Onion and freelance writer. Chris Pauls is a contributing writer to The Onion magazine. Anita Serwacki is also a contributing writer to the same magazine, and a supervisor or writer for many other television programs. And finally, Scott Sherman is also involved with The Onion magazine and has been a writer for A&E’s television network.

Contributions to this book do not end with this list. Emily Flake created all of the illustrations, including those on the cover. Emily is also an author and cartoonist who claims to enjoy boxing, knitting and pie.

My husband picked up the book one day and began grinning almost immediately, letting out the occasional grunt of humor upon reading only a few pages. I particularly enjoyed very much the chapters “Foul Smells Every Dog Should Roll in,” “What to do During a Thunderstorm,” “How to Conduct Yourself in a Car,” “Five Things Every Dog Should Have” and “How to Train and Reward a New Human.” Hero dog legends such as “Belle the Beagle – Real Life Saver” and “Lou – One Helluva Dog” were a wonderful touch to an already humorous book that tries to look at life as a dog does.

Reading this book a little at a time – rather than all at once – is like reading a Far Side cartoon - the longer you think about it, the funnier it gets. It's a perfect mealtime, bedroom or bathroom reading book, in that each section is divided into tidy bits that are easily read in short amounts of time.

The Dangerous Book for Dogs was published in the U.S. by Villard books, an imprint of The Random House Publishing Group, and is printed on acid-free paper. (Congratulations to Villard Books for choosing an environmental alternative!) The hardcover exterior has an old-fashioned look and feel.