Book Nook: Finding Gobi

I had never heard the extraordinary story of ultra-marathoner Dion Leonard and Gobi, a small stray dog who joined him in June 2016 during the challenging Gobi Desert Run. He then was separated from Dion, setting off an international search to bring the two of them back together again.

There are several books written about this heartwarming story, Gobi: A Little Dog With a Big Heart [picture book, 4-8 years] and Finding Gobi: The True Story of One Little Dog’s Big Journey [Young Reader’s Edition, 8-12 years] with Thomas Nelson.

"Finding Gobi was one of the most difficult things I’ve ever done, but her finding me was one of the best things I’ve ever experienced,” says Dion, who on June 13th, 2017 released the adult trade paperback edition of Finding Gobi to rave reviews.

“Before we met, Gobi was on her own for an unknown period of time. We have no idea what she saw, experienced, felt, or even ate while she was in the desert,” he continues. “I think it’s an especially important thing for kids to remember, that we never know each other’s stories. We never know what our friend or our classmate, or even sometimes our family members are going through, which makes it even more important to always be kind to the people who come into our lives.”

The book is inspiring. It's fun to read stories about animals being reunited with their owners, and this book does a good job drawing readers into the narrative. It also brings in a few other themes, including animal adoption and animal welfare, hoping even when all seems lost, a worldwide community and the kindness of strangers, geography lessons about China and the Gobi desert, and having perseverance and courage in spite of obstacles.

This is a book that was fun for my daughter and myself to read (even though it was the young readers edition), and I encourage anyway who likes animal rescue stories to look into one of the versions.