This is a remarkable story about a little dog named Gobi, named after the Gobi Desert, whom a runner from the Uk (but originally from Australia) happens upon during a brutal several day race. As a dog lover, I was intrigued by the story initially. The first part of this story describes the race itself that Dion has and his finding Gobi. The second part, the most intriguing in my view, was how to get Gobi out of China and back to Dion's home in Edinburgh, Scotland. This part was so intriguing because it was filled with fears about a potential kidnapping, having the dog being taken away by the Chinese government, etc.

This is a novel for the very young and old alike, for it is a tale of perseverance as well as deep love for a pet. A heartwarming tale that I recommend for everyone!

Thank you Thomas Nelson and Netgalley for an advance e-copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

As an educator, I’m expected to teach about the Gobi Desert during our unit on geographic features. While looking for books and resources, I came across the Gobi picture book by the same author. My students and I quickly fell in love with the story of Dion Leonard and his dog Gobi, and we wanted to find out more! When I found this book, I knew I had to read it. It expands on the story that we were first introduced to in the picture book and I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it. It’s such a heartwarming story of friendship and loyalty between a man and his dog, and the lengths man will take for his best friend!

It was only natural to have to read Finding Gobi by Dion Leonard after reading the picture book version not too long ago. There is nothing sweeter than finding a buddy to share your favorite hobby with and Dion took that to a whole new level. I am impressed with his willingness to jump through so many hoops to get this little dog with the big heart to his home country to live with his family. There was nothing easy about their journey and at times, it was absolutely heart-breaking to follow along. I cannot wait to share this book with others!

I heard the story of this sweet dog when I started to run. I fell in love immediately from the story and of course of the book. This tale is the perfect picture of the beautiful relationship between a man and a dog. It’s a story about loyalty, love, friendship, and all the beautiful qualities of a dog in love of a person.
If you’re an animal lover and a runner or sports lover, you’ll love this book, and this version is perfect for a younger reader.

This is such a cute story about a homeless pup, Gobi, who runs a marathon with a man named Dion across a desert. Their friendship blossoms and this is truly a story about how they found each other. This will make every dog lover melt and even adults will enjoy this cute story!
I have seen this book at Scholastic Book Fairs and have encouraged my students to purchase it. This is a great story for 2nd to 4th graders to read and they will absolutely love this story!
Thank you to Netgalley for providing a free copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Unfortunately, after multiple attempts, I have not been able to download this book. I have not had issues with other downloading other books in the same format, so I am not sure why this one is not working. That said, I have read the standard edition of this book and here is my review.

Dion Leonard tells the story of how he found and adopted a little tan terrier mix named  Gobi.  In 2016, Dion traveled to China to compete in a 155 mile ultramarathon race across the Gobi Desert.  A little scruffy dog that was scavenging around the race camp took an interest in Dion and began following him as the race began.  As the race proceeded, Gobi did her best to keep up with Dion.  She cried so piteously when Dion crossed a river without her that he retraced his steps and carried her across the water.  When the race was over, Dion decided that he couldn't leave her behind.  One of the race officials volunteered to watch over Gobi while Dion figured out what needed to be done to get Gobi home to the UK.  What followed was almost as big an adventure as his race across the Gobi Desert.

I did enjoy the book, but I would have liked to hear more about Dion and Gobi's interactions during the race.  Unfortunately for my taste, more of the book was focused on the process of getting Gobi from China to the UK.

(hardback edition)

A sweet and heartwarming book that can appeal to both adult and children.
I loved it and fell in love with Gobi.
Highly recommended!
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC

My daughter found this book extremely engaging. She thought it was funny and it was great to see her so entertained by a book!

This book is absolutely awesome! If you know a young person that loves dogs, grab this book now. It is such a wonderful heartwarming story about a little stray dog named Gobi that you will fall in love with. I highly recommend this book. Thank you Thomas Nelson: CHILDREN'S via NetGalley for the free copy of this book. This is my honest opinion.

I love this book! The story is incredible. It is so cool that a Marathon runner
would take the time to stop for a little dog. Pretty quickly in the book, I loved
Gobi and her entire family. In the end, it is a "feel good" book through and through!
You do not want to miss out on this one. It is a great story for Young Readers. I think
it is a book that will stay with them for years to come.

<i>Finding Gobi </i>is a truly heartwarming story about a young dog adopted by a racer some time after their race together when they meet. I had read the children’s book prior to reading the young reader’s edition and the interesting thing is that Gobi’s story is much darker and much longer than the brightly illustrated book for young kids lets on. And in this, the story is actually a little heartbreaking at times.

The story begins on a positive note with the meeting of the young man, Dion, and the energetic pup, Gobi. They both run together in a long race in sometimes sweltering heat, so much so that Dion eventually leaves Gobi with some of the race officials to ensure that the poor dog does not get heat stroke. And quickly once the race is finished, Dion decides that he wants to adopt Gobi and bring her back to England.

This, unfortunately, is easier said than done.

Readers follow Dion as he raises the money to get through the political mess that will allow him to adopt and transport the dog from one country to another. And as this is happening, Gobi suddenly disappears. The rest of the story follows a wide search and a potential pupnapping until, eventually, a happy ending is reached.

I was kind of blown away by all the bad things that happened in the process of adopting Gobi, one right after another almost in a manner I’d expect to see in a bad novel. It made the story almost difficult to believe at times. I’d be interested to read the third version of Gobi’s story, one meant for adult readers, as I found this one kind of frustrating to read whenever Gobi’s point of view appeared. Unfortunately, her voice was quite annoying. However, I’ll concede that young readers will probably enjoy that bit more than the rest of the story.

<i>I was provided a free copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.</i>

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Love this wonderful book! Ultramarathoner finds Gobi, an endearing little stray doggie, during a 155-mile race through the Gobi Desert in China. He loses the race but gains a darling new companion ... and a change of heart about what’s important in life. 5/5

Grateful to the author, Thomas Nelson - - W Publishing and NetGalley for review copy; opinions are truly mine.

A beautiful story of doggy devotion and perseverance. Dion's determination to save his little friend and to give her a forever home is inspirational. If you love dogs you absolutely must read this.

This is a heartwarming tale of love, perseverance, and compassion. My oldest daughter is eight years old and she thought this book was very good. The young reader's edition is entertaining and engaging, but it is quite a bit longer than most chapter books. We also thought the book was very informative about customs and traditions in other countries. I would recommend this book to young readers, especially those that love dogs! I received this as a free ARC from Thomas Nelson Kids on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is definitely a book for dog lovers. My 7 year old daughter enjoyed that aspect of it, although I'd say it might be better suited for children a little older. It is longer than the chapter books she currently reads and that might make it a struggle to keep younger children engaged. We also found the story hard to follow at times. Thank you to Thomas Nelson for an ARC of this book!

I read the adult version after seeing it at ALA this Summer, so I was thrilled to see this younger reader edition. It was a little on the young side for my 12yo but he enjoyed it and since we just got a dog and took up running it was the perfect fit for both of us. I thought that we got a lot of information about how the Chinese wouldn't think to keep a dog as a pet (it simply isn't within their cultural norms) and reading all the hoops that have to be jumped through in order to bring Gobi home was a side lesson in perseverance and diplomacy.

This was such an uplifting and fun read. I was expecting a book about an abandoned dog that races across China with the author who is an ultra marathon runner. Even though this does happen, there is so much more to the story. As you can guess from the title, Gobi gets lost, in a crowded, dangerous part of China. The author, Dion, goes to amazing lengths to find Gobi. I love that the author bonds with this stray after only a few days and spends countless time and money to try and get her back. Not only does Dion fall in love with Gobi, so do the other runners in the race. Gobi soon becomes famous in China. The story goes back and forth from the past to the present. The author talks about how he got into running, his previous races, and the death of his father. All these examples of challenges and perseverance help Dion on his quest to find Gobi and try to bring her home.

First of all, I am a dog lover!! I love all animals so this story resonated with me as soon as I read the description. What a wonderful story about love, staying true to yourself and what we can do if we really set our mind to do it. How Gobi picked Dion and stuck with him really shows the heart of this dog. And all the things she possibly went through in her short life before seeing Dion in the middle of the desert and deciding that he was her human is incredible. There is nothing greater than a dogs unconditional love, which is proven true in this book. How Dion paralleled his life and running with his devotion to a stray dog that he barely knew made this a really great story.

After reading the picture book version of Gobi, the little dog with the big heart, I wanted to read this version. Dion Leonard came across Gobi while running a grueling 72 mile race, part of it through the Gobi Desert. When the little dog seemed to attach herself to Dion and run with her, he named her Gobi. The first part of this book describes the race, events that occurred, meeting Gobi and deciding to take her home to Edinburgh. The second part of the story is the difficulties Dion encountered trying to get Gobi home. Between the red tape, finding Gobi when she went missing and the culture of the area in China and their attitude toward dogs, it seemed like it was going to be an impossible task.

I enjoyed both parts of this book. The camaraderie the runners shared even though they were competing against each other was heartwarming. The dangerous situations and how they were solved were very interesting. In the second part, I felt Dion's pain when he could not bring Gobi home with him. When he found out Gobi was missing, I felt like crying along with him. I am an animal lover, but what Dion and his wife went through is amazing. The people he met that helped him along the way restores my belief in the goodness of others. This is a good book to read if you are an animal lover, a runner or sports enthusiast or just someone who wants to feel good about other people. A great book for a school or public library.

34460612Leonard, Dion. Finding Gobi: Young Reader's Edition: The True Story of One Little Dog's Big Journey
Published August 29th 2017 by Thomas Nelson

While running a 155 mile, multistage ultramarathon in the Gobi desert, Dion Leonard was repeatedly accompanied by a small dog who would run right along with him despite temperatures of over 120 degrees! At first, Leonard mainly ignored the dog, concentrating instead on being able to finish the race and place well, since he was back after recovering from an injury. After a while, however, the dog's devotion wins him over, and he finds himself curled up with the dog at night, feeding her his precious food, and carrying her over streams. When the conditions are particularly brutal, he does leave her with race organizers. His friends suggest he name her, and she ends up with the handle Gobi. Gobi's enthusiasm at seeing him motivates Leonard to run even when he suffers greatly from the heat, and he finishes second in the race. Gobi becomes an international phenomenon. Not wanting to leave the dog behind, he starts investigating how he could bring the dog to his home in Edinburgh, Scotland. With the help of his wife, and international animal rescue operation, and a network of Chinese citizens, Leonard spends quite a bit of time and money to clear the path for Gobi to come home with him. Delightful pictures of the two can be found on Twitter @findinggobi, and a movie of the book is in the works.
Strengths: The first part of the book has a lot of fantastic details about running, and the second half is concerned with finding Gobi after she has run away from her caretakers. I appreciated that Leonard discusses how most Chinese do not want to keep dogs as pets, but very clearly shows how this is a cultural difference that we should respect. The book moves quickly, and even though we know there will be a happy ending, the process of getting Gobi "home" is very interesting.
Weaknesses: Sometimes the prose seems a bit overly simplistic. I'm curious to see the adult version. There is even a picture book!
What I really think: Definitely purchasing. Dogs AND running. What a fantastic combination!