It's a quite interesting story and I learned something new never having heard of Stella before.
I found the explanation clear and it was an interesting story.
The author is a bit too preachy at times but I loved Stella.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Being a dog lover the premise of the book appealed to me. I thought the idea of using skills & knowledge from augmented communication for humans was a fascinating one. Starting from the moment Stella arrived Christina & Jake managed to develop the idea to the point where Stella was able to convey her wants & feelings. This made me wonder if Stella was particularly bright or if this was a possibility for many dogs. However, I did find things seemed to drag a bit. Although for this sort of book it shouldn't matter I found it hard to warm to Christina. I found her a bit 'preachy' as she extolled the virtues of their way of life.

Overall it was an OK read. Thanks to Netgalley & the publishers for letting me read & review this book

When speech-language pathologist Christina Hunger first came home with her puppy, Stella, it didn't take long for her to start drawing connections between her job and her new pet. During the day, she worked with toddlers with significant delays in language development and used Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) devices to help them communicate. At night, she wondered: if dogs can understand words we say to them, shouldn't they be able to say words to us? Can dogs use AAC to communicate with humans?

Christina decided to put her theory to the test with Stella and started using a paw-sized button programmed with her voice to say the word 'outside' when clicked, whenever she took Stella out of the house. A few years later, Stella now has a bank of more than thirty word buttons, and uses them daily either individually or together to create near-complete sentences.

How Stella Learned to Talk is part memoir and part how-to guide. It chronicles the journey Christina and Stella have taken together, from the day they met, to the day Stella 'spoke' her first word, and the other breakthroughs they've had since. It also reveals the techniques Christina used to teach Stella, broken down into simple stages and actionable steps any dog owner can use to start communicating with their best four-legged friend.

Filled with conversations that Stella and Christina have had, as well as the attention to developmental detail that only a speech-language pathologist could know, How Stella Learned to Talk will be the indispensable dog book for the new decade.
Found this book a fascinating read and ordering a copy as a birthday present for a friend!

I don't usually engage as well with non-fiction, but I couldn't put this down. I've been watching Stella's journey on Instagram for a while, but it was great to learn more about the background and pedagogy involved. I found the insight into which words were chosen and why really informative, and felt that the addition of detail about Hunger's day job as a speech-language pathologist really added context. I loved the addition of tips for those who want to try and help their own dogs communicate - though I don't have a dog of my own yet, I can see myself getting copies of this for my friends who do!