Rags, Borya and the Rocket; a tale of home-less dogs and how they became famous (1964)

(English trans of Russian book: Tiapa, Borka i Paketa : povest o brodiachikh sobakakn, kotorye stali znamenitymi).

Baranova, M.P. and Veltistov, Y. Illustrated by Y. Migunov and K. Rotov. Rags, Borya and the Rocket; a tale of home-less dogs and how they became famous, 1964.

A story of the real "space dogs" of Russia mixed in with a fictional story of how a particular dog joined the space program. The illustrations are interesting.

There is also a rather satirical drawing near the end commenting on the coming space age.