Prison Puppies

Bearport’s very appealing Dog Heroes series continues with three more engaging titles. Of course, the dogs are cute, but the text, photos, and striking book design all convey the businesslike attitude of these canines and the people who work with them. Each title introduces four or five dogs by name, such as Tucker the Lab, whose job is to lean over the side of a boat sniffing for orca scat. As you might expect with such a deep series (20 titles in all), the information is surprising and fresh and explores dog jobs far beyond the usual seeing-eye variety. Baghdad Pups focuses less on the work of dogs, covering instead the relationships built with soldiers as well as the work done by organizations to help soldiers bring the dogs back to the U.S. Eco Dogs explores the varied tasks done by dogs in the field with scientists, from sniffing out pythons in a swamp to discovering seals’ breathing holes in the Arctic. Prison Puppies looks at the Puppies behind Bars program, where inmates train puppies for jobs such as service animals or bomb sniffers. With solid back matter, these will entice dog-loving reluctant readers and bring up interesting career options for kids, too.