In this series, man's best friend is showcased helping with human therapy, providing assistance to police officers and firefighters, and saving lives through search-and-rescue work. The texts provide superficial basic information about the animals' training and give examples of specific heroic canines. Numerous photographs show the dogs at work in each specialty area. Reading list. Glos., ind. [Review covers these Amazing Working Dogs with American Humane titles: Fire Dog Heroes, Guide Dog Heroes, Police Dog Heroes, Search and Rescue Dog Heroes, Service Dog Heroes, and Therapy Dog Heroes.] (c) Copyright 2011. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Gr 2-4-Each of these informative overviews starts with a true story about a dog's work specific to the title and then goes on to detail the breeds that are best suited to it, the training required (both for the animal and the human handler), the tasks the dogs perform, and what happens to them after they retire. Although the different dogs are not compared from book to book, reading them together will reveal plenty of similarities and differences. Specific breeds have proven more successful as police and guide dogs, but service dogs are chosen specifically for their personalities. The history of service dogs is fairly recent, having been established in the 1970s, while guide dogs have been at work for almost 100 years, and the use of police dogs can be traced back to the 1300s. Full-color photos, some full page, appear throughout. These books are clearly written in a personable style, with plenty of anecdotal and factual information, which makes them suitable for report writing and enjoyable for general reading.-Kara Schaff Dean, Walpole Public Library, MA (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.