Cultural misstep aside, this is a great choice for dog and science lovers alike.
“Super sniffer” dogs scent scat on land and at sea for scientific research.
This examination of scat-detection dogs, who sniff out the feces of different creatures scientists study, begins with a fictional story based in reality. “Freddie” is saved from certain death in a shelter because he exemplifies two qualities essential in scat-detection dogs: high energy and the ability to focus. Beginning with the science behind what makes dogs such great sniffers, the book offers detailed text with lots of color photographs on glossy paper and sidebar photos with additional information. Background on how dogs began working in scat detection is followed up with information on training. Everything about these dogs is impressive. The stories of individual dogs (who often specialize in certain kinds of scat) are chronicled next, encouraging readers to connect to them as individuals. These dogs’ stories take readers from mountain to ocean, desert, forest, and everglade. Readers are sure to come away with a deep fascination with and appreciation for scat-detection dogs’ essential contributions to conservation work. Why Wadworth makes assumptions about the knowledge and feelings of students outside the U.S. who meet scat dogs and their handlers (perhaps a chance for a teachable moment) is questionable and perplexing, however.
Cultural misstep aside, this is a great choice for dog and science lovers alike. (introduction, author’s note, glossary, resources, sources, bibliography, index) (Nonfiction. 8-14)Pub Date: Oct. 11, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-58089-650-4
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Charlesbridge
Review Posted Online: Aug. 1, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2016
Hugely entertaining, timely, and triumphant.
Robot Roz undertakes an unusual ocean journey to save her adopted island home in this third series entry.
When a poison tide flowing across the ocean threatens their island, Roz works with the resident creatures to ensure that they will have clean water, but the destruction of vegetation and crowding of habitats jeopardize everyone’s survival. Brown’s tale of environmental depredation and turmoil is by turns poignant, graceful, endearing, and inspiring, with his (mostly) gentle robot protagonist at its heart. Though Roz is different from the creatures she lives with or encounters—including her son, Brightbill the goose, and his new mate, Glimmerwing—she makes connections through her versatile communication abilities and her desire to understand and help others. When Roz accidentally discovers that the replacement body given to her by Dr. Molovo is waterproof, she sets out to seek help and discovers the human-engineered source of the toxic tide. Brown’s rich descriptions of undersea landscapes, entertaining conversations between Roz and wild creatures, and concise yet powerful explanations of the effect of the poison tide on the ecology of the island are superb. Simple, spare illustrations offer just enough glimpses of Roz and her surroundings to spark the imagination. The climactic confrontation pits oceangoing mammals, seabirds, fish, and even zooplankton against hardware and technology in a nicely choreographed battle. But it is Roz’s heroism and peacemaking that save the day.
Hugely entertaining, timely, and triumphant. (author’s note) (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 26, 2023
ISBN: 9780316669412
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Aug. 26, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2023
The three way chats, in which they are joined by other animals, about web spinning, themselves, other humans—are as often...
A successful juvenile by the beloved New Yorker writer portrays a farm episode with an imaginative twist that makes a poignant, humorous story of a pig, a spider and a little girl.
Young Fern Arable pleads for the life of runt piglet Wilbur and gets her father to sell him to a neighbor, Mr. Zuckerman. Daily, Fern visits the Zuckermans to sit and muse with Wilbur and with the clever pen spider Charlotte, who befriends him when he is lonely and downcast. At the news of Wilbur's forthcoming slaughter, campaigning Charlotte, to the astonishment of people for miles around, spins words in her web. "Some Pig" comes first. Then "Terrific"—then "Radiant". The last word, when Wilbur is about to win a show prize and Charlotte is about to die from building her egg sac, is "Humble". And as the wonderful Charlotte does die, the sadness is tempered by the promise of more spiders next spring.
The three way chats, in which they are joined by other animals, about web spinning, themselves, other humans—are as often informative as amusing, and the whole tenor of appealing wit and pathos will make fine entertainment for reading aloud, too.Pub Date: Oct. 15, 1952
ISBN: 978-0-06-026385-0
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1952
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