Search - Dogs Working for People (National Geographic Society Books for Young Explorers)

ISBN 0870441248 - Overall, I've found the National Geographic series, Books for Young Explorers to be fantastic. As part of that series, this title is worth picking up, but it's got some flaws.

With minimal text and great photos, the reader learns about the jobs dogs do for people. From fetching to hunting and from herding to guarding, dogs work for people in all kinds of ways. Dog breeds in the photos are identified on each page.

Here's my problem with this book: I don't consider being in a dog show, racing, taking part in a circus or acting to be "working" on the same level as finding drugs or bombs, or the work of Seeing Eye dogs. I'm willing to overlook the dog sled race in my not-work list because many of those dogs perform a job pulling a sled outside of the race. Those "jobs" feel a lot like filler to me. The photos, by James L. Stanfield, are nice, although most are not quite the same standard as I expect from National Geographic. Author Joanna Foster does an acceptable job of explaining, in simple and clear terms, the work each dog is doing. If it wasn't for the inclusion of the questionable "jobs", I'd be more taken with this book.

- AnnaLovesBooks