Amazing dogs with amazing jobs by Laura Greaves

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Penguin Australia, 2019. ISBN: 9780143796879. 288p.
(Age: 5+) Highly recommended. Themes: Dogs, Working animals. I must start this review by saying that I absolutely LOVE this book! It is literally a book about awesome dogs that do amazing things - and they are all true stories!
'Dogs have been living with and helping humans for around fifteen thousand years. All those years ago dogs were either hunters or guardians, but today, dogs can do all kinds of amazing jobs.'
This book just really ticks lots of boxes for me. It contains 30 stories about a variety of dogs, each one written with a young audience in mind. It asks questions of the reader and links experiences from their lives to that of the amazing dog. I really liked this aspect as when I read chapters to my 9 year old he was able to find topics he could relate to, he also liked working out which countries the dogs came from and where they were located in the world!
Each amazing dog has a 'Dog File' which gives a quick overview of the breed, skills and positive parts of the job. This part also helps give the reader an idea of what is to come, and if they would be interested in continuing to read.
It is hard to pinpoint a favourite dog, as they really are all so amazing! But the ones to mention are Bailey the 'Assistant Director of Seagulls' who keeps seagulls from pooing on historic ships, Caesar the Canine mascot for an AFL team and Montgomary who is a doggy blood donor!
This book is not only a fun read, but it has also taught me a whole heap of new things that dogs can do! They can donate blood, they can be artists, actors, assistance dogs, and even owl detectors. It has really given me a new appreciation for canine abilities.
I must commend Laura Greaves on a really well written book. It is full of questions, interesting facts, and sentences that are just written with humour. We give this book 5 out of 5, and is a great book to be read to younger children (5 years +) or be read by readers 8 years and up.
Lauren Fountain

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