Dog Finds Lost Dolphins: And More True Stories of Amazing Animal Heroes

by Elizabeth Carney

The first in a line of Animal Rescues chapter books, Dog Finds Lost Dolphins is a tale you'll not soon forget. In this charming and awe-inspiring story you'll meet Cloud, the black lab with a nose for rescue. She's the only dog certified to sniff out stranded dolphins. Cloud can sniff out a dolphin over a mile off the coast of the Florida Keys. She has even become friends with them, waiting on the dock for them to pop up and give her a kiss. This and two more amazing stories are so engaging, readers will never want to put the book down!

National Geographic supports K-12 educators with ELA Common Core Resources.

Genres: Nonfiction, Animals, Childrens, Chapter Books, Dogs, Science

112 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2012

About the author

Elizabeth Carney is a writer and editor based in Brooklyn, New York. She specializes in children's nonfiction and science, math, and STEM-related subjects.

Elizabeth received the 2005 AAAS Science Journalism Award for science reporting for children. Her titles Face to Face With Cheetahs, Face to Face With Gorillas, and Great Migrations: Whales, Wildebeests, Butterflies, Elephants, and Other Amazing Animals on the Move appeared on the National Science Teachers Association's Outstanding Science Trade Book list for 2008, 2009, and 2010, respectively.

Reviews

[Abby Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another appealing early chapter title with three different animal stories: dogs trained to locate stranded dolphins, a monkey trained as a helper for people with disabilities, and rats trained to locate land mines. This is a great series for animal lovers and the writing is just right for new chapter book readers.

Sidebar: I did cry in the break room about the Capuchin monkey Kasey who went to MONKEY COLLEGE* to learn how to become a helper for people with disabilities. Then, when he started working with a college kid who became a quadriplegic after a car accident, Kasey actually started challenging the kid to reach farther for objects and HELPED HIM REGAIN SOME OF HIS MOVEMENT. THIS WAS NOT SOMETHING THE MONKEY WAS TRAINED TO DO. HE DID IT ON HIS OWN. <3333333

The feels.
(I don't think this would make kids cry, though. I am just a softie.)

* A REAL THING: http://www.monkeyhelpers.org/meet-our...

[Emily Erickson]

It's a nice book and its truly amazing how animals will save people even if they don't even know them. And how animals will save other animals. It makes me think if my pets would ever save me if I'm in danger. Animals are truly amazing! It's an exciting book and I would definitely recommend it.

[Gianna Lowry · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is about three different animals who have very important jobs. There is Cloud, the dolphin rescue dog, who is a dog specially trained to find dolphins. When dolphins got stuck close to shore, they would have to hurry to find all the dolphins before they got sick or died. The leaders of this dolphin-rescuing group decided that they should get a dog to help them find the dolphins. They decided on a dog named Cloud. Cloud is a very smart dog and she learned how to identify dolphins by smell and how to differentiate them from other animals. Her sense of smell was so good she could find a dolphin from half a mile away. The second animal is Kasey, the monkey miracle worker. Kasey is a monkey who went to monkey college and learned how to care for people with disabilities. Kasey was called upon to work with Ned, a young adult who was in a car accident and lost most of the movement in his body. Kasey learned to help Ned, work with him and even help him get stronger and pushing him to do better every day. The last story was about rats, the heroes in small packages. It is about how rats have the ability to find land mines. Rats have a keen sense of smell and are too light to accidentally set off the land mines. Land mines have taken many lives and using rats to find land mines left over from wars could save many lives. Many animals can do many different things with the right training and could benefit other lives greatly.

I like this book because it delivers three heartwarming stories about animals who helped others with their sharp senses. The author describes how animals can help people and other animals very thoroughly with well-written details on how the animals were trained and how they were chosen for the job. The author helps you see how important and smart animals actually are. This book opens your eyes up to how much help animals would be and how many people that could be helped with all the good qualities that animals have. I like the “Did you know?” boxes in the book that tell you fun facts about the animal that is being described. It was fascinating to find out how these animals even learned these amazing skills and the author described it in a very understandable and intriguing way. I would recommend this book to someone who wants to read a heartwarming story about smart animals or wants to learn about animals with jobs and how they do those jobs.

[Lauren · Rating 2 out of 5]

In Dog Finds Lost Dolphins, you'll be able to read three fun, short stories about animal heroes. In the first, Dog Finds Lost Dolphins, as mentioned by the title, is about a man named Chris Blankenship, who saved dolphins that got injured, or beached. But he needed a better way to find the dolphins before it was too late. So he got an idea to use dogs to sniff out lost dolphins. In the second story, Monkey Miracle Worker, in this book there's a teenager named Ned, who injured his spinal cord and lost the ability to move or speak. His mom couldn't always be there for him and decided to get him an animal helper to assist him. Ned didn't like the idea of having someone other than his mom, and when his mom suggested a dog, he disagreed because they already had a dog. So his mom heard about monkeys beings helping people and convinced Ned to try it out. They got Kasey. Kasey had just graduated from Monkey College, and was the perfect helper for Ned as they became best friends. In the third book, Heroes In Small Packages, a man named, Bart Weetjens, wanted to help find land mines in Africa to help people stay safe. He got the idea of using rat's great sense of smell for a job just like this. His friend helped him choose a species of rat and they got right to work. They found a group who would fund their project and give enough money to test Bart's creative idea. After being trained, the rats were sent out into the fields, and found over 500 landmines.
I really enjoyed this book as a 1-3 day read so pretty short, but fun to read and learn about. Dog Finds Lost Dolphin is educational and true! If your into fun, heroic animal books and/or love National Geographic, this is your book!

[Andrew T · Rating 3 out of 5]

In "Dog Finds Lost Dolphins: And More True Stories of Amazing Animal Heroes" you will read about three animal heroes, dogs that find and help dolphins that are sick, injured, or beached, a monkey named Kasey who helps a disabled man named Ned, and African Giant Pouched Rats that were trained by a man named Bart to find landmines in over 100 countries. The reason that these animals were put to the job of helping us and nature is that they have their own super senses. Dogs are loyal, smart, and have an amazing sense of smell. Kasey and other Capuchin monkeys are incredibly smart and very similar to humans. And the African Giant Pouched Rat is just light enough to not cause the landmine to go off but also has an incredibly good sense of smell to detect the mines and diseases such as TB (tuberculosis).

My opinion of this book is that the information is very eye-opening and I learned a lot. But, there are no characters that I can really bond or relate to. Yes I know that most of the characters are animals but I would like to see a character that has a relatable backstory. Altogether though, this is a very good book and I suggest you check it out.

[Evan F · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is about several stories of animals helping with everyday life. And major problems on earth. The book talks about how mice can help sniff out land mines, how dogs a help find beached dolphins and how monkeys can help disabled people. This book was pretty straight forward and that is really all that this book talked about. Throughout the book their was some pages with facts about the animals to.

Overall this book was ok to me it wasn't the best but it did teach some things about the animals that i didn't know. To me the stories in the book were kind of boring and not interesting. And for all the stories it was the same point that animals can help people in many ways. I think that this book could have used more little details and more background knowledge for each story in the book. Overall i would give this book a 3 out of 5.

[Amber Staker · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading this book! It tells a story of a dog and his trainer working to find stranded whales and dolphins. It provides details of every step the trainer and dog took in the process of what is now a successful rescue team for stranded animals. I enjoy books that tell a real life story, but sprinkle in facts along the way and this book does that! It includes amazing photos of the dog's journey, which keeps the reader engaged. There are also definitions for difficult words, which is helpful for comprehension. This could be utilized in a science unit about sea life and how there are dangers for them. Also, it could be used for a bigger discussion around service animals and how they can help humans and other animals. I love that there are chapter books like this available for students!

[Jonas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Uh oh. There is trouble on the beach. But not just any trouble, DOLPHIN TROUBLE. Real dolphins have beached on the shore. Join Chris and his dog, Cloud, as they look for hurt whales and dolphins. Join Kasey, a helper monkey, help Ned as he recovers from a bad car accident. Join Samo, a African giant pouched rat, as he uses his incredible sence of smell to find lost land mines from past wars.

I loved the book. My favorite of all the animals in this book was Samo. I also loved the pistures in the book. They were SO good! I would reccomend this book to people who want to learn how different animals can help people and do things that we can't.

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is how a dog finds dolphins. When they first want to see if a dog can find a dolphin they train the dog to find dolphins and help, they sent the dog to a trainer. Which the trainer had never trained a dog to find dolphins. When it was the dogs first day of finding dolphins, the dog found a dolphin up on the shore, and was barking so the people would find the dolphin and figure out where the dog was.


I thought it was a really good book. I recommend to read it. It was really interesting, and how you never would have thought that a dog could find dolphins, well this book tells you other wise.

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

I did not like this book because I do not like bombs buried underground during wars. I enjoyed this book because I liked the part when it told me that rats could sniff out the bombs that were buried.

[Aubrey Bass · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.7 🌟 A great book for animal lovers who want to learn about how animals are helping humans. My son and I enjoyed reading this together and found out how dogs, capuchin monkeys, and rats are using their skills to help mankind.

[BunnyWolf · Rating 4 out of 5]

All of the story's are great, my favorite story is Kasey the monkey

[M.L. Little · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read with one of my tutoring kids. Really interesting stories.

[Ilan]

dog

[Caleb · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is about a dog that rescues multiple dolphins successfully, and this book also includes other stories of other animals that saved someone or saved an animal, this book is just like multiple smaller stories in just one book, but the stories are all different

My opinion on this book is positive because I like animals and going to Zoo's, so seeing the animals is heartwarming for me, and I like anything that has to do with animals, so that makes me like it even more, I also thought that this book was good because all of the stories were unique and different in their own ways.

[Kyla Wilde]

There is not just one character their are several, but I'am going to talk about the dog who finds lost dolphins and her owner Chris. Chris is a dolphin expert who helps in rescuing beached dolphins. Chris was thinking of ways to find them quicker so they would not die. He had an idea maybe dogs could help.
Chris calls Beth Smart the head of the Marine Medical Research Foundation Beth listens and thinks that it is a wonderful idea. They go around and try to find a dog and then they find Cloud a black lab. They didn't know if a black lab was a good idea because it gets really hot where they work in Florida.

[Annarino K · Rating 5 out of 5]

Boring title, fantastic book with Common Core appeal! A winner in the "can't judge a book by its cover" category. The subtitle is a much better sell and a better fit, "Amazing Animal Heroes."

This is the first non-fiction chapter book I have found that provides some educational facts in a really entertaining format, providing "biographies" - or would that be "zoographies?" of the animal stars. 7 year old was not interested when initially handed the book, but when we finished, she DEMANDED the next book of the National Geographic Kids Chapters series.

[Betsy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can't believe our public library doesn't have this book! This is a perfect example of the kinds of books so many young readers devour. I don't know what it is about "true stories," but that is what elementary kids want. This book is really interesting (I learned lots!), and it's well written for its target age group. Interesting facts sprinkled throughout the stories add to the nonfiction content, but the stories are written as stories--it doesn't read like a textbook or just plain "fact book."

[Samantha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Three cheers for National Geographic Kids books!!! This nonfiction chapter book focuses on 3 amazing animals: a dolphin rescue dog, a monkey service animal, and a land-mine sniffing rat. Stories are engaging, include color pics, and feature sidebars of background information on the animals. Chapters are short and the subjects are of high interest to both boys and girls. Recommended for grades 3-5.

[Debbie Tanner · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book! It's about different animals and how they help. The book has three chapters, one about a dog who helps find stranded dolphins and whales, one about a service monkey who is helping a young man recovering from a terrible accident, and one about rats who sniff out mines and diseases. The writing makes it very fast paced and the text features help by adding extra bits of information. This one rocked!

[Pooja. Kajendran · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was really good because it shared three interesting and true stories about animals and how they were a hero. I liked how in this book the focused on three different stories instead of one long story. It kept the book more interesting.I loved the images and my favourite story in this book was "Dolphin rescue dog". I liked this story because it was about my favourite animals. But overall I think that this book is really really good.

[Catherine Austen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good chapter book for young readers, especially those who like animals. Three stories of animals working in very different fields to help humans. (My favourite was the last story, about rats who can clear of field of land mines -- amazing.) The whole book was well done, well designed, and well written. The animals are admirable and the people who work with them are inspiring. Kids learning to read will devour this, and fluent readers will like it, too.

[Sharie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Multiple true stories even though cover really only emphasizes first story. Really great data-type info the book. Well written for the age group. Short story format but non-fiction none-the-less. Very apt for current events situations.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Easy to read book for grade schoolers about interesting animals. Who doesn't want to learn about a monkey who went to school to help people with disabilities? Or a dog that can sniff water to discover trapped dolphins? Pretty amazing stuff and lots of photographs, sidebars, and interesting facts.

[Kristen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a perfect 2nd-4th grade level book for kids who can't get enough animal stories. There are lots of interesting facts included, too. Some factoid sidebars actually take up a whole page, which unfortunately breaks up the main stories in an awkward way, but this is a quibble.

[Seth · Rating 3 out of 5]

The people who found beached dolphins got an idea. the idea was to use dogs to find lost dolphins. It worked. the 2nd story is about a person in a wheel chair who gets a monkey to help him. it worked! the last story is about rats digging up land mines. it worked!

[Jocelyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is about a dog, a monkey, and a bunch of rats. The dog saves dolphins. The monkey saves a person. The rats save us from land mines. I like how the animals and humans work together.

[Jenny · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great book for kids who like to read about animals. I was most impressed by the rats who sniff out land mines. How cool is that?

[Aliannatony Barnes]

it was vary good i am telling you so if you whant a vary good book get it.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting info about helping animals.