(3) K-3 On a Wyoming ranch, a dog and a wild burro work together as livestock guardians, protecting orphaned lambs from predators. This touching story, bolstered by numerous large photographs, documents how the two develop a great partnership as they learn to establish complementary roles. Explanations of bonding, socialization, and the animals' natural instincts seamlessly support the narrative. An author's note is appended. Bib.

Reviewer: Sethany Rancier Alongi

(3) K-3 Photographs by Mark Gocke. Vivid photographs highlight the seasonal exploits of a herd of Wyoming pronghorn antelopes, "the fastest land mammals in North America." Starting with the springtime birth of fawns, then moving through the herd's summer travel to the mountainous high country and their return to lower elevations in winter, the straightforward text captures the rewards and hardships faced by these graceful animals. Bib.

Reviewer: Cindy Lombardo

(3) K-3 Translated by Aída E. Marcuse. This bilingual edition describes, in English and Spanish, the work of guardian dogs, beginning with their early socialization as "guardian puppies." Introduced to "their sheep" at a very young age, the dogs grow up alongside livestock and learn to protect the flock from predators. Vivid photographs capture different stages of the process.

Reviewer: Elissa Gershowitz

(3) K-3 This book looks at life on a Western sheep ranch. Topics include herding, breeding, and sheep shearing. Urbigkit uses a series of vivid photographs, which add interest and clarity to the text, to follow the movement of the animals from their winter range in the low desert to high mountain summer pastures (a process called transhumance). An author's note provides additional information.

Reviewer: Luther B. Clegg

(4) PS Simple rhymes ("Puppy large / Puppy small / Puppy white / Puppy ball") accompany photos of puppies in action. The combination of puppy adjectives with a few nouns thrown in can be confusing ("puppy small" shows a small puppy but "puppy ball" shows a puppy with a ball in its mouth). The finale--"Puppies, puppies everywhere!"--will satisfy dog lovers.

Reviewer: Cindy Lombardo

(2) K-3 Through hundreds of years of breeding, guardian dogs have developed the essential characteristics (loyalty, independence, hardiness) they need to protect sheep. Urbigkit seamlessly weaves a multitude of information into the story. Her clear photos capably demonstrate each aspect of the pups' growth, introduction to sheep, and graduation to working dog. An appended author's note describes six of the better-known breeds.

Reviewer: Martha Walke | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2005