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Manufacturer: Off Lead Publications
Average Customer Rating:
Binding: Paperback EAN: 9780978672201 ISBN: 0978672208 Label: Off Lead Publications Manufacturer: Off Lead Publications Number Of Items: 1 Number Of Pages: 32 Publication Date: 2006-12-01 Publisher: Off Lead Publications Reading Level: Ages 9-12 Studio: Off Lead Publications
Editorial Reviews:
The story of a humanitarian mine detection dog named Kali that works in Cambodia. When a young boy becomes sick, Kali must prove that she is smart and brave as she leads the boy, his father, and her handler over a dangerous mountain path to the nearest hospital.
Spotlight customer reviews:
Customer Rating: Summary: Teaching Kids Kindness and Caring Comment: This little book teaches kindness, loyalty, and caring through the work of one brave little labrador retriever named Kali. This book is especially good for teachers to use in the classroom to instruct kids about how children in other parts of the world must contend with things like land mines. The book tells an upbeat story in a gentle and instructive manner. The colorful and upbeat illustrations support the text. Oh,and did I mention that you'll fall in love with the little dog Kali along the way! Customer Rating: Summary: something we can all hope for Comment: Where danger lies, heroes lead the way. Sometimes those heroes are dedicated animals. In "Kali Leads the Way" by Nancy West, readers are introduced to one hero with four paws in the land mine strewn countryside of Cambodia.
Kali is a young Labrador Retriever in training to be a humanitarian mine detection dog. Her job is to use her keen sense of smell to detect buried land mines. Her challenge is to overcome her non-work related curiosity. Kali is distracted by butterflies and her trainer decides that she is not yet ready for work. She soon proves herself when her companion work dogs fail to find something that she spots easily...a live mine near the training site. When the monsoon season arrives in Cambodia the other dogs are brought to a nearby city to wait it out. The dogs cannot work in the heavy rain. Kali remains with her trainer to watch over the training grounds. One night, after many rain soaked days, the clouds clear and a knock is heard at the door. A man carries his young son, desperately in need of medical care, and hopes that Kali can lead them over the mountain to the city. Kali is able to focus on her work, and ignore temptation, but will she safely guide the group around a buried mine and the other dangers that lurk in the forest?
This beautifully illustrated book shows the dedicated service dogs like Kali provide. It also gently explains what land mines are and the dangers that farmers and others face having to live with this very real unknown threat. Educators looking to introduce this sad product of war will find this book to be a perfect blend of fact and hopeful outlook. Information on what can be done about land mines is provided at the back of the book.
Nancy West takes a tragic situation and turns it into something we can all hope for. Showing the growth of the dog's sense of duty puts the developing hero in a relatable light. Children will cheer her on as she ignores the monkeys and sticks to her task. Adult readers will be touched by the sense of need and desire for help. Kali is leading the world in showing compassion and taking control, and that's just what we all need more of. Well done!
Customer Rating: Summary: Kali also leads children to explore a bigger world Comment: One problem with adults reviewing a childrens book is that - well- we are not kids. Children look at the world from an entirely different perspective from us older folk. Too often writers "talk down" to children, underestimate their reading skills or beat them over the head with a moral lesson or perhaps with dogs that talk. Kali Leads the Way takes an entirely different approach.
Author Nancy West has successfully tackled a very adult subject and has delivered a convincing story involving war, mines, and Cambodia suitable for young children.It will not scare kids but may open them up for a lot of questions that parents or teachers should be prepared for; Why were the mines planted? Why can dogs smell things we can't? Where is Cambodia?
As a black lab Kali plays perfect host to addrssing some of these questions and Dana Kash's soft watercolors compliment the story without intruding on the text. Although listed as ages "8 and up" I think you can go a bit younger. I lent the book out to a couple of kids in the neighborhood and they thoroughly enjoyed it! Also a perfect book in a classroom setting for teachers to use.
