Dogs Heroes of September 11th by Nona Kilgore Bauer

I find it hard to read about 9-11. But this book tells as much by pictures as by words, and I thought that helped in handling the horror: the pictures focus on the dogs that worked at Ground Zero and at the Pentagon. The text is the words of their handlers about the search and rescue work they did together right after the tragedy. Strikingly, it was mostly a search effort. The handlers convey the dedication and the devastation in a deep way that by focusing on the dogs helps keep the worst of the evil day at bay while conveying the reality well-enough.

One of the things that impressed me about the work of these dogs and their handlers: they learned quickly that few-to-no lives would be saved. The dogs never gave up looking, even when limited to alerting for remains. In the midst of this depressing environment, the dogs became therapy workers, providing a remarkable amount of comfort and brief moments of respite to all the workers who stopped to pet and interact with them.

It struck me hard that the dogs, who barked to alert for a live find, would spend long shifts with no barking... and would bark in their sleep... dreaming of a live rescue...

Another part of the book that impressed me was the consistent comments from the handlers about the fact that their dogs, while hard-working and dedicated, were not the heroes: the heroes were the ones who knew what they were heading into and gave up their lives in their decision to help others.

Nonetheless, the love between dog and handler, the loyalty and commitment and the dedicated hard work of these exceptional dogs resonates as a reflection of the human heroes of 9-11.

The book includes descriptions of the dogs' training, vet care, memorials dedicated to their work, and it covers the work they did on Staten Island helping to sort remains. At the Pentagon, evey family member received closure and some sort of burial thanks to their work. It's quite a story.

Unless you have a dedicated dog-lover in your household (we do), you may not read every vignette of every dog told here, but I hope your library has this book. I highly recommend it as a teaching tool to pull out next Sept. 11 or when your child asks questions about Sept. 11. Pictures... and dogs... can speak a thousand words.

SAFETY RATING: 3 Flags for older tweens. Heavy topic.