Avalanche Dog Heroes: Piper and Friends Learn to Search the Snow [Hardcover]

Junior Library Guild Selection!
2020 Towner Book Award Finalist
Oregon Spirit Award Honor Book

Follow Piper the border collie and her canine classmates through a season of avalanche rescue training. As they learn the skills they need to become snow rescue dogs, you'll learn about the work these amazing canines do and about avalanche safety.

Avalanche Dog Heroesis a nonfiction picture book illustrated with stunning, adorable photography that draws parallels between kids' experiences in elementary school and the training days of the avalanche rescue dogs of Crystal Mountain, Washington State's largest ski resort, located in the Cascade Range.

Follow along with Piper, a friendly border collie who came to the mountain as a smart but timid shelter dog, terrified by everything, as she confidently heads off to school on a chairlift to meet her canine classmates. Over a season they romp together through the snow, learning and practicing the skills they need to be avalanche rescue dogs and earn their rescue certification.

You'll also learn the warning signs and conditions that cause an avalanche, the four types of avalanches, and the basics of avalanche safety. The full-color, full-bleed photographs are the book’s best features. Almost every spread captures a dynamic dog training scene amid beautiful snowscapes. --School Library Journal

Present-tense narration paired with dynamic color photographs puts readers in the moment with Piper ... A peppy introduction to a lesser-known type of worker dog. --Kirkus Reviews

Rusch emphasizes how the training of the dogs is both hard work and fun—a point made clear through photographs of Piper dashing through the snow, chewing on toys, and embracing Cohen. --Publishers Weekly

Avalanche Dog Heroes is a fine addition to any collection. Display it prominently and it won't sit. --ProseandKahn