Book review: 'Doggy Defenders: Dolley the Fire Dog' helps teach kids fire safety

National Geographic Kids has a new series out and it's a fun one for young children. "Doggy Defenders" is about working dogs and their jobs. Along the way, each book in the series teaches children different types of safety lessons.

Today we're starting with, "Dolley the Fire Dog," a book four of my kids got to before I did. And, after I read it, I realized my kids had gone over every single page. How did I know that? Well, on the last few pages there's a section called, "Dolley's Safety Tips." Now, I have always assumed my kids skip these types of sections because they don't usually look as interesting as the actual story. But nope, one of the tips reads, "replace your smoke alarms every 10 years."

Image from Amazon

Ah ha! So THAT'S why each of my four kids, all throughout the past month, has asked my husband and me when we last replaced our smoke alarms. They have also, including my five-year-old (who doesn't read well enough to read these books, but has had all of them read to her by older siblings), lectured me that, "Smoke alarms need to be replaced every ten years." Then, while eyeing one of our smoke alarms, went on to ask, "Have you gotten a new one of these within the last ten years?"

It should be noted here that we've only lived in this house for three years and no, we haven't replaced any smoke alarms. But we have replaced the batteries. SO THERE, KIDS!

"Dolley the Fire Dog" is a cute little book that's quick to read and can easily captivate the preschool through third-grade crowd. My olders read this book too, but they understandably didn't get into it (besides the smoke alarm harping) as much as my five-year-old did.

With full-color photographs, readers learn about a day in the life of Dolley. Her training, cleaning, and feeding are all covered. While the captions are simple, they teach a lot about a dog's sense of smell and how amazingly well Dolley can smell even the smallest of scents.

Image from Amazon

Reading about Dolley and seeing the charred ruins she walks through can be motivation enough to ensure fire safety. But, just in case it's not, this book goes over the basics of how to react in an emergency. While Dolley's job can be dangerous, her story is told in a gentle manner that can encourage, rather than scare, kids.

"Doggy Defenders: Dolley the Fire Dog" is written by Lisa M. Gerry and has fun photographs by Lori Epstein.

Book breakdown:
48 pages
Full color photographs
Best for ages: Preschool through third grade
Educational factor: medium
Religious content: N/A
Parents could be concerned about: Nothing. This gentle book teaches, rather than scares.