Dogs in the Dead of Night by Mary Pope Osborne (Random House, 2013, 144 pp, $12.99 HB, ages 6-8, grades 2-5, book 18 of 27 in the Magic Treehouse series, the Merlin Mission)
Ah! Any book about a dog is worth reading and who hasn't read at least one Magic Treehouse book, adults included?
This time, Jack and Annie must successfully complete the second of four missions: they are tasked to find a white and yellow flower* - but, in the Alps? in winter? But they must save their friend, so off they go, and before school in the morning to boot!
It is circa World War II and Annie offers to "train"** a St. Bernard puppy for the monks at the monastery, only to have her student escape!
And then, and then, and then - Avalanche! Can one untrained puppy save someone caught in an avalanche? Will there be enough time for the novice pup to find him and dig him out? Stay tuned for this exciting development and to see if the kids can find the flower before school.
*Ranunculus glacialis, the glacial buttercup
**Train is in quotes in the review above since Annie uses old-fashioned, force-based methods of dog training. To teach the puppy to lie down, she tells Jack to "gently pull Barry's head down while I press between his shoulder blades." (p. 57) And when that doesn't work, on the following page, she says to "pull on his front legs. Pull them out in front of him."
Nowadays, using positive reinforcement methods, we would put the dog into a sitting position, and lure his nose down to the floor to get a Down.
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