Hardworking Puppies

by Lynn Reiser

All puppies grow up to be dogs, but these ten lucky puppies grow up to be dogs with jobs. The story counts down from ten to zero as each puppy pairs up with a hardworking human--a firefighter, a lifeguard, and a clown, among others. But no matter what their duties, these ten puppies get plenty of playtime, treats, and love.

With Lynn Reiser's simple text and colorful illustrations, young readers will enjoy learning about popular canine careers while also doing some simple subtraction . . . without working very hard at all.

Includes a "Paw Notes" section with interesting information about working dogs as well as simple arithmetic.

Genres: Picture Books, Dogs, Animals, Counting, Fiction, Childrens, 1st Grade

40 pages, Hardcover

First published May 1, 2006

Reviews

[Nicole Fellows · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hardworking Puppies is a book about subtraction. It starts with 10 puppies who all want jobs. As each puppy leaves, the book counts down until all the puppies have jobs.
This book is cute and simple. It shows different jobs that dogs can help their owners with. I think it's a fun way to try and help kids grasp the concept of subtraction. It's a good book.

[Shelby Barnicle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lynn Reiser's book, "Hardworking Puppies", was written and illustrated about ten puppies all looking for jobs to keep them busy. As each puppy finds a job it counts down from ten and leaves a place for children to work on subtraction at the end of each page when it asks "minus one puppy in training equals..." and follows it with the answer at the start of the next page. This book is informational for children especially students who may be learning to count. The book is also about dogs which is a common household pet making it relatable to children. The book also teaches children about different types of jobs that dogs may have in the real world outside of just being a pet such as a sled dog, guide dog, security dog, therapy dog, and more. The illustrations also accurately demonstrate what the dogs would look like doing those jobs that they are given in the story. I think this book would be both informational and interesting for children to read due to its educational aspect for counting and its colorful illustrations of dogs, a common household pet, that would be of interest to kids.

[Miss Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

A great picture book about ten dogs finding their place in the world and showcasing all the differnt ways dogs can help the community. nice math themes too. would make a great extension. preschool and up

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love how kids can see all the jobs that dogs can have. At the back is a description of each job.

[Nicole Prescott · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a light-hearted counting book about ten puppies looking for work. At the beginning of the story there are ten puppies that are all bored and want to find jobs. One by one they find different jobs including being a guard dog, herding dog, sled dog, therapy dog, a pet, and others. Each time a dog finds a job, the number of total dogs’ decreases by one. This is a great book to read aloud to students learning to do simple subtraction and counting down by ones. Also, most students like dogs and animals so they can relate and talk about what kind of dogs they have or see and the different types of jobs they can do. They also can work out the math problems (10-1, 8-1, 4-1, and so on) along with the story.

The illustrations in this book are cute, nothing spectacular but they effectively show the number of dogs and then the job that each dog finds. A variety of dogs are depicted which allows more students to relate and identify with a particular dog. The facial expressions on the dogs are very cute and progressively show the dogs become sadder and sadder as they wait for their jobs and the number of them decreases. This book would be best for students in grades K-2.

**Counting Picture Book**

[Rosa Cline · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a repetitive verse book; so about every other to every third page will say the same thing. However it's also a counting backwards from 10 to 0 book. It's also a lesson book on how different type of dogs (puppies) can have a purpose. From firefighter dog, to a photographer dog, to helping special needs people, to life saving, etc. Helps children to understand that just like people animals have a special place beside humans in our world. And in the end the last one is of course the purpose of just to love and have fun with! So all in all this is a cute very basic story that teaches the child(ren) without being 'in their face' about learning. My 2 year old really enjoyed having this read to her and she enjoyed the pictures.

[Tam · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a parent I found the repetitiveness of the book a bit annoying and I didn't like the flow of the words but my 7-year-old enjoyed it (and he likes dogs). It has a cute ending. The end has a note from the author that talks about the different types of dogs (guard, water-rescue, performing, sled dog teams, therapy, airport security, herding, assistance, and pets).

Excerpt from the book:
Seven puppies all wanting jobs!
Along came a photographer.
The photographer needed a hardworking puppy.
"Smile, Sweetie!"
SEVEN puppies wanting jobs minus
ONE debut model puppy equals . . .
SIX puppies all wanting jobs!
Along came a sled driver.
The sled driver needed a hardworking puppy.
"Snowy, hike!"
SIX puppies wanting jobs minus
ONE apprentice sled puppy equals . . .

[Vilo · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an all-around winner! First, it has puppies, which children love. Then it is a counting book that involves subtraction--important and a little more rare than the 1-10 variety. It leads very well to making number sentences (and shows the number sentences in the back). And in a fun way it shows many jobs that dogs do in real life (and by extension jobs that people do in our communities--tying into social studies). It could lead to some more research and non-fiction reads in a classroom.

[Paul Farbman · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book focuses on counting through the concept of subtraction. It begins with ten puppies wanting a job and subtracting one each time someone comes to train one.

Besides counting, this book teaches children about the different types of things dogs can do to help people. The Paw Notes at the end offer great descriptions of all of the jobs that the dogs in the story come to take.

The illustrations are simple but bright in color.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is about puppies that do difference servies. Some services are sled dog, thereapy dog, and guard dog. This book also has numbers in it. It starts at ten and counts all the way down to 1. This is a good book to introduce counting and is also a good book to show studnets how many dogs are used differently.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

My five-year-old son picked this book out from the library last week, because, well, PUPPIES.

Kids love puppies. My son loves number books. I liked the counting down of the puppies and the how each of the puppies was matched to a profession. And who doesn't like puppies playing?

The artwork, while not outstanding, is still adorable and works well with the story.

[Jessica Wenninger · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is great for students who are learning how to count and basic mathematics skills because it introduces "minus one" problems in a fun way. I really liked that there is information about the different jobs mentioned because many students may not have known dogs can be trained to do certain skills. This book is a wonderful tool to bring into a classroom.

[Ozge · Rating 4 out of 5]

I usually like counting books. This is a cute one, with beautiful illustrations. The professions needs a lot of explaining for the little ones, but when the puppies goes to play together, the kids are happy!

[Greta · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book that teaches about jobs dogs do and adds an element of basic subtraction for young readers.

[RaeLene · Rating 5 out of 5]

Counting: a great counting book that also teaches students about the different jobs that dogs can have.

[Hannah Thill · Rating 3 out of 5]

We liked it. Hannah has to get used to the whole couting down. She's used to counting up. The mathematics is a little complicated for her age but I will still challenge her. I hope it clicks.

[Katie Fitzgerald · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read at pajama story time on 2/6/13: http://storytimesecrets.blogspot.com/...

[Leyla · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked the number sense in this book and how the puppies were "disappearing" on every page. Jen was a good observer.

[Buxmont Uu]

CC 10

[Sandee Mariner · Rating 5 out of 5]

The story line was really cute and it helps kids count down instead of up.

[Amy Phelps · Rating 3 out of 5]

i liked that fact that this was a backwards counting book for once.

[Shayne Cope · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book for counting and explaining the different jobs and jobs associated with dog help too.

[Kendra · Rating 4 out of 5]

My daughter Ginny, picked this book out from the library because it was about dogs. The illustrations seemed really rough and my kids didn't enjoy the pictures....

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