"For Sam, a widower recently returned to London, Jack is Christmas Street's unofficial welcoming committee. For Sam's young son, Teddy, the small, scruffy mutt is a confidante, Teddy's much-needed and so far only friend. Bill, the street's oldest, grumpiest resident, remembers when everyone knew and looked out for each other. Now, people live side by side for years, scarcely interacting. Jack-- an abandoned dog-- is changing that. He is an unlikely...

"You've seen them, walking with purpose through crowded concourses, waiting alertly at curbs, at special events-- in every walk of life. Sometimes you glimpse them on the news, in areas that have been struck by natural disasters (building collapses, avalanches, earthquakes, mudslides) or touched by war-- first responders who are put into some of the most dangerous and challenging missions on the planet. They are service dogs and working canines,...

When twelve-year-old Dylan rescues Brave, he knows it will take hard work, patience, and training to convince his parents that he can keep the skittish stray dog.

"It is September 1940-a year into the war-and as German bombs fall on Britain, fears grow of an impending invasion. Enemy fighter planes blacken the sky around the Epping Forest home of Susan Shepherd and her grandfather, Bertie. After losing her parents to influenza as a child, Susan found comfort in raising homing pigeons with Bertie. All her birds are extraordinary to Susan-loyal, intelligent, beautiful-but none more so than Duchess. Hatched from...

Stella used to be a bomb-sniffing dog, but after a terrible accident, she goes to live on a small family farm to recover from her fear of loud noises. As a puppy, Stella was trained to use her powerful beagle nose to sniff out dangerous chemicals and help her handler keep people safe. During a routine security inspection, Stella misses the scent of an explosive. The sound of the blast is loud and scary. Unable to go back to work because of her anxiety,...