Lucky: A Dog's Best Friend by Gus Clarke Ages 4-8 32 pages Kane/Miller September 2005 Paperback     Lucky is an adorable dog living at a local animal shelter. He has everything he needs – food, water, friends and a comfortable bed. But what he would really like is a loving home. As Lucky watches his friends being adopted to good homes, he wonders if he will ever find a family of his own - until he realizes that family is where you find it, and his lives at the shelter. This is a charming story that will no doubt inspire a child to want a shelter pet, and that’s a good thing. The colorful illustrations and simple text by Gus Clarke will delight younger children, but it is the fact that a percentage of the proceeds from the book go to benefit FOCAS, Friends of County Animal Shelters, that will please adults. And that is a great thing. Lucky is one lucky dog, all right, and this book can teach children the value of looking for that perfect pet in a local shelter, rather than from a breeder or other outlet that adds to the existing overpopulation of dogs and cats. And that’s the best thing of all.       web reviews   Marie D. Jones/2006 for curled up with a good kid's book   For grown-up fiction, nonfiction and speculative fiction book reviews, visit our sister site Curled Up With a Good Book (www.curledup.com)