Best in Show    by Karen LeFrak & Andrew Day Order:  USA  Can Walker, 2011 (2011) Hardcover      Reviewed by Bob Walch My name is Abby and I just love dogs. My Aunt Nancy works at a kennel and one day she invited me over to see some new puppies. I totally fell in love with one of the little poodles. The owner of the kennel let me name the puppy so I called him Gem. Since I was old enough now, my aunt and Wendell, the kennel owner and trainer, asked me if I wanted to help out and take care of Gem. You bet I did! Over the next months I watched the puppy grow and begin his training so he could one day enter a dog show. I even helped groom Gem and learned how to walk him on his show leash. Eventually, Gem was entered in the puppy class at some small dog shows. He did OK and won a few ribbons, but he still had a lot to learn and so did I. Soon the time came to give Gem a grown-up poodle trim and enter him in a dog show where he would compete against adult dogs. Wendell took Gem out into the big ring for the Best of Breed competition and Gem won the blue ribbon. I was thrilled! Then Gem entered the Best in Non-Sporting Group, but there was an accident and Wendell slipped and hurt his leg. Even though his lead was broken, Gem still obeyed all of Wendell's commands and guess what? He won another Blue Ribbon! Now there was a problem, though. Gem was scheduled to compete in the Best of Show bracket on the final night of the show, but Wendell's leg hurt so much he could not take Gem into the ring. So guess who got to do it? Yup, you guessed it! I won't tell you how we did, but let me say that with all those people looking at us I was a little scared but ... Well, you'll see how it all turned out when you read my story. Oh, and don't forget to look at the information at the end of the book about how a dog show works. You'll learn what the judge looks for, how many different kinds of dogs there are and where you can find a list of dog shows in your area. Note: Opinions expressed in reviews and articles on this site are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of BookLoons. Find more Kids books on our Shelves or in our book Reviews