Watson, the Detective Dog

Susan Brocker specialises in picture books based on real life animals. This book is about Watson, a New Zealand dog being trained as a conservation dog.

While Watson is a charismatic character and is comically illustrated, there is a serious side to the story as well. How conservation dogs are trained is explained in some detail and the serious issue of pollution and its detrimental effects on the survival of īnanga (native whitebait) is at the heart of this book.

This would be a useful book to use as an introduction to a study of conservation in the junior school, and would be great to initiate a group discussion. It introduces words such as: endangered species, pollution, conservation and biology, but within a context which will help children to understand these concepts.