Books and dogs: A boy’s best friends

There’s a joke told by Groucho Marx that goes like this: Outside of a dog, a book is a man’s best friend. Inside a dog, it’s too dark to read. The joke, however, recognizes two important elements - reading and dogs. Pictured here is Preston Campbell, who was recently one of many readers who shared a favorite book at the Florida Public Library with Nikki, a R.E.A.D. therapy dog. The Reading Education Assistance Dogs program improves children’s reading and communication skills by employing a powerful method: reading to a dog. R.E.A.D. dogs are registered therapy animals who volunteer with their owner and handlers as a team, going to schools, libraries and other settings as reading companions for children. As the story goes - best friends.