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Therapy dogs like Izzy, a gray Havanese, are the heart, soul and wagging tail of a literacy program in schools and libraries called Reading Education Assistance Dogs (READ) that encourages young readers.

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Marlon Maita, 8, waits to read with Leslie Hight, a therapy dog handler for New York Therapy Animals, and Izzy, a Reading Education Assistance Dog therapy dog, at Public School 57 in the Spanish Harlem section of New York.Shannon Stapleton/Reuters

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Aelane Vasquez,9, reads with Leslie Hight, a therapy dog handler for New York Therapy Animals, and Izzy, a Reading Education Assistance Dog therapy dog, at Public School 57 in the Spanish Harlem section of New York.Shannon Stapleton/Reuters

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Open this photo in gallery:

Marlon Maita, 8, reads with Leslie Hight, a therapy dog handler for New York Therapy Animals, and Izzy, a Reading Education Assistance Dog therapy dog, at Public School 57 in the Spanish Harlem section of New York.Shannon Stapleton/Reuters

3 of 7
Open this photo in gallery:

Aelane Vasquez,9, reads with Leslie Hight, a therapy dog handler for New York Therapy Animals, and Izzy, a Reading Education Assistance Dog therapy dog, at Public School 57 in the Spanish Harlem section of New York.Shannon Stapleton/Reuters

4 of 7
Open this photo in gallery:

Marlon Maita, 8, reads with Leslie Hight, a therapy dog handler for New York Therapy Animals, and Izzy, a Reading Education Assistance Dog therapy dog, at Public School 57 in the Spanish Harlem section of New York.Shannon Stapleton/Reuters

5 of 7
Open this photo in gallery:

Aelane Vasquez,9, reads with Leslie Hight, a therapy dog handler for New York Therapy Animals, and Izzy, a Reading Education Assistance Dog therapy dog, at Public School 57 in the Spanish Harlem section of New York.Shannon Stapleton/Reuters

6 of 7
Open this photo in gallery:

Aelane Vasquez,9, reads with Leslie Hight, a therapy dog handler for New York Therapy Animals, and Izzy, a Reading Education Assistance Dog therapy dog, at Public School 57 in the Spanish Harlem section of New York.Shannon Stapleton/Reuters

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