All About Animals discussion

If you have read a book that pertains to animals, birds, reptiles, bugs, sea-life and any book that pertains these topics as the 2nd main character in the book that you have loved and listed as a 5 star book, list it here.

ONLY 5 STAR BOOKS here please....

*Please tell us why you gave it 5 stars.

One of the animal books which I have given five stars is Unlikely Friendships : 47 Remarkable Stories from the Animal Kingdom. It is a non fiction book about friendship between animals of different species. Friendship is defined rather loosely, but I liked the stories very much, and it has a lot of good photographs.

One of my favorite animal books is Lost Cat: A True Story of Love, Desperation, and GPS Technology by Caroline Paul and illustrated by Wendy MacNaughton.

The author's cat goes missing while she is recovering from an accident. Her and her partner try to find her and then mourn her. Then one day she hops up on the bed like nothing ever happened. The book is mostly about the quest to figure out where the heck she was. They put collar cams on her. They track her with GPS. The author gets a little obsessed. It was absolutely hysterical. Maybe to me the funniest part is if it was my cat I would have gotten just as nutty and probably done all the same things!!

This isn't my only 5 star animal book but it's the one I've recommended the most. Really- I told anyone who would listen to me about this book!

Sounds interesting. It reminds me a little of a TV series called The Private Lives of Cats if I remember it correctly. For a week scientists followed the cats of a small town in Britain to see what they did, sometimes the cats even had minature cameras attached to their collars to see what they did. Fascinating.

Another of my five star animal books is one I recently read, and is called Tarka the Otter by Henry Williamson. It is a fictional account of the dramatic live of an otter, the first book I have ever read about one of that species. What I liked so much about it was how close it resembled non fiction. It wasn't a human in animal form, but animal in animal form. It is an old book, but I liked it a lot.

I recently read The Dark Horse by the wonderful Rumer Godden. Here is a link to my review, where I don't give away anything but I do gush a bit. ;-))

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I loved reading about the different personalities of the different chickens.

I always wanted my own flock after watching those of relatives. They are so entertaining and peaceful to watch. Way more entertaining than fish, though I did find it hilarious the first time I set up a "wall of bubbles" bubble wand in my aquarium and the fish acted like they were taking turns swimming into it and riding the bubbles to the top, lol!

Also The Cat Who Came in from the Cold

It was a pure delight to be treated to the skill of this author's development of this kitten's personality.
I have never read a book where an animal has so much personality or could carry a book's story so well, as this author does in 'The Cat Who Came In From The Cold'.
This book is not only very, very funny, but it is absolutely charming, as well.
Everyone who has ever been owned by a cat will recognize the many truisms throughout, but Thermal is also a very unique kitten/cat who is a joy to read about.

I highly recommend Mark Doty's Dog Years, his memoir of recovering from the loss of his partner with the help of his dogs, who he subsequently loses. Sounds sad, but he's a poet & a professor, skills he uses to beautifully portray his journey. It's love is love is love in action.

I loved Oogy: The Dog Only a Family Could Love and Homer's Odyssey.

Maile wrote: "I highly recommend Mark Doty's Dog Years, his memoir of recovering from the loss of his partner with the help of his dogs, who he subsequently loses. Sounds sad, but he's a poet & a professor, skil..."

This was an excellent book. Very poetic.

The Lost Dogs: Michael Vick's Dogs and Their Tale of Rescue and Redemption

I loved this book. I gave it 5 stars because Gorant tells a very compelling story...he individualizes each of the dogs, showing parts of their experience from their point of view. He makes the reader care about each of them. Ultimately, it's a story of victory over Vick, as each of the dogs gets a second chance. It is unflinching, but at the same time, uplifting.

A Dog's Purpose and also the sequel, A Dog's Journey

For why I gave these 5 stars, here is my review of the first book.
Yes, I know this book is fiction, but it's that wonderful kind of fiction that rings so true, you kind of forget that it's a made-up story. The book covers the multiple lives of a single dog as he is reborn several times and attempts to discover his purpose.

In all, the dog describes four different lives. One very short, two nice and long, and one that doesn't end before the book does. Each life presents a different purpose for the dog, until he finally figures out what it all means.

Now, you might be wondering how a story like this can "ring true", and here is where I might begin to sound crazy. I love dogs more than anything on earth. I've had a lot of them, and almost always more than one at a time. The 'voice' that Cameron gives the dog is 100% believable as a typical dog's perception of his life and experiences. Dogs don't understand everything, but they do understand a lot.

Cameron uses what we know about the science of dogs to make this book so believable. The story relies heavily on a dog's sense of smell and ability to sense feelings. The priorities seem right on the mark too. From this perspective, it becomes a very tender story.

As for the reincarnation aspect of it...well, (make way for the crazy dog lady) I've heard more than one animal communicator say that dogs remember their previous lives...and who's to say they are wrong?

There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,
Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.
- Hamlet

The Genius of Dogs: How Dogs Are Smarter than You Think

For the reason why I gave this 5 stars:

The utterly captivating ‘The Genius of Dogs; How Dogs are Smarter than you Think’ by Brian Hare and Vanessa Woods, is one of those fascinating books that readers will want to take their time to pore over.

Hare, director of the Duke Canine Cognition Center at Duke University, tells the story of how he became involved in the study of canine cognition, and pioneered research that has advanced the science of discovering how dogs think.

According to Hare, dogs have a particular genius when it comes to relating to humans that is unparalleled among domestic animals. In some cases, canine cognition even betters the brain power of apes.

Hare and Woods explore how dogs domesticated themselves to partner with, what dogs can and cannot figure out, how we communicate with dogs and they with us, which dog breeds are smartest, and more.

The authors have thoroughly researched this subject and presented it in a way that anyone can understand. They explain experiments in detail, and how the results sent them on further investigations. There are so many stunning revelations, readers will want to savor the information and ruminate on how it relates to the dogs they know.

If you want a book that is a cute Christmas Story and has Beautiful Illustrations. Check out this one.

"Polly's Dream" by Grace Cousins.

My review of this book...
Polly penguin lives at the south pole with her parents. She loves to do crafts. I can so relate to this! She carries her craft box everywhere with her.

When Polly gets up in the morning she puts on her favorite scarf and hat, and she will wear a different color depending on her mood. But, Polly has a dream. One day her parents wake up to discover that Polly and her craft box are gone. Polly sets out to fulfill her dream. To find out Polly's dream you will have to read the book. I don't want to tell you what her dream is or it would be a spoiler.

On the back inside cover there is a letter from Polly. Don't forget to read that too. Seems like a book for children over 8 yrs. old or so. Great book for parents to read to their smaller children. I can see this book becoming a favorite for parents and children to read around the holidays each year. The illustrations are wonderful on each page and would be great for teachers to read to a classroom. Every photo has great detail.

My favourite book this Christmas-

And the Tail Wagged On…

And the Tail Wagged On... is both a celebration of the love and an investigation into the leash that binds both dog to human and human to dog.

It is also an exploration into the traumas of dog-human ownership as in the unexpected arrival of a fearsome kitten, the ordeal of visiting other dog owned houses and the problems with always having to prove your natural hunting instincts when facing possums, squirrels or other wild animals.

This anthology also highlights the problems of human-canine cohabitation exploring the cultural differences of bathing. Canines will bathe once a year, whether they need it or not, while humans seem to get extremely dirty and have to wash on a daily basis. As well as investigating the age old question as to whether it is politer to go to the bathroom inside the house or in the garden like a savage, which humans seem to prefer.
Finally, the poems in this anthology prove beyond doubt that even with the communication and cultural issues the human-canine relationship is always a special one.

http://www.amazon.com/Tail-Wagged-Sel...

Hi Barb, I would love to share the first book in the series, Seven Days to Goodbye. It has twenty-eight, 5 star reviews. It is about Trina, a thirteen year old, puppy raiser and her first trained service dog. While on the beach, he meets a young boy with autism, and Trina and her best friend meet the older brothers.
http://amazon.com/ Seven Days to Goodbye
www.sherislevy.com

The Art of Racing in the Rain is one of my all time favs, as well as Life of Pi . Richard Parker ( tiger) was a wonderful character. Both are works of fiction but you can find plenty of truths within the pages.

Yes, indeed. Both are wonderful books. The kind that stay with you a long time.

Let me recommend Too Much Salt and Pepper

This is the one that was magic to me when I was a little girl. This gentleman wrote with such a genuine love for wildlife, and such a tone of sincerity! For me, as a blind child who was fascinated by animals, this book gave me a chance to see porcupines, squirrels, and all the other woodland creatures I so loved. This book is part of a twelve-book series called "The Living Forest." I'm still searching for an accessible form of "The living Forest" in its entirety. In he meantime, I can't rate this one highly enough!

I just finished one that I would like to recommend to anyone interested in animal intelligence. It’s called Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are? and it’s by Frans de Waal. It’s a book that explores research that has been done into animal intelligence, and I think it is just well written. I thought I got a real feel for what has been done in this field, and where the research could go next.