Animal Books on The Point
This morning Mindy, Melanie, & I talked about books featuring animals. As always, we had more books in our hands than we had time to discuss, so today’s list will include the books we didn’t have time for as well as those we did, and those suggested by people calling in. Thanks so much to our callers for your suggestions! If you missed the show this morning, it will be rebroadcast tonight at 7:30 on WCAI, or you can listen to the podcast online.
Listener Suggestions:
The Good Good Pig : the extraordinary life of Christopher Hogwood by Sy Montgomery
Tell Me Where it Hurts : a day of humor, healing and hope in my life as an animal surgeon by Nick Trout
Alex & Me : how a scientist and a parrot discovered a hidden world of animal intelligence–and formed a deep bond in the process by Irene M. Pepperberg
The Art of Racing in the Rain : a novel by Garth Stein
Mindy’s Picks
Dog mysteries by Spencer Quinn aka Peter Abrahams, and don’t miss Chet the dogs blog which can be found at www.chetthedog.com
Dog on it : a Chet and Bernie mystery by Spencer Quinn
Thereby Hangs a Tail : a Chet and Bernie mystery by Spencer Quinn.
To Fetch a Thief : a Chet and Bernie mystery by Spencer Quinn
Jill’s Picks:
Animals Make Us Human: creating the best life for animals by Temple Grandin & Catherine Johnson
Homer’s Odyssey: a fearless feline tale, or how I learned about love and life with a blind wonder cat by Gwen Cooper
Dewey’s Nine Lives : the legacy of the small-town library cat who inspired millions by Vicki Myron, with Bret Witter
Pukka : the pup after Merle as told by Pukka to Ted Kerasote
Enslaved by Ducks by Bob Tarte
Charlotte’s Web by E. B. White … if you’ve never read this, right now, go out and get a copy from your library! Here is Wilbur the pigs breakfast description: “Breakfast at six-thirty. Skim milk, crusts, middlings, bits of doughnuts, wheat cakes with drops of maple syrup sticking to them, potato skins, leftover custard pudding with raisins, and bits of Shredded Wheat.” And the lovely last lines of the book: “It is not often that someone comes along who is a true friend and a good writer. Charlotte was both.”
And here are titles that I didn’t have time for:
A Small Furry Prayer: dog rescue and the meaning of life by Steven Kotler
The Lost Dogs: Michael Vick’s dogs and their tale of rescue and redemption by Jim Gorant
Dog Stories edited by Diana Secker Tesdell. A great collection of stories from O. Henry to Rudyard Kipling to Jonathan Lethem to Doris Lessing.
And some great children’s books:
How to Clean a Hippopotamus : a look at unusual animal partnerships by Steve Jenkins & Robin Page. (Which answers such questions as “Why do a coyote and a badger team up?” as it explores animal symbiosis)
Pond Circle by Betsy Franco, Illustrated by Stefano Vitale. A retelling of “The House that Jack Built” set in a pond. It begins: “This is the water, the deep, still water, that filled the pond by Anna’s house.”
13 words written by Lemony Snicket ; illustrated byMaira Kalman. The 13 words are “bird”, “despondent,” “cake,” “dog,” “busy,” “convertible,” “goat,” “hat,” “haberdashery,” “scarlet,” “baby,” “panache,” and “mezzo-soprano.” Look for the volume of Kafka and the mushy peas on the table of the despondent bird. A “sophisticated” picture book, as much for adults as for kids. As always Maira Kalman’s illustrations are fabulous.
Melanie’s Picks
The Backyard Homestead Guide to Raising Farm Animals edited by Gail Damerow (nobody in CLAMS owns this title yet, but there are a number of books by the author).
Paradise Found : nature in America at the time of discovery by Steve Nicholls
Dog Days, Raven Nights by John M. Marzluff and Colleen Marzluff
Your Dog: the Owner’s Manual: Hundreds of Secrets, Surprises, and Solutions for Raising a Happy, Healthy Dog by Dr. Marty Becker
The Moral Lives of Animals by Dale Peterson
Where the Wild Things Were : life, death, and ecological wreckage in a land of vanishing predators by William Stolzenberg
Ever By My Side : a memoir in eight acts, pets by Nick Trout
Good Old Dog : expert advice for keeping your aging dog happy, healthy, and comfortable by the faculty of the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University ; edited by Nicholas Dodman, with Lawrence Lindner
Not mentioned but fun
Lucky, the Autobiography of a Goldfish as told to Marjorie Frith; illustrations by his classmates