Animal Books

Another good one from Mark. Makes you think of horses in a whole new way has you step into their world so to speak. A must read!

Mark has written a nice book, not clearly a manual or a How to.. book but a text full of experiences. It's not literature about horses but a book about different horses and experiences, giving clues about horsenalities and personalities. A fun and interesting book.

Quite simply, I love horses, and I loved this book.

What Mark writes about horses and humans gets to the heart of what life's all about. If I was the CEO of a big company, I'd bring this cowboy in to talk horse with my upper management, let them figure out why. I relate to his idea of quiet leadership.

I've since read three of Mark's other books. All of them have something unique to say, Mr. Rashid is a man with sharp prespective on life and a way with words.

We learn that when we have problems with horses it is because our attitude is not adapted to the horses nature. It shows us that anything a horse does is dictated by his nature, we musn't take it personally, we just have to figure out how to help de horse to understand the situation wihout using any kind of force. Many examples show that the thing to do is very simple...we tend to make things more difficult for the horse.

Mark has a way to really draw you into his stories! I always enjoy reading anything this man writes. What a sense of humor!

How I missed this classic growing up, I'll never know. But my son has discovered the Ramona books, and they are wonderful and very true to life. Ramona's thought-processes and antics are so real, I now know that my son has been behaving like a normal kid! Cleary is so accurate in rendering the child's perspective and writing about it in a way that young children can identify with, that this book can't fail to appeal to everyone, now and for years to come. It hasn't dated, and the humor holds up well. Don't miss this series--your little reader will be eager to pick up the entire series.

Although it was first published in the 1960s, "Ramona The Pest" still speaks to the lives of children today, as a five-year old Ramona Quimby enters the world of "big kids" and goes off to kindergarten. Funny, heartfelt and honest, this book centers on Ramona's eagerness to please her new teacher, Miss Binney, and the difficulties of a headstrong little girl trying to mind her temper and get along with other kids in a complex social situation. This was the first solo Ramona book (Henry Huggins and Ramona's older sister Beezus make appearances, but they are not central to the story) and was the start of a series of Ramonacentric adventures. It includes some classic Cleary gags, such as Ramona getting the words to the "Star Spangled Banner" wrong ("by the dawnzer lee light...") and Ramona's brief career as a "kindergarten dropout". Great stuff - still holds up today. (ReadThatAgain children's book reviews)

I really loved this book. It was a lot of fun to read! It is great for kids of all ages, as it can remind everyone of their struggles as an elementary student.

Five-year-old Ramona Quimby is tired of being called a pest. It's not her fault she doesn't know as much as her big sister Beezus, or that she's always so eager to get things done, is it?

This year, Ramona is finally starting kindergarten. After what felt like years of waiting, she's excited at the idea of learning to read and write like Beezus.

But kindergarten is full of its own problems. As much as Ramona loves her teacher, she isn't always sure that Miss Binney loves her back -- or what she's done to make her unhappy. Ramona also quibbles with Howie, a neighborhood boy who alternates between being her friend and being so exasperating he makes her furious; longs to pull the curls of her classmate Susan, and to kiss shy little Davy.

As always, Ramona is a believable character, likeable and just like any other child readers might hope to meet. After becoming introduced to Ramona, young readers will clamor for the other books, eager to find out what happens to the irrepressible girl next.

Beverly Clearly is one of those rare children's authors who knows how to see the world through the eyes of her characters. There's a reason for all those rave reviews from readers over the years.

Ramona the Pest provides an opportunity for the child in your life to see how Romana's world is much like his own, and learn from Ramona as she makes mistakes.

Ramona the Pest is certain to be a favorite of yours, as well.

My mother used to read me this story as a kid. I always liked it. As I got older, I began to appreciate it even more for its subtle humor. The story is unique and the illustrations should really be admired. I just bought it for my 2 year old and she seems to enjoy it as well. I highly recommend it.

Ferdinand is a bull who listens to his own heart. He does not bow to 'peer pressure' and try to be someone he is not. The story is not really about bull-fighting, but about self-acceptance and the acceptance of others for whom they are -- even when initial expectations are not met.

I completely forgot about this book until one of my students had me read it. Such a classic with an important message about staying true to yourself even if you are off the beaten path. The Spanish culture and charming illustrations only make this all the more likeable.

What a lovely classical story of peace. Ferdinand is a peaceful bull who loves to lie in the meadow and smell flowers. He gets stung by a bee at exactly the wrong moment (when the bullfighters are coming to pick a bull to take to the fights). So he is, of course, carted off to fight, since he is obviously the feistiest bull in the field. When he gets to the ring, no matter how mean the bullfighters are to him, Ferdinand just lies down and smells the flowers on the ladies' hats. This is such a beautiful story of peace and hope. Even though bullfighting is not promoted or accepted in the U.S., I think this is a beautiful classic story and I do recommend it for all ages.

the book and the cd were in good shape and the story was
similar to the one i knew when i was a child but not the
same. i was looking for a copy of the one i knew in the
early 50's, it was fun to listen to and it was funny.
there is another story of the flying mouse at the same
time, that i am looking for.

Do you what to buy a book you'll love to read? If you do, you should read Chrysanthemum By Kevin Henkes. Kevin Henkes is a good author. Chrysanthemum is a good children's book. If you are a mom you should read it to your child. They might love it like a favorite book. In the book Chrysanthemum loved her name until she went to school. The kids teased Chrysanthemum and said "you're named after a flower" and a girl named Victoria that was in her class teased her the most. Her parents said her name was perfect but Chrysanthemum did not think so. She had dreams that were nightmares like that Victoria was picking her like a flower. The main problem is she is picked on. I chose the book because it is interesting. The characters are classmates and Chrysanthemum and a music teacher and Chrysanthemum mom and dad. The book takes place at her mom and dads house and outside and school. I think the authors message is to not tease somebody (treat somebody the way you want to be treated.) If you want to find out if the problem's solved you should read the book.


also

Do you like mice? Then you will like Chrysanthemum. I chose to read this book because it was about mice. Chrysanthemum is a girl who was named after a flower and it came to the first day of school and everyone made fun of her because she was named after a flower. Everybody thought it was a funny name except for her parents and her teacher. Everybody said "That's a dumb name. Your names Chrysanthemum it barely fits your nametag" Every body there told chrysanthemum their names and they said their names were perfect. I'm not giving away the ending. You are going to have to read it. I will give you a hint though it turns out to be pretty good. I think that you should never make fun of someone about them. You're just making it worse and worse for you not the person who your making fun of. Its just an embarrassment. Kids through 1st and third grade should read this book because it teaches you a lesson.

I bought this book for my daughter who is an early childhood education major. She requested it after reviewing it in class. Great book!

I am an elementary school teacher and this book is great to read to the kids within the first few weeks of school. It teaches them about the differences between people and how differences are ok. It is just the right length and repeats for easy reading. The video is also a great buy! Play it as a listening center for reading!

Great story for a child in elementary school or approaching. It touches on many levels the challenges of attending school for the first time. The author highlights Chrysanthemum and gives her depth. The school children that she meets also are made to be a challenge for Chrysanthemum.
The problem solving and the love of her parents touch on family values.
LOVE IT AND RECOMMEND.

Chrysanthemum was the main character. She was sad because her classmates were teasing about her name. This happened at school. Chrysanthemum's friends were teasing her because her name wouldn't fit on
her name tag. I like this book for three reasons.
1. I am named after a flower as well as Chrysanthemum.
2. Also, I have been teased because I am named after a flower and it relates.
3. My last reason is because I like books that at first characters do not like each other but in the end they solve the problem. Chrysanthemum is a book for any age. By Lily

We had just rescued a ferret and needed information quick. So we started with Ferrets for Dummies. It's a good book and it answered all our questions. Easy to read and understand.

I am so happy I bought this book! It was recommneded by some users on a ferret forum. What a good idea! So much information, I've referenced it a few times about my problematic ferret: he's a biter! Some useful information about switching diets, some recipes, ferret-proofing, etc. Good to have, excellend place to check for questions, and if you still have more- take what you learned to a ferret forum and they can answer your question more detailed! This is a must-have for any ferrent!

I love this book just as much as the first one. Everything was excellent. The seller was terrific as well couldn't have been better.

This book has lots of good information and it's easy to find. It works for the beginner or the experienced owner. It's my favorite ferret book.

I think the other reviewers have said it all. This is the most comprehensive introduction to ferrets I've seen yet in the several years that I have owned fuzzies. In response to other reviewers saying it is outdated: yes, it was. However, the latest edition is only a few months old. Even the newest edition may not contain every nitty gritty detail you need or want to know, but it is a great place to start so that you at least have some idea of how to identify a good source on the internet and what you should be searching for. If you are getting fuzzies, have fuzzies, or are thinking about getting fuzzies, you should read this book. You owe it to your little ones to have a basic idea of how to care for them, as ferrets are "exotic" pets and cannot be treated as other common household pets.

I didn't find this book all that special. The style seemed stilted and awkward. Characters seemed emotionally flat and I didn't buy the romance in the story. Not a bad read, but half way through I was ready for the book to end.

One of the things I like about this book is that it manages to retain an archaic feeling without sounding fake (you know, the type of dialogue that sounds like a bunch of college students roleplaying). Pope's choice of using modern language for the dialogue doesn't spoil the setting at all, whereas trying to force readers to jump back and forth between Elizabethan dialogue and modern narration could be annoying, e.g. Patricia Wrede's version of "Snow White and Rose Red".

Overall, Pope's characters are really well fleshed out, and she's also a master at describing atmosphere. The supernatural terror that Kate is subjected to in the underground halls kept me up at night for a while after both times I read this.

I didn't know the plot of "The Perilous Gard" was related to an actual legend till I stumbled across the name "Tam Lin" elsewhere on the Internet. Now I'm fascinated...

This book is beautiful. The proud elves! The historical drama! Probably the best theory for where elves/fairies came from, oh, and the answer will suprise you!
This books haunts you in that though there are mystical, magical elements in this story when you done reading you have to admit that it really COULD have happened. This book made me cry, I love it when books have the power to make you feel that much emotion. Do yourself a favour and read the book!

The Perilous Gard

The Sherwood Ring

The Perilous Gard is a book I still reread as an adult. The Sherwood Ring is good also. I just wish that Ms. Pope had written MORE.

The Perilous Gard is a wonderful rainy afternoon book. The characters seem real and the Elizabethan England that is described seems real and charming but none too easy to live in.

The best part of the story is the characterizations of the fairies themselves. Not the fluttery, glittery creatures beloved of Walt Disney, but a real, proud alien race at one with nature. The queen particularly is both admirable and cruel, pitiless and pitiable.

I enjoyed this book immensely once I got into it. The first chapter didn't impress me, but after that the book held my attention. The main character, Kate, was a great heroine that I enjoyed reading about and she had her own flaws, which I thought was great. Because most books in this sort of genre have the perfect, beautiful, strong, intelligent, courageous heroine, which I always found somewhat unbelievable. This book is adventursome, fantastical, and has some romance thrown in too. Its my kind of book! I plan on looking for more books by this author.

Expand your horizons and be blessed, don't wait until you loose an animal friend before reading this MUST HAVE book. The Good News is really Good News after all.

I have known for years that my pets would go to heaven when they died. This is the first book I've ever read on the subject that had so many scriptures to back it up. For anyone who has lost a wonderful companion pet, I recommend this sensitive and compassionate book as a source of knowledge and comfort to help you through the grieving process.

I decided for my review to include a little about this author's other 3 books (as of the time I am writing this) as they are all somewhat related and if you have just lost a pet you may be trying to decide which of them to buy. At almost $14 a piece, to buy all of them will run you over $50 which is quite a lot of money (particularly if like many of us, you are struggling in this poor economy). So since this book has been pretty well-reviewed already, I will focus more on comparing it with the other 3 to help you decide which to get.

This is probably my favorite of the four, and if you really want a full, in-depth discussion of animals and scripture, this is the one to get. This is definitely a book intended for Christians that already believe in Jesus and the Bible as an authoritative source, but even if you aren't you may enjoy the information in here. The book is very easy to read and covers the material better than a couple others I read on the subject. It definitely would be a comfort to someone who has lost a pet and struggling with thoughts of them being gone forever. My only real beef with it is the high price, $14 for a small paperback of this size really is a tad excessive. But worth it? I'd say yes.

Her next book, Animal Prayer Guide is one that any pet lover that is a Christian may enjoy. I had some mixed feelings about this book. It has a nice introduction to prayer and how it works, and covers a really nice range of animal-related issues and situations. There wasn't as many actual prayers included as I would have liked though, but many scripture passages, some stories, etc. I'm one of those people that really has a lot of trouble putting my emotions into words and had hoped for more "ready-made" prayers from this book. Each subject heading generally has only one prayer included, and the memorial service included is all Bible readings with only a short prayer included at the beginning. Nothing wrong with Bible passages of course, but I just hoped to see more actual prayers, especially for the memorial service. Still, this is the only book of its kind I've even seen and I did enjoy it and found it helpful in adding prayers for pets and animals in my life. If you are looking for a second book to buy, this would be a fine choice.

Niki's book The Rainbow Bridge: Pet Loss Is Heaven's Gain is one is intended to cover a wider range of topics on grief and losing a pet, and does that well. A bit of amount of material from "Eternal Life" is repeated in this one as well as from her prayer book. If you want to get only one book of hers after losing your pet, and don't care about having a really complete discussion of the "life after death" in scriptures, this would be a good choice. It'd make a particularly nice gift for a friend that has lost a pet, or to offer for sale at a crematorium. If you plan to buy "Eternal Life" though and particularly if you also buy the prayer book, you might find that there's not quite enough additional material in here to warrant getting it.

The last book, Who Says Animals Go To Heaven? I found the least useful and interesting to me personally, to warrant the high cost. It's an interesting take on the subject of animal afterlife, but really seems like more of a footnote to "Eternal Life" than one that should be its own book, and probably could have been condensed and included into Eternal Life as an additional chapter or appendix. It basically has quotes from a wide range of religious authorities, ministers, etc. (along with bios on all of them), but there's not much discussion of what they are saying, and without that, I felt it fell a bit flat. Many of them are quotes from many centuries ago (so not particularly easy for everyone to understand the archaic language) and there's a fair amount of repetition as most of them deal with Romans 8:19-23 in particular. If you are looking for a lot of quotes from famous religious figures that really unequivocally state that animals will go to heaven, you may be disappointed with this, you need to read quite a bit between the lines to find those sentiments through much of this. It's an interesting sample though of many different religious figures and it's clear she's put a lot of research into this. I personally didn't get as much out of this book as the others, but if you really like the discussions on scripture in Eternal Life and are interested in further discussion on the topic, you might want to pick this book up as well.

Hope that helps anyone looking for comparisons of these 4 books and trying to decide which to get. Niki has done a fine job in writing all of these and provided a great service to those that have lost a pet and deserves to be applauded for that indeed!

This book verified my belief that animals DO go to Heaven. You can't dispute what the Bible says. It's the word of GOD!!

If you need some comfort from your loss and reassurance...Then this is the book for you. Please see the related companion books also. Our family recently lost a pet and this book has been a comfort and help for us.

The author lays out in plain english and easy to understand stories and terms, what happens to pets, just like people, when they pass away.

Using a combination of quotes from scripture, coupled with near death experiences & descriptions, she logically paints a very vivid picture of what happens to our friends when we lose them. Stories from both sources blend well and compliment each other to provide a good description of what awaits our pets.

Contrary to worst case scenarios, their souls actually are fine and waiting to meet us when we pass away.

This book and companion books will offer you comfort and relief, but regardless of your decision to get them, if you are suffering from the loss of your friend, then God Bless you and provide you with comfort.

My four month old LOVES this book. He gets very excited every time I sit down to read it to him. I swear he is mumbling "oops" when we get to that on each page. We have several of the Boynton books and he recognizes the characters from one book to the next. This is his favorite however. I love reading it to him too. A definite must read!!

Blue Hat,Green Hat by Sandra Boynton is a charming book about colors . My grandson who is two years old laughs everytime I read it to him. The characters in the book are precious.The book is a great learning tool for teaching colors.

Bought this book for my 16 month old granddaughter who liked it. However, my 3 1/2 yo granddaughter LOVED it. She caught right on (while I was reading it to her) and was then able to "read" it all herself - while laughing hysterically. She thought the book was really funny and was "reading" it over and over again. Learning more and more about the words. What a great book! Thank you once again to Sandry Boynton.

Boynton is fun to read (for parents) and a joy for children. Can't go wrong with a Boynton book.

My daughter enjoys this book a lot, and I enjoy watching her enjoy it. The reviewer that gave this book 1 star said that the book does not teach kids anything and is therefore boring and useless, I disagree: it teaches names of clothes, body parts they are meant to be worn on, colors, and animals. I think it's an awful lot for a tiny little book with very few words! It is very effective, too, after about a month of having this, my 20-months old "read" one of the pages on her own: "hat, hat, hat, oh-oh". :-) I don't know about you, but sounds like she totally got it for me!
The one criticism that I do agree with is the poor choice of "oops" animal - it's a turkey, and it does look like it has a sock draped over its face, I can see my little one hesitate every once in a while on that one... I wish the artist would have either done a better job on that or picked a simpler animal. But I am not sure it's worthy of taking away a star, if I could take away a half - maybe...

I bought this the other day for the bargain price of $4.62 through the Amazon marketplace. It arrived in under 7 days and in excellent condition.
The author is an experienced rabbit handler who has worked for years with the House Rabbit Society (Google same for their web site) to care for, and advance the cause of, rabbits.
In particular, Harriman does an excellent job accounting for the rabbits' needs, social as well as diet. She makes it clear that rabbit ownership is not at all like owning a pet turtle, and lays out clearly what you'll need to be ready to provide for them in terms of care and, for want of a better word, "mateship"--rabbits are intensely social animals that need to be involved in the life of a family.
We will probably be adopting our first rabbit in the next year or so. Harriman's book turned out to be an excellent primer, and I'd recommend it without hesitation!

As a first time rabbit owner, I found this guide very informative. It is a must have for any rabbit owner.

I'm not sure I understand why this book has received so many positive reviews. While the writer clearly has plenty of experience with and knowledge about rabbits, the information is not well organized and is often unclear. For instance, in the section on bunny-proofing your home, she never provides a simple list of the hazards and what to do about each. Instead, she opens with a list of questions and then transitions into a list of solutions--but the lists aren't coordinated. At one point, she mentions a solution for hiding hardwood floors and baseboards, but she never says what bunnies *do* to either. Chew? Scratch? How? I need a list of everything bunnies might damage followed by solutions for each. Another example: In the section about multiple rabbits, she focuses on introducing rabbits to each other but says very little about adopting a bonded pair. Is this better than adopting a single bunny? Why? Is it more or less work, and in what way?

My sense is that the author has been dealing with bunnies for so long that she doesn't quite know how to talk to a beginner--and that the editor doesn't understand the benefit of numbered and bulleted lists.

If you are only going to purchase one book about house rabbits this should be the one. I have purchased several and taken several out of the library and this is still the first one I pick up when I need information.

This is the single best written resource for people new to the world of house rabbits.

This book is hard to classify: Is it autobiography? Primatolgy? Travel adventures? Humanist philosophy? Humor? Basically it is all of these and more. It is a real page turner. Sapolsky has a truly marvelous sense of humor that includes knowing how to laugh at himself. I rank it with in the top 10 favorite books I've ever read. Bravo!

This book is an excellent insight into the 20 year life of a biologist who grow as a person while studying baboons and navigating the up and downs of life in Kenya.

This is a fun recollection of Sapolsky's experiences in Africa.

Somebody looking for data might want to avoid it as the information is more about things that struck him through his observations with his baboon troop. Some would be reminded of Goodall's earlier books when he writes about his interactions with the baboon.

There are many chapters on what he went through and the people he meet and interacted.

Some are great such as Thomas who had the great ability to pull endless fish out of a river but it was offset by his other great ability to attract buffalo. As Sapolsky wrote: "Buffalo would scamper in from miles away to nail Thomas, toss him over their shoulders, and send his fish sailing into mudholes, thorn bushes, high into trees." Sapolsky comments about looking for him and find him cursing and spitting and cackling at some buffalo, threatening it with his trademark an astounding pelvic grind, as the monster approached.

That whole imagery made me laugh.

His own personal reflections of living in Africa are rather interesting as he interjects himself into the community. Some of his comments bring another picture to the Masai who many times are pictured as the noble warriors and yet they do questionable things.

Probably one disheartening thing is the corruption that existed and probably still exists. As he prided himself on being a New Yorker; he finds himself being conned and regularly pressed for bribes. And yet, he himself takes to conning people when his money runs out.

An outbreak of Bovine TB ravishes a Baboon troop and eventually hits his troop. Sapolsky finds himself unenviable task of killing Baboons as he tries to discover what is killing the Baboons and where is it coming from. Eventually, he figures it out and it involves corruption and the Masai. He can't even tell people about it because wealthy British hotel owners are against it and the local government is against it as it would hurt the tourist trade.

One thing I thought was interesting was his comments about Fosse. He is not a fan.

Overall it's a fun read.

This is a beautiful, poignant, fascinating and enlightening read. It's also a bit heart-wrenching. Despite the fact that it is ostensibly about baboons, each sentence within this book contains more humanity and feeling than a typical week of day to day living on our strange modern worlds.

I am a student of Bio-Anthropology, and I have to say that when it comes to bio-anthro, especially my specialty- Primatology- the textbooks NEVER tell you everything you need to know in order to be a good Primatologist, but Robert Sapolsky does in "A Primate's Memoir."

Sapolsky delivers a narrative that is at once fanciful and credible. Too bizarre to be taken as anything other than reality. The experience of the author as a budding scientist in the Kenyan Serengeti, coming of age amidst the incongruous corruption and stark beauty of the African continent, as he works his way through the American Academic Dominance Hierarchy while conducting a long-term study on Savannah Baboons. He mixes cross-cultural social commentary with humorous storytelling. It is literally a laugh-out loud kind of book, particularly for the budding anthropologist. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in the field. In a way, it is like the primatological equivalent of "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy," except that is all true. A brilliant book, which every anthropologist should read.

BTW, all anthro textbooks should have chapters dedicated to the trials and tribulations one must endure while living among other cultures, dealing with third world corruption, and knowing how to negotiate the African social arena. I feel more worldly for having read this masterpiece.