Service Animals Books

Like the other "How to Draw" Disney books, this one gives you a great overview of the key characters in classic poses. The basic drawing tips are also useful for new artists.

I'm 13 and I love drawing. I have been a Bambi/Disney fan for quite a while, so I bought this book. In a few days, I could draw a excellent Bambi. Step-by-step pictures make it easy to learn to draw Bambi by using circles, ovals and other basic shapes. It covers the main characters like Bambi, Thumper, Friend Owl, Flower, and also includes secondary characters such as The Great Prince, Faline, and many of the little forest animals. In the front it has a few pages that tell about the movie. I would recommend this book anytime!

Very good read. Thorough discussion of underlying science and technology trends. Call me if you want more info : 510-664-3016. Peter Thottam. genesisla@aol.com.

This is a good book, but the topic is so enormous that the book is too broad and should be more specific. The book is an overview of so many areas and it doesn't go into much detail. A excellent book for someone who is illiterate in human genetics like an undergraduate.

This is a very timely and insightful book. I have been waiting for this book for many years. Marianne has been able to put into very readable and meaningful terms the process of Art Journaling and it's benefits to the person using this process. The illustrations are exceptional and indicate with the examples that this is a process that works for many people. I have used it in my lifetime and am so happy to see it now in print and know that it will be very helpful for many people. It is great for personal insight and clarification as well as very helpful for professionals that are in the helping professions. This book will make a great gift for yourself and your loved ones. Be sure to buy this book.

There was a lot about this book that I really liked in spurring my on to more creativity but I was disappointed that there wasn't a more spiritual aspect to it. I do think it worth purchasing and would recommend it to other journalers for sure.

The illustrations in this story are so simple and adorable. It's a slice-of-life type story with simple words and a fun, happy end. Very colorful, lovely illustrations. My kids can't get enough of Larabee.

Kindergartners enjoyed this engaging story of Larabee, a mailman's dog, who longs to receive his own mail. Most found the plot just silly enough to satisfy both young listeners (grades Pre-K through K) and young readers(1st and 2nd graders), as it featured simple vocabulary and lots of animal sounds. These five and six year olds liked the illustrator's cartoony style with its bright colors, sparse scenery and humans with huge heads. They all agreed that Lacey McNabb is the book's heroine, and Mrs. Fellini, the villain-- made obvious by that front yard sign! What was our reviewers' favorite part? Larabee's personalized mailbox-- which made them wonder, "Do dog's dreams come true?"

The Sacrifice: How Scientific Experiments Transform Animals and People is a scholarly examination of the sociological aspect to animal experimentation. Historical material, media reports, professional debates, interviews with scientists and animal technicians, ethnographic data from laboratory settings, and more comprise the raw source material from which The Sacrifice distills its analytical observations. Chapters discuss the dynamics of political animal rights activism, the animal model as applied in modern-day scientific practice, the division of emotional labor in the laboratory, and much more. "In becoming part of the research community, scientists must learn to take many things for granted. As part of the wider culture, they have inherited a highly complex but also highly ambivalent set of attitudes and beliefs about animals that tell them that they should respect animals and at the same time be able to use them." An excellent, unbiased and impartial contribution to college library and sociological studies shelves.

Outside observers of the animal experimentation industry sometimes speculate about the motivation and self-image of those working in the labs. Just who are these people who work in secret facilities hurting and killing animals day in and day out?

Public relations departments and pro-animal experimentation organizations work hard to persuade the public that those who experiment on animals are heroes pursuing noble goals. Seeing behind this veil of propaganda is very difficult. Vivisectors and their support staff are reluctant to share the details of their work and sometimes even hide the fact that they work in an animal lab for fear of public distain or ostracism by their neighbors.

Through interviews with animal lab staff, retrospective analysis of scientists' published papers and industry's advertisements for animals in various journals, the authors of The Sacrifice have tried with some success to provide readers with insight into the self-perception and self-justification of those who experiment on animals.

The authors examine a number mechanisms used by the actors and the industry to protect themselves from public criticism and even self-doubt or self-criticism. They explore the academic trajectory of students from their first dissection to becoming a principal investigator who may never actually view the animals they use. Students following this trajectory are increasingly in contact with animals being used in increasingly invasive procedures. Those who endure and remain in the industry must find ways to explain their wide deviation from the societal norm to themselves and to others who happen to question them.

The authors present an interesting discussion of the flexible meaning of `animal' in the labs. The animal care staff tends to see animals more as individuals whose interests they protect due to their self-view as the real animal experts, while the scientists may see them and speak of animals more as research tools or parts of a scientific apparatus, yet simultaneously present themselves to the public (when needed) as compassionate animal lovers.

The authors do a good job of examining the industry's characterization of its critics as scientific illiterates, quasi-Luddites, complete liars, or terrorists. Based on these characterizations, the industry claims that there is no point in discussion or debate with opponents, and that only those who believe that experimenting on animals is necessary are qualified to have a voice in the public debate.

Readers from both sides of the debate will find much of interest in The Sacrifice, but the text is not without faults. In discussing the justifications used by vivisectors and animal care staff, they indulge in interpretations of statements made during interviews that are psychoanalytic; maybe their guesses about the meaning of what the researchers say are correct, but maybe not. In the section on the meaning conveyed by the way animals are presented in advertisements for animals, they rely on a survey of journals that was conducted in the early to mid 1990s. Their observations are outdated; the images in today's journals are differently presented than those discussed in the text.

The authors fall into the trap of equating animal experimentation with science. They use the terms interchangeably throughout the text and (perhaps unintentionally) repeat a ploy used by the animal lab public relations departments to imply that those who oppose animal experimentation must also oppose medicine, geology, physics, chemistry, astronomy, botany, ethology and every other branch of science.

All in all, The Sacrifice would be a worthwhile text for use in a classroom or study group. The biography alone makes the book a worthwhile addition to a personal library. Members of the general public interested in the controversies surrounding animal experimentation will find many interesting insights into the mental gymnastics employed by those whose work would be deemed criminal if conducted outside the legal protections offered by a licensed laboratory.

All of The Whole Story books are fantastic. My eighth graders love to read these because they enjoy the sideline information and pictorials that help them to better grasp the story. I bought a classroom set and have already requested for our school to invest in Tom Sawyer by this same company. Great Idea!

This is not a good version for a classroom setting. The cover doesn't reveal this.

The call of the wild, by Jack London is a great book for all ages. Buck (the main character) is a tame dog in Santa Clara California living with Judge Miller, a man that everyone new and enjoyed. This changed when a rush for gold in Yukon made men need strong dogs to pull their sleds. Buck was a very strong dog and as a result, was kidnapped. He was then taken to Yukon where there was harsh snow and was very cold. He was treated poorly until he met John Thorton. John Thorton was very kind to Buck but then one day he died. Buck was left in the wild and became friends with a wild animal. I personally like it because it is always telling you what is happining in great detail. Jack London also got right to the point making it easy to understand.

The call of the wild by Jack London is a great book for all ages. Buck (the main character) is a tame dog in Santa Clara California living with Judge Miller a man that evryone new and enjoyed. All this changed when a rush for gold in Yukon. These men needed strong dogs and because of the fact Buck was strong he was kidnapped. He was then tuck to Yukon where there was harsh snow and was very cold. he was treated poorly intill he met John Thorton. John Thorton was very kind to Buck but then one day he died. Buck was left in the wild and became friends with a wild animal and learned to live in the wild.

After reading "The Call of the Wild" or more precisely, after being transferred to another place and time, or even more to the point after being totally submerged into the being of this animal, I'm left completely awe-struck by London's work.

To see what Buck saw, to feel the forces and the instincts that he felt... that is the power of this book. Here's a passage from the third chaper to illustrate what I mean:

"At the mouth of the Tahkeena, one night after super, Dub (a member of the sled-dog team) turned up a snowshoe rabbit, blundered it, and missed. A hundred yards away was a camp of the Northwest Police, with fifty dogs, huskies all, who joined the chase. The rabbit sped down the river, turned off into a small creek, up the frozen bed of which it held steadily. It ran lightly on the surface of the snow, while the dogs plowed through by main strength. Buck led the pack, sixty strong, around bend after bend, but he could not gain. He lay down low to the race, whining eagerly, his splendid body flashing forward, leap by leap, in the wan white moonlight. And leap by leap, like some pale frost wraith, the snowshoe rabbit flashed on ahead.

All the stirring of old instincts which at stated periods drives men out from the sounding cities to forest and plain to kill things by chemically propelled leaden pellets, the blood lust, the joy to kill--all this was Buck's, only it was infinitely more intimate. He was ranging at the head of the pack, running the wild thing down, the living meat, to kill with his own teeth and wash his muzzle to the eyes in warm blood.

There is an ecstasy that marks the summit of life, and beyond which life cannot rise. And such is the paradox of living, this ecstasy comes when one is most alive, and it comes as a complete forgetfulness that one is alive. This ecstasy, this forgetfulness of living, comes to the artist, caught up and out of himself in a sheet of flame; it comes to the soldier, war-mad on a stricken field and refusing quarter; it came to Buck, leading the pack, sounding the old wolf-cry, straining after the food that was alive and that fled swiftly before him through the moonlight. He was sounding the deeps of his nature, and of the parts of his nature that were deeper than he, going back into the womb of Time. He as mastered by the sheer surging of life, the tidal wave of being, the perfect joy of each separate muscle, joint, and sinew in that it was everything that was not death, that it was aglow and rampant, expressing itself in movement, flying exultantly under the stars and over the face of dead matter that did not move."

In Wringer, by Jerry Spinelli, 9-year old Palmer dreads the town's tradition. When he turns 10, he'll be eligible, nay, expected, to become a "wringer." A wringer literally wrings the necks of pigeons wounded in the town's annual pigeon shoot, a long-standing tradition.

Palmer likes pigeons, however, and even adopts a wild one. How will he maintain his status with his peers if he doesn't contribute to the wringing?

There is more to this book than this, including peer-pressure, parental involvement, traditions, and harassment. But the key to this tale is the pigeon shoot.

Although this work is a piece of fiction, the town is a barely disguised Hegins, Pennsylvania, which had a large, organized pigeon shoot using "trapper boys" to wring the necks of pigeons until the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled in 1999 that participants could be cited for animal cruelty (the court used the phrase "cruel and moronic" to describe the activity). These "shoots" continue today, but in private shooting clubs. Indeed, even in 2008, these shoots are legal in Pennsylvania, and there are ongoing investigations whether pigeons in New York are being trapped and sent to Pennsylvania for these shoots.

I think this book would stimulate vigorous discussion in grades 7-12. Heck, I'm ready to chat about it!

As this is the second Spinelli book that I've read and reviewed, I see a theme emerging: passionate, gifted children who are not afraid to stand up for what is right. In this case, Jerry Spinelli chronicles the tale of Palmer LaRue, a young boy who is trapped in a town of people who believe and expect its residents to kill pigeons at the annual Family Fest. What further complicates Palmer's life is that he is quickly approaching age 10, the age where boys are expected to 'wring' the necks of pigeons who are not shot outright. However, Palmer doesn't want to kill pigeons. In fact, he hoards a pet pigeon, Nipper, in his room. This becomes a dangerous game, as his 'friends' discover his secret and want Nipper for their own devious pleasures.

As peer pressure is a common thread in young adult literature, Spinelli does what he does best: deliver the tough stories without the sappy, happy endings. Life lessons are ensconced between these pages, and life isn't always pretty.

I think that everyone should own a copy of this book! I like how it is very creative and fun to read. It was sitting in my book shelf for over a year, A couple of days ago I decided to read the book, because I have'nt. It was a surprise to me what I was missing! I think every child should have this book!

I think that Wringer, by Jerry Spinelli, is a captivating, moving and powerful book. I stayed up until midnight to finish this book. I found Spinelli's characters, situations, and dialog believable, though this book may be for more mature audiences than suggested. I think the Newbery Medal on Wringer is well earned.

I thought this was supposed to be a CHILDRENS book. Not a wannabe hyper-intellectual attempt to shove morals into my face...with a PIDGEON?! I mean....Mr. Spinelli, what in the world were you THINKING?!?!

As an adult I normally loathe stories with talking animals, animals who reason, etc. I'm also not that fond of mice! But "Stuart Little" is done in an engaging way, and it's far better than the live-action movie of the same name. The story is a little more serious and less action-oriented, and the book as a whole is evocative of a simpler time.

I see the reading level as 9-12. Yikes! If Harry Potter is 9-12, then Little should be 1-3. I did love the beginning of this story. There is no explanation as to why a human mother presumably gives birth to a mouse instead of a human child. The story goes on without anymore reference to it. As if this is just the way it was. End of discussion. I loved that! Funny. And the writing is charming, to be sure, but the story just goes on without getting anywhere. It's one adventure after another without an end in sight. No goal. That's my trouble with Stuart Little.

To explain the sudden and unsatisfying ending, I did hear that the author, White, was quite a hypochondriac. At the time of this book's writing, he was convinced he was going to die at any moment, (He ended up living a number of decades after Stuart Little was first published.) So, fearing certain death, White demanded the publisher to publish the book now!, as is, "before I die tomorrow!" Amazing, but true.

I enjoyed this book, but I didn't really enjoy the ending. The beginning and middle were well written, the characters were well thought out. The boat race was probably the most exciting part. The ending was poorly written. However, EB White was suffering from hypochondria, and this is why he ended the book so abruptly and never wrote a sequel. He could have written one, but was suffering from this illness. I prefer the movie, very sadly, in this one instance.

my 6 yr old read charlotte's web - wanted this one - loves it also

When Mrs. Fredrick C. Little gave birth to her second son, everyone was surprised when it was a mouse. Even though Stuart is only two inches tall, he has all the attributes of a human, including the ability to talk. And he finds that his small size is a help around the house. But it also gets him into some dangerous situations since people often overlook him. Whether it's going down the drain looking for a ring, sailing a boat on a pond in Central Park, or accidentally getting thrown out with the garbage, you can bet that Stuart will face any obstacle head on.

I was first read this book in first grade and loved it for the most part. Even back then, the ending bothered me. Still, there plenty of laughs at some of Stuart's adventures, and the early chapters are entertaining. Garth Williams' illustrations are absolutely darling, and add much charm to the story.

However, the second half really disappointed me when I reread it. The first half is pretty much a series of unconnected adventures. The barest hint of a plot begins to take shape in the second half, but it goes no where. Furthermore, Stuart begins to show some rather immature behavior in those last few chapters. While he had always had some arrogance, it became too much by the end. And that doesn't even touch the ending, which leaves the plot that had finally taken hold completely unresolved.

This book is really a character study rather then a story. Parts of it will entertain kids. But the second half will let them down and the ending will leave them unsatisfied. The book isn't bad, but it's too bad it doesn't live up to my memories.

My dogsitter insisted I read this book, exclaiming over Matthew Scully's elogquent writing and the fact that he wrote Sarah Palin's very inspiring acceptance speech at the Republican convention. His material here would have made an interesting speech or in depth article. Yes, his writing is eloquent. Yes, it's an interesting subject. But it takes a right wing Christian turn at every opportunity. It's not spiritual, it's political. It's difficult to read for more than a few pages because you feel yourself being stuffed with this Christian, animal rights viewpoint. Sometimes I choose to read politically slanted biographies or histories, but I know before I start which viewpoint I'll be getting. His book is good and maybe he will get a lot of converts to his way of thinking. I found myself wondering if he had any pets.

Boycott this book and the author. He is a confused and hypocritical man who is a speechwriter for Gov. Sarah Palin, the woman who supports aerial hunting of wolves and bears, as well as pulling wolf pups from their dens and shooting them. Matthew Scully does NOT care about the suffering of animals.

This book does nothing but make excuses for treating animals as slaves and putting forth the Christian perspective. When the book came out, I was invited to a private party to meet the author whom I immediately thought was not at all an animal supporter and not at all someone whom I could ever respect. Over the years, he has gone on to prove this as a Bush/Cheney lackey, who has pushed the phoney war agenda, makes excuses for treating animals kindly, and who has now crafted the speech of Sarah Palin, the most anti-animal candidate ever running for office in my opinion. It is really a shame that Gene Baur, Wayne Pacelle, and Karen Dawn have been supporters of this man.

I find Scully to be a hypocrite, liar and greed monger. He wrote Sarah Palin's sneering, nasty speech, stretching truths about who she is and outrighting lying and chiding our presidential nominees. His hate speech full of divisive and attack lines will be remembered and talked about in the short term, but in the long term, the results of his manipulated words and outcome on society will be on his conscience alone. How could he write such a negative hate speech for a women who shoots animals from a helicopter and can "field-dress" a moose. As if that is such an accomplishment. "Dominion" and all it's crediblility is lost and wasted on a moment that may forever change the political landscape and not for the better. Just as Americans were turning the tide and engaging in politics and discussing issues and paying attention, Single minded Scully wrote those devisive words of hate, recoiling all the gains of a nation. I don't know how he will sleep at night.

I just discovered that Matthew Scully is the speech writer for Sarah Palin, who you would assume to be the antithesis of all he believes in.

Apparently Dominion is nothing but empty words. And Scully, who claimed to support the rights of other living creatures on this planet, is nothing more than another unprincipled money-grabbing shill. What else could explain the willingness to embrace, and worse--promote, the very people who glorify wanton killing of animals.

Scully should take a long look in the mirror. He has betrayed the people who have promoted his book and his supposed philosophy. And worse, he has betrayed the creatures that he claimed to respect. The word 'Hypocrite' is not strong enough. Now that this Judas has made his 30 pieces of gold, he should forever be pictured with Sarah Palin and her dead trophies. He deserves no more.

The book was a page-turner I just wanted to turn the page. This book has a lot of excitement. No because I myself did kind of connect to main character he was just so cheerful. I learned that you could make the best of things. The genre is Fiction. The style of writings significant they use words like feminine. There was a good part with George singing a song about the new folks coming. The chapters did not end with cliffhangers. The story gets uninteresting at some parts, like how the animals talk about stuff. The plot was believable; it had a super good plot. I would recommend this book to people who like animals. It is a good funny book.

Rabbit Hill is a very amazing book and it is also great for animal and nature lovers. Rabbit Hill is a page-turner because it was not conspicuous of what's going to happen next. I personally loved this book because it was exciting and stupefied because many different things changed during every chapter. It was not hard to concentrate on the book because every thing flowed smoothly to the next. I connected to Little Gorgie because I love rabbits and in the book he is the same age as me. I learned to care for animals because they have feelings just like humans. So if you're ever at a library check out some of Robert Lawson's books.

The book tells about a young rabbit named little Georgie. It's about working together and the story is mostly about animals. This book doesn't have much action but has a good story line. I would recommend this book to someone who doesn't really like much action but like animals and pets.

I am sooooo Pleased and Happy I found this Wonderful Wonderful Book....A friend loaned hers to me and after reading it I just had to have it....Finally on AMAZON I not only found 1 I found quite a few..I purchased 2 so I can always have one to lend to others.I raise Haflinger Horses and LOVE them ,however reading this wonderful book made me aware and fall in Love with Gods creatures of the forest.If you have not read it PLEASE do so....By getting 2 I even got FREE Shipping....Thanks Amazon.I am a forever customer...Carol Panzarino ( Silver Linings Haflinger Horse Farm )

I remember reading RABBIT HILL as a kid and loving it so I recently picked a copy up again and found myself still charmed by the sweet story. Lawson gives the animals of Rabbit Hill distinct personalities - albeit they act more like people than the real species they portray. The story is quite humorous thanks to some comical characters and situations. What little suspense there is in the book is all happily resolved. Obviously the book is fable/fantasy not realistic fiction. Yet what I most remember about the book is the message of the saintly "new folks" and their practice of "there is enough for all." A philosophy it would do us all good to consider.