BOOKS: Bless All Creatures Here Below

March 1, 1997 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 1997:

Bless All Creatures
Here Below
A Celebration for the Blessing of the Animals
by Judith Gwyn Brown
Morehouse Publishing (POB 1321, Harrisburg, PA
17105), 1996. 32 pages, illus., hardcover, $15.95.

Presented as an illustrated children’s book, Bless
All Creatures Here Below could also serve as a guide to
assist churches in preparing a blessing of animals, including
verse, music, and prayers for the occasion, all kept
unthreateningly ecumenical. I wondered about the inclusion
of a dragon and a unicorn among the other animals
receiving blessings in the illustrations, but decided that the
mythical animals do belong, together with the religious
symbols a sharp-eyed child may spot in archetectural
details of the backdrop. The author invites everyone to
come and be at pease together, and to borrow and reproduce
one page of the book as a poster inviting animals and
their people to your local blessing ceremony.
––Phyllis Clifton

BOOKS: The Fairfax Ferret

March 1, 1997 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 1997:

The Fairfax Ferret
by Pamela Troutman Grant
Carlton Press (Order c/o Star Ferrets,
POB 1714, Springfield, VA 22151-0714), 1996.
49 pages, hardcover, $14.45.

I hope librarians and others who buy books for
children see The Fairfax Ferret, as few books describe
pets other than dogs and cats, or small wiggly things that
mothers have difficulty accepting. Fish and birds are often
purchased to fill needs foreign to their natures. A ferret is
in-between-sized: one can cuddle a ferret, but the animal
accommodates the small apartment lifestyle. Author
Pamela Grant, who runs a “rescue mission” for ferrets,
describes how Johnny loses his ferret in an unaware
moment, but gets lucky and gets the ferret back, who survives
the transition from comfortably pampered pet to foraging
feral and back again.

BOOKS: Animals as Teachers and Healers

March 1, 1997 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 1997:

Animals as Teachers
and Healers
by Susan Chernak McElroy
Ballentine Books (201 E. 50th St., New York, NY
10022), 1996. 253 pages, hardcover. $18.95.

We have no evidence that there was a previous
edition of Animals as Teachers and Healers, yet author
Susan McElroy leaves the confusing impression that there
was one, piecing together many accounts from various
sources without warning that her book is a pastiche. I kept
turning back a page to be sure of the identity of her everchanging
narrator. Teachers will be tempted to scribble on
the cover, “WHERE is your outline? See me,” as the
topic meanders from animals as mentors of compassionate
behavior to the destruction of wolves by forest and park
rangers and the hypocrisy of various others who have
harmed animals while purportedly helping them.
McElroy’s own contribution centers on her experience
with cancer and the help she believes she posthumously
received from her dog, Keesha, who died of cancer several
years before McElroy’s own was diagnosed.

REVIEWS: Hi, I’m a Beaver

March 1, 1997 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 1997:

Hi, I’m a Beaver
Beavers, Wetlands & Wildlife (POB 591,
Little Falls, NY 13365), 1995. Video, five
minutes, $9.00 including shipping.

Originally made for fourth and fifth grade
ecology students, Hi, I’m a Beaver follows the
development of four orphaned beavers who were
raised and released by Sharon Brown,
director/biologist for Beavers, Wetlands, &
Wildlife, formerly known as Friends of
Beaversprite. The commentary is upbeat and informative.

REVIEWS: Blue Rage

March 1, 1997 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 1997:

Blue Rage
Video by Peter Brown, starring Laird Hamilton, Gerry
Lopez, Craig Kelly, and Captain Paul Watson.
Sea Shepherd Conservation Society,
(POB 628, Venice, CA 90294), 1996. 56 minutes.
$28.25 including shipping. Californians add $1.81 sales tax.

“This video answers the
burning question, what do snowboarders,
surfers, and high seas ecological
crusaders have in common?”
says Captain Paul Watson. “We produced
it as educational outreach––a
call to arms to all young people
––especially dudes.”

BOOKS: The Blessing of the Animals

January 1, 1997 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, Jan/Feb 1997:

The Blessing of the Animals:
TRUE STORIES OF GINNY, THE DOG WHO RESCUES CATS
by Philip Gonzalez and Leonore Fleischer
Harper/Collins (10 E. 53rd, N.Y, NY 10022), 1996. 177 pages, cloth, $17.50

This sequel to The Dog Who
Rescues Cats (1995) offers more true
accounts of some of the incredible happenings
in the life of New York City animal rescuer
Philip Gonzalez and his adopted partner,
the dog Ginny, who involved him and
keeps him involved in saving, healing, hospicing,
feeding, and neutering sick and
inured homeless cats. It is heartening to hear
that Gonzalez now takes her to classrooms,
where she edifies while the children delight.

BOOKS: Cats Are Not Peas

January 1, 1997 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, Jan/Feb 1997:

Cats Are Not Peas: A CALICO HISTORY OF GENETICS
by Laura Gould
Copernicus (c/o Springer-Verlag, 175 5th Ave., New York, NY 10010), 1996.
228 pages, hardback, $22.00.

Are there male calico cats, despite
old wives’ tales to the contrary? Why do cats
seem to randomly differ from their presumed
parents? Why do even black cats often bear
dim tabby stripes, at least as kittens?
Laura Gould answers these questions
and many more as she tries to trace the
genetic circumstances that resulted in her
George, a rare male calico cat, who swaggers
through the pages with her, destroying
any air of academic exclusiity.

BOOKS: Mules In Court

January 1, 1997 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, Jan/Feb 1997:

Mules In Court by Hank W. Hannah
Order c/o Hannah, Sr. Clr., Texico, IL 62889. 1996. 73 pp., cloth, $16.20.

Early in the history of pioneer settlements,
lawyers had so little to do that
they had to clear land and homestead.
Business picked up considerably with the
arrival of mules. Mules, it seems, spark a
range of court cases. Once before a judge,
mules have influenced everything from a
misunderstanding of genetics to the rights of
women.
Mules In Court reflects author
Hannah’s years of farming with mules, raising
mules (which is why he knows “some of
the lies about mules are true”), observing
gypsy horsetraders, witnessing the use of
mule paratroopers while commanding the
506th Parachute Infantry Regiment during
the 1944 Normandy invasion, practicing
and teaching veterinary law in Illinois and
abroad, and founding the American
Veterinary Medical Law Association.

BOOKS: The Cat I.Q. Test

January 1, 1997 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, Jan/Feb 1997:

The Cat I.Q. Test by Melissa Miller
Viking Penguin (375 Hudson St., New York, NY 10014-3657), 1996.
198 pages, paperback, $8.95.

When I think of feline intelligence,
five cats among the hundred-odd I’ve known
come to mind. My first cat, Catapuss, was a
creatively malevolent yet oddly compassionate
misfit who terrorized dogs, did not hunt,
objected if other cats tormented prey in his presence,
thrashed the barnyard bully in his only
big fight, let every other cat steal his dinner,
rarely socialized with other cats, and yet was
often first to alert us to another cat who was
hurting. He was behaviorally so different, and
so obviously inclined to work out detailed plots,
that one could not observe him without concluding
that he exercised considerable capacity for
abstract thought. Yet he did not seem clever at
basic feline survival.

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