From ANIMAL PEOPLE,  October 2011:

In a Dog’s Heart
by Jennifer Arnold
Random House (1745 Broadway,  New York,  NY 10019),  2011.
256 pages,  hardcover.  $25.00.

Not another dog book, I said.  The market is flooded with dog books.  Send me cat,  horse,  or elephant books,  but not another book about dogs.  But In a Dog’s Heart, Jennifer Arnold’s latest, perked me up. Read more

From ANIMAL PEOPLE,  October 2011:

BOOKS: Humane education classic:

Time Is Short And The Water Rises
by John Walsh with Robert Gannon
E.P. Dutton & Co.,  1967.  224 pages,  hardcover.

One can still find battered copies of Time Is Short And The Water Rises through online book search services,  often selling for less than the orignal cover price of $6.95,  plus postage.  The ANIMAL PEOPLE review copy was discarded years ago by Central School District #1,  in the Town of Rockland,  New York. Read more

From ANIMAL PEOPLE,  October 2011:

Fifty Animals that Changed the Course of History
by Eric Chaline
Firefly Books (P.O. Box 1338,  Ellicot Station,  Buffalo,
NY  14205),  2011.  224 pages,  hardcover.  $29.95.

The title of Fifty Animals that Changed the Course of History will jar ANIMAL PEOPLE readers even before they open the book.  Both the title and text retain the convention,  fading out in recent decades,  of referring to animals as inanimate objects.  Fifty Animals Who Changed the Course of History would be biologically accurate. Read more

From ANIMAL PEOPLE,  September 2011:

The Exultant Ark
by Jonathan Balcombe
Univ. of Calif. Press
(2120 Berkeley Way,
Berkeley,  CA  94704),  2011.
214 pages,  hardcover.  $34.95.

Jonathan Balcombe begins The Exultant Ark by examining the range and depth of animals’ feelings.
That animals feel pain,  though disputed by some people in animal use industries,  is well studied and documented.  As Balcombe summarizes,  animals in pain “shriek or bellow,  they avoid and retreat from the sources of pain.”
Less understood is animal pleasure.  The pleasure of animals obviously differs in some ways from what we experience while laughing through a funny movie.  Yet animals do experience pleasure,  Balcombe explains,  supporting his contentions with stunning color photographs.  Eight sections cover play,  food,  touch, courtship/sex,  love, comfort,  companionship,  and a variety of other pleasures. An interpretation accompanies each set of photos. Read more

From ANIMAL PEOPLE,  September 2011:

Speaking up for Animals:
An anthology of women’s voices
Edited by Lisa Kemmerer
Paradigm Publishers (P.O. Box 605, Herndon, VA 20172-0605),  2011.
224 pages,  paperback.  $24.95.

Speaking up for Animals:  An anthology of women’s voices is a dandy collection of stories by women who have been touched in unique ways by animals.  The contributors may never meet one another but animals across the globe benefit from their dedication and commitment. Read more