The Cat Who Came for Christmas by Cleveland Amory

The rescue of Polar Bear begins the story of the self-described curmudgeon and a bedraggled feline from a snowy New York city alley. Their story begins from the first moment of capture and continues through their first bath, through different compromises on some issues such as the rules they followed when Polar Bearand the author shared Mr. Amory’s breakfast. Polar Bear was quickly promoted to feline extraordinaire when his owner tried to expand his horizons by taking him to Central Park for a walk in a harness, by calling in a psychologist to help him with his fear of thunderstorms, and by building him an enclosure on the balcony of his apartment house, constructed of chicken wire on wood. Polar Bear was ten years old at the writing of the book, with two other books that followed.

                                                                                                  Andrea Huff, Deer Park Library

 

The Cat Who Went to Paris by Peter Gethers

     Peter Gethers, who starts the book by saying he’s not a cat person, soon changes his mind after receiving Norton, an adorable Scottish Fold, in this funny and fast-paced book. From the time he is a kitten, Norton travels everywhere with Gethers: riding in the pocket of his coat to take trips around Manhattan, summering on Fire Island, traveling to California to meet the family and even flying the Concorde to Paris on business trips. Norton is the cat everyone wants – playful, adventurous, the best pal an owner can have and he steals the hearts of everyone around him. The Cat Who Went to Paris reads like a novel and has plenty of laugh-out-loud moments. The writing is excellent and keeps the reader’s attention from beginning to end making this a book not only for animal lovers but also for anyone looking for a great read.

                                                                                                     Azurée Agnello, West Babylon Public Library

 

Animals in Translation: Using the Mysteries of Autism to Decode Animal Behavior by Temple Grandin (and Catherine Johnson)

     If you’ve ever looked at your pet and wondered what he was thinking, this book will enlighten you. Dr. Temple Grandin uses her remarkable perspective as a woman with autism in cooperation with her Ph.D. in Animal Science to peel back the layers of animal brains and behaviors, and subsequently shines light on humans as well. From what visual stimuli drive cows crazy to how wolves and humans co-evolved to complement each others’ talents, Grandin uses her unique point of view to explain the inner workings of animal thinking, feeling, aggression, suffering, and genius. This fascinating book is at once well-researched, compelling, and funny. Grandin’s unique voice has a quality of matter-of-factness and wonder that makes the reader as intrigued by the studies she cites as she seems to be. This book will appeal to adults and even some young adults interested in the topic. In addition, anyone interested in the minds of people with autism will find Grandin inspiring and informative.

If you liked this book, you may want to try:

Non-Fiction:

For the Love of a Dog: Understanding Emotion in You and Your Best Friend by Patricia B. McConnell

Songs of the Gorilla Nation: My Journey through Autism by Dawn Prince-Hughes

When Elephants Weep: The Emotional Lives of Animals by Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson

Fiction:

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon

                                                                                                                                                                 Melissa Gabrielle, South Country Library

 

Marley & Me: Life and Love with the World’s Worst Dog byJohn Grogan

     The Grogans, recently married, decide that they’re not quite ready for children so why not start with something easier to raise, like a dog. They had no idea what they were getting themselves into. Calling Marley the world’s worst dog is done very much with tongue firmly planted in cheek by Grogan. A disciplinary disaster, yes, worst…never.

 

Read-Alikes

Merle's Door: Lessons from a Freethinking Dog by Ted Kerasote

Three Dog Life by Abigail Thomas

Dreaming in Libro: How a Good Dog Tamed a Bad Woman by Louise Bernikow

Dog Days: Dispatches From Bedlam Farm by Jon Katz

A Cat Abroad, The Cat Who Went to Paris, and The Cat Who’ll Live Forever by Peter Gethers

 

                                                                                                                                       Kathleen Carter, Mastics-Moriches-Shirley Community Library

 

 James Herriot's Favorite Dog Stories by James Herriot

     This slim volume collects some of the Yorkshire vet's favorite stories about one of his favorite animals, each tale memorable and heartwarming. Here are tales of golden retrievers and sheepdogs, beagles and dachshunds, purebreds and crossbreeds and just plain mutts - and,of course, Tricki Woo, Mrs. Pumphrey's memorable Pekinese, the epitome of pampered pet. Each tale is filled with the humor and humanity of a great storyteller and we learn as much about their owners as we do about Prince, Jake, Brandy and Gyp. Delightful reading that encourages the reader to look for more of James Herriot's stories of dogs as well as the other animals that filled his world.

 

Read-Alikes:

Marley & Me by John Grogan

Dog Days by Jon Katz

Art of Raising a Puppy by the Monks of New Skete

It's Okay to Miss the Bed on the First Jump by John O'Hurley

Merle's Door by Ted Kerasote

                                                                                                                                                                Marie T. Horney, Cold Spring Harbor Library

 

Dog Days by Jon Katz

     Jon Katz lives on Bedlam Farm in upstate New York with his dogs, sheep, donkeys, chickens, and cows. Dog Days is not a story, but a snippet of Katz’s life in rural New York. Some of the animals on the farm have been rescued & are simply living the good life, while others are working animals. Elvis, the steer is a refugee from another farm, and the Labs do not work. However, Rose the Border collie is a worker, herding the sheep with hardly any direction from Katz.

Bedlam Farm is not a real working farm. Katz doesn’t depend on his livestock to earn a living. Bedlam Farm is his dream. Katz no longer uses an umbrella when it rains. He just hunkers down in his coat and gets wet, like all the other farmers. He sloshes through mud in the spring and freezes in the winter. Life isn’t easy, but his animals are always teaching him and humbling him.

                                                                                                                                                                               Lori Ludlow, Babylon Public Library

 

Merle’s Door by Ted Kerasote

     When I first saw yet another dog story had been published I assumed it was piggybacking onto the popularity of the improbable and surprising mega-hit Marley and Me. But I was mistaken. Merle’s Door is more than a memoir and delightful anthropomorphizing exercise; it is also a philosophy of life. Ted Kerasote, a free spirit himself, is a freelance (how appropriate) journalist and at 41 years of age a commitment shy bachelor. He encounters Merle in the Utah desert, “He came out of the night, appearing suddenly in my headlights, a big, golden dog, panting, his front paws tapping the ground in an anxious little dance.” After a brief time with Ted and his companions Merle decided to stay. Ted planned to train Merle to be a hunting dog but he was mistaken. “Despite his obvious Lab blood, and even though he watched countless dogs play toss and fetch, he wouldn’t change his mind about retrieving. If you held a ball, a stick, or a retriever dummy under his nose, his expression would turn sweetly intractable. Pulling his head back from the proffered object, he’d stare at you with bright and challenging eyes, every ounce of him saying, ‘thank you but I’m not interested.’ ” He would give chase, for example to grouse, but the motivation was to fill his stomach. Ted admired his integrity though some of his friends found it disconcerting. The delightful relationship between this unleashed individual and his human companion is at once funny, charming, moving and chock full of information about the evolution of the dog from the wolf and his inevitable friendship with man.

                                                                                                                                                                 Peggy McCarthy, Smithtown Public Library

 

From Baghdad, With Love By Lieutenant Colonel Jay Kopelman with Melinda Roth

     From Baghdad, With Love is the story of a marine who will stop at nothing to save “man’s best friend” from war torn Iraq. Lt. Col. Kopelman first meeting Lava, a stray puppy, in an abandoned house in Fallujah. Despite strict rules the U.S. military have against soldiers adopting pets or mascots, Lava is kept safe by Kopelman and a battalion of Marines. As his tour of Duty nears an end, Kopelman attempts to transport Lava back to the U.S. A slew of accomplices are recruited to take on this challenge, including a U.S. news reporter, an Iraqi soldier and the pet food giant, Iams.

This story is both engaging and emotional. It is not only a tale of a man and his dog, but also an eye opening account of the soldiers stationed in Iraq and the conditions under which they endure.

 

Read-Alikes

A Three Dog Life by Abigail Thomas

A Good Dog: The Story of Orson, Who Changed My Life by Jon Katz

The Dogs Who Found Me: What I've Learned from Pets Who Were Left Behind by Ken Foster

Found Dogs: Tales of Strays Who Landed on Their Feet by Elise Lufkin

                                                                                                                                                           Pamela L. Wells, Lindenhurst Memorial Library

 

 

Out on a Leash by Shirley MacLaine

     Shirley MacLaine parodied her book title Out on a Limb when she wrote her book Out on a Leash. She should have ended it there. Though the publisher says that this is an utterly charming, witty, and ultimately wise memoir, I have to disagree. MacLaine communicates with her dog, Terry, in humanimal, a more direct language form. Therefore, the book alternates between MacLaine’s voice and that of her dog. Both discuss love of nature, respect for others, and metaphysics as well as MacLaine’s political and spiritual views. Much of this is presented in a somewhat disjointed fashion and is not as interesting as a more straightforward memoir would have been.

What does come through is the deep love that Maclaine has for Terry and the unconditional love that dogs give to their humans. This is done in a more orthodox way in the following read-alikes:

 

The True Story of the Best Dog I Ever Had by Rick Bass

10 Secrets My Dog Taught Me by Carlo DeVito

My Dog Skip by Willie Morris

Pack of Two by Caroline Knapp

                                                                                                                                                                Michelle Epstein, East Northport Library

 

 

The Good Good Pig: the extraordinary life of Christopher Hogwoodby Sy Montgomery

     Yes! Writer and animal lover Sy Montgomery names her adopted pig after the famous conductor and musicologist. Christopher Hogwood, the sickly runt of a litter, barely survives the first weeks of his life. Montgomery carries him to her home in a shoebox where with care and a loving environment, he begins to thrive and ultimately grows to 750 pounds.

The hilarious narration of Christopher drinking beer: “After all…what is beer but liquid grain?” reasons Sy’s husband, as he offers Chris a cold beer on a hot summer afternoon, and the juicy description that follows: “Watching a pig eat is the ultimate vicarious thrill,” are just two examples of the fun to be found in this inspiring story.

Montgomery explores her own life in this introspective account of personal growth and her clear mission of caring for all the Earth’s creatures. She is grateful for the friendships Chris sparks within her small New Hampshire town and she acknowledges the lessons she and others learn about the meaning of family and the value of community from this generous soul who happens to be a pig.

 

Read-alikes:

Marley and Me by John Grogan

When Elephants Weep: The Emotional Lives of Animals by Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson

The Emotional Lives of Animals: A Leading Scientist Explores Animal Joy, Sorrow, and Empathy - and Why They Matter by Marc Bekoff

 

 

                                                                                                                                                        Grace O’Connor, West Islip Public Library

 

Never Cry Wolf by Farley Mowat

        The time of this story is in the mid 1950’s, the place is northern Canada where huge herds of caribou that once wandered the north have all but vanished; the destruction was blamed on the arctic wolves. Farley Mowat, a biologist working for the Canadian government was sent by the Wildlife Service to ‘study’ the wolves and to prove that they were indeed responsible for the caribou decline. Should he prove this to be the case, the government would be justified in ‘murdering’ the wolves. Mowat concluded that the wolves mainly ate field mice and only ate old or sick caribou. By killing off the weakest of the caribou, wolves actually strengthened the caribou herd. The white men in the area were using the wolves as scapegoats for the decline of the animals for which they themselves were responsible.

 

                                                                                                                                                                 Rhea Pollock, Brentwood Public Library

 

My Cat Spit McGee by Willie Morris

      Willie Morris was never a fan of cats. In fact, he hated and feared them for most of his life. In this book Morris, the former editor of Harper’s Magazine, describes how his lifelong aversion to cats was broken down by a white kitten with one blue eye and one golden eye named Spit McGee.

      Morris to his horror discovers that the woman he has fallen in love with is a cat person. Through a series of linked narratives, Morris tells of his life with Spit McGee from day one. Morris helped deliver Spit, when the mother cat rejected her litter, and he describes how he saved Spit McGee’s life no less than four times. Morris tells how he became a servant to his cat and a dedicated observer of feline behavior. He eventually realized that he and Spit McGee were very much alike. The quirky Spit McGee is a clever and eccentric cat, and Morris tries to figure out his many habits including his propensity to sleep on his back with his four legs sticking straight up in the air. Morris realizes that people do not “own” cats, but he comes to see that though they are very different from dogs, they are no less lovable. My Cat Spit McGee, the author’s final book, is a warm, engaging, and humorous look at life with cats and their quirks. The black and white sketches by Mercedes Everett that head each chapter help to make the book more appealing.

 

Read-Alikes could include Cleveland Amory, The Cat Who Came for Christmas and Peter Gethers, The Cat Who Went to Paris. Also Cat and I by Doris Schwerin, and The Cat on My Shoulder by Lisa Rogak

 

                                                                                                                                              Bruce Silverstein, Patchogue-Medford Public Library

 

It’s Okay to Miss the Bed on the First Jump and Other Life Lessons I Learned from Dogs by John O’Hurley

     This humorous book by character actor and entertainer John O’Hurley is full of heartwarming stories that will delight dog lovers. Candid observations of his canine companions’ antics are intertwined with recollections of his life. From these, O’Hurley sees wisdom in a world through a dog’s eyes and is a better human for it. Look for his follow-up, Before Your Dog Can Eat Your Homework, First You Have to Do It, due in October 2007.

 

                                                                                                                                                          Catherine Nashak, Deer Park Public Library

 

Chosen by a horse by Susan Richard

      The parallels of the two central characters in this memoir are uncanny—both have suffered the loss of a loved one and both have been abused by the people closest to them. One character is the memoir’s author Susan Richards; the other a horse named Lay Me Down. When Richards was a child and her mother died, she was sent to live with uncaring relatives. When Richards married, she found herself in an abusive relationship. The only comforting thread that ran through her life was horses. So she led a reclusive life on a farm with three horses as companions. Her isolated existence begins to unravel when a friend asks for help in rescuing some abused horses. Richards reluctantly helps and ends up adopting a badly battered mare named Lay Me Down. Chosen by a Horse chronicles the tender relationship between Susan Richards and Lay Me Down. It portrays what one can learn from a relationship that is based on trust, and the realization that “being wanted is the most wonderful feeling in the world.” (p. 154) The memoir reads as fluently as a well-written novel and illustrates to us that life lessons can be learned at any age, and from anyone that may wander into our lives—even if that someone is a horse.

This memoir will appeal to anyone who loves horses. It may also appeal to someone who has suffered an insurmountable loss, or to someone who simply wants to read a heart-warming story. Be forewarned, however, that the story depicts some heart-wrenching moments.

     Read-Alikes include Marley and Me by John Grogan and The Dog Who Rescues Cats by Philip Gonzalez. Other books that deal specifically with horses and the powerful effect that they can have on people include The Tao of Equus by Linda Kohanov and It’s Not About The Horse by Wyatt Webb.

 

                                                                                                                                                Deborah Formosa, Northport-East Northport Library

 

 

The Craggy Hole in My Heart and the Cat Who Fixed It by Geneen Roth

      Blanche, a newborn kitten, comes into Geneen Roth’s life through a friend. Geneen reluctantly adopts her and is smitten. Blanche teaches Geneen to love without reservation and to accept the fact that loss is inevitable. Those readers who are familiar with Geneen Roth’s work on eating disorders and the psychological and emotional dependence on food will gain value from this story. The emphasis on her dysfunctional family might not be what a pet lover expected. Cat lovers will smile at some of Blanche’s antics but Blanche is more of a vehicle to talk about loss and filling that void.

 

 

                                                                                                                                                                   Karen Jaffe, Comsewogue Public Library

 

Fowl Weather by Bob Tarte

     This heartwarming sequel to Enslaved by Ducks is an account of the author’s life with his wife Linda and their 39 animals – including parrots, ducks, geese, parakeets, rabbits, cats, hens, a dove, and a turkey. Tarte’s humorous description of time spent caring for this diverse, and demanding, menagerie is given special poignancy by other anecdotes revealing his mother’s deterioration because of Alzheimer’s. Sharing the sense of contentment that the author’s animals give to him will reward readers.

                                                                                                                                                                     Suzanne McGuire, Commack Public Library

 

Just Gus by Laurie Williams

     Gus was a lucky dog. Injured and abandoned, he could have become another of the 7 million animals euthanized every year. Then Stephanie Williams entered the picture. A successful journalist, she had been diagnosed with late-stage breast cancer at the age of 30. On medical leave and living alone, she wanted a warm four-legged companion. When she saw Gus’s soulful eyes and goofy grin, it was love at first sight. She would rescue him and he would return the favor. Just Gus is about how much one dog did to make a dying woman happy, giving tireless love, comfort and support and showing how one dog brought joy and hope to a woman’s last days.

                                                                                                                                                                         Rosalie Toja, Brentwood Public Library