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Category Archives: Animals
Fun Books for Animal Lovers
Fun Books. Laughter and Love and Animals.
If your cat is kneading you, that’s not a sign of affection. Your cat is actually checking your internal organs for weakness. If your cat brings you a dead animal, this isn’t a gift. It’s a warning. How to Tell If Your Cat Is Plotting to Kill You is a hilarious, brilliant offering of cat comics, facts, and instructional guides from the creative wonderland at TheOatmeal.com.
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The cat’s answer to Sorry I Pooped in Your Shoe, Sorry I Barfed on Your Bed is a hilarious collection of full-color photos and letters of excuses and suggestions from cats to the people who love them—no matter what bad thing they’ve done!
Inside Sorry I Barfed on Your Bed, writer and comedian Jeremy Greenberg presents a collection of laugh-out-loud letters and photographs that offer a cat’s eye view on common feline vs. human cohabitation conundrums. It’s the perfect gift for crazy cat lovers and anyone who appreciates hilarious (and so true!) insights into cat—and human—nature, including:
Your cat sits on your laptop not just for warmth or attention, but to prevent you from interacting with the outside world. After all, isn’t the main reason to have a cat so you don’t have to waste time developing normal human relationships?
If you spent a third of your life licking yourself, you too would occasionally forget to stick your tongue back in your face. Eating grass has medicinal purposes, and most cats believe grass should be legalized. The cat feels bad about barfing on your bed…because now it must get to up to go sleep on your clean laundry instead.
Cat lovers will laugh out loud at the quirkiness of their feline friends with these insightful and curious poems from the singular minds of housecats. In this hilarious book of tongue-in-cheek poetry, the author of the internationally syndicated comic strip Sally Forth helps cats unlock their creative potential and explain their odd behavior to ignorant humans.
With titles like “Who Is That on Your Lap?,” “This Is My Chair,” “Kneel Before Me,” “Nudge,” and “Some of My Best Friends Are Dogs,” the poems collected in I Could Pee on This perfectly capture the inner workings of the cat psyche. With photos of the cat authors throughout, this whimsical volume reveals kitties at their wackiest, and most exasperating (but always lovable).
My dog sends me texts. Yeah. It’s weird.
When October Jones figured out he could send text messages to himself on his mobile phone, he naturally decided that the best use of this discovery was to send passive-aggressive messages to himself under the guise of his bulldog. And so the exasperating, slightly delusional, and utterly endearing Dog and his alter-ego BatDog were born.
Texts from Dog features Dog’s attempts to keep the neighborhood safe from the likes of Mr. Postman and his arch-nemesis Cat-Cat—he has managed to only smash three TVs and a patio door in the process. And in between crime fighting sprees and run-ins with the squirrel mafia, there are romantic interludes with pillows, fetch sessions gone terribly awry, and the abusive banter only a bromance between man and his text-savvy dog can spawn.
For those of us who have ever had a conversation with a pet in our heads, Texts from Dog will make you laugh out loud and perhaps even make you think twice about leaving your pet home alone for the day.
Hope and Happy the Parakeets are arguing. Now the dogs are barking and running around. Why? The doorbell didn’t ring. What did the parakeets just tell them? I may never finish this post. 😉
A New York Times bestseller? Oh, you know the dogs weren’t going to let the cats get away with that! This canine companion to I Could Pee on This, the beloved volume of poems by cats, I Could Chew on This will have dog lovers laughing out loud.
Doggie laureates not only chew on quite a lot of things, they also reveal their creativity, their hidden motives, and their eternal (and sometimes misguided) effervescence through such musings as “I Dropped a Ball,” “I Lose My Mind When You Leave the House,” and “Can You Smell That?” Accompanied throughout by portraits of the canine poets in all their magnificence, I Could Chew on This is a work of unbridled enthusiasm, insatiable appetite, and, yes, creative genius.
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Inside Sorry I Pooped in Your Shoe, writer and comedian Jeremy Greenberg presents a collection of 50 laugh-out-loud letters and accompanying full-color photographs that explain Fido’s love of funky smells, why a ball needs to be thrown again, and practically every other lovably loony canine characteristic.
From an impassioned plea to stop the silly nicknames, to an attempt to skip a bath, to explanations for stolen shoes and swiped sandwiches, Sorry I Pooped in Your Shoe offers a pooch’s perspective on common canine vs. human cohabitation conundrums. Sorry I Pooped in Your Shoe is the perfect gift for dog lovers and anyone who appreciates hilarious (and so true!) insights into dog–and human—nature.
A goat who wants to sell you some meth.
A giraffe who might be violating his restraining order.
An alpaca with a very dirty secret.
A cat who’s really mad at you for cancelling Netflix instant.
Blog author here. Are you reading? I’ll tell you a secret, only 3 of my dogs are in the chair with me as I write this and I swear all three just farted. I may not complete this blog as I am pinching my nose and typing with one hand.
Selfish Pigs: Adorably Awful Little Swine
From the creator of The Book of Bunny Suicides comes the book you’ve been waiting for: Selfish Pigs. Filled with more than 90 pieces of line art depicting pigs being selfish, this is the must-have for pig-lovers and Riley fans.
It’s pigs—and they’re being selfish. Horribly, nastily selfish. They drink, they smoke, they steal, they eat pork and bacon, and they’re funny while they’re doing it.
Do they metaphorically represent humans at their worst? Or are they just horrible swine who don’t give a damn about metaphors? You’ll have to judge for yourself.
I thought about adding the book The Book of Bunny Suicides
What’s black-and-white and evil all over? Get ready to find out the terrifying truth…Penguins.
They’re everywhere-gracing movie screens, Coke ads, and merchandise. But don’t let those happy feet fool you. When they’re not surfing or marching bravely across the Antarctic, penguins have a whole other agenda going on. And it isn’t pretty.
In Evil Penguins, Elia Anie captures the antics of cute little birds who have gone over to the dark side. If you thought the worst a penguin could do is make you feel guilty about global warning, think again. Here are cartoons of penguins leading revolts, giving SpongeBob a swirly, causing plagues, clubbing baby seals, killing Inuits while dressed as ninjas, and wreaking havoc in dozens of other hysterically appalling ways.
Both penguin lovers and those who know that evil can come in even the cuddliest packages will appreciate these bad birds.
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A gift from an overseas relative, Graycie, an African Gray parrot, arrives in the Gardiner home not long after the birth of their first child, adding the responsibilities of parrot-hood to their newfound parenthood. Jenny Gardiner and her husband were hoping for a docile, beautifully plumed, Polly-want-a-cracker type of companion—but patchily feathered, scrawny, ill-tempered Graycie was the furthest thing from what they envisioned.
In Winging It, Gardiner shares in vivid and hilarious detail the many hazards of parrot ownership, from endless avian latrine duty to discovering the multiple ways a beak can pierce human flesh. Whether she’s swearing at the dog, mimicking the sound of the smoke alarm, or bobbing to the beat of the kids clapping for her amusement, she brings the family joy, laughter, and, sometimes, tears.
So why would the Gardiners subject themselves to the crazy behavior of this parrot for so long? Well, because, as the Gardiners realize, Graycie is a part of the family, and just like in any relationship between living creatures, things do not always go according to plan..
A mix of hilarious pet hijinks and a poignant story of family commitment, Winging It is a reminder of the importance of patience, loyalty, and humor when it comes to dealing with even the most temperamental members of the family.
Cross Posted to I Love Dogs and Animals.
Shine On Award
Deanna at The Book Lovers Attic and Rose at Insights into the Wonderful World of Books (url: http://lovetoread8.wordpress.com/ both nominated me for the Shine On Award. Yippee!
What a great pleasure to be recognized. This has made my day. Thank you for the kindness and support.
THE SHINE ON AWARD Here are the rules of the award:
- Visit and thank the blogger who nominated you.
- Acknowledge that blogger on your blog, and link back.
- Share seven random, interesting things about yourself.
- Nominate up to 15 bloggers for the Shine On Award, provide a link to their blogs in your post, and notify them on their blogs.
Interesting being a relative term, and frankly I rarely find myself interesting…. Here are 7 things about me. If you read my blog you may have already gleaned this information.
- I love dogs. I love all animals but especially dogs. Also, I am foster for DFW Pug Rescue. I am willing to take blind and hospice dogs.
- I am a pack rat but am trying to go through a purge of all my pack-rattery.
- I enjoy word play, making up words and read the dictionary occasionally.
- I’m already running out of interesting things to say. I enjoy crafting. Especially jewelry making and crochet. But I also make soap, polymer clay figurines, home décor crafts.
- I have a blog about dogs & animals and a blog about crafting.
- I have a giant book collection, this is more than pack-rattery rather a deep love of the written word and freedom of speech. I had a difficult time learning to read as a child (dyslexia but when I was young we didn’t know what that was) but once I did I went gangbusters with reading.
- I am an animal rights activist.
Now I have really run out of things to say that are interesting. Here are the bloggers I am choosing. Please visit Deanna & Rose as well as the blogs below.
- Kimberly at Raven’s Ambition . I love her word play and crafting.
- Cleo at Cleopatra Loves Books . She is phenomenally supportive of other bloggers, entertaining and good book reviews.
- Rachel at RachelMankowitz The Cricket Pages. Again a supportive blogger, a fiction writer and blogs about her dog Cricket. And she is funny drop by and read her post on Wishful Peeing. (I call it peeing on the world but have never blogged about this – though I may write about how many dogs have to be in the bathroom when I am peeing and I Love Dogs and Animals. )
- Carrie at The Write Transition. Author of The Seneca Scourge, she has a personal Mr. Nasty Pants that occasionally invades her blog.
- Lipsy at Lipsy Lost and Found, Judging Books by Their Covers. Lipsy loves books, vampires, unicorns, tennis and is from London.
- Emily at My Boyfriends Hotter Than Yours. With a blog title like that, how can you not want her to Shine On?
- Hutch a Good Life. About Guinea Pigs Nacho and Buddy and Basil the rabbit. Animal lovers will love visiting Hutch.
- The Patron Saint of Dogs . Colleen says from Colleen. I know we can’t save every dog but what would happen to someone if they tried?
Thanks again to Deanna and Rose for nominating me! I hope that you visit the above sites and discover new blogs and friends to share your thoughts with!
Books: Dogs Are Better People Than Us
Dogs & Our Animal Companions Are Better People Than Us.
If you are a dog lover, you already know that dogs are better people than humans. Here are some wonderful books that help make the point.
“Dogs love and share and help and care. Dogs Are Better People Than Us. Dogs Make Us Better Humans.” Andrea Geist
Funny, moving, and profound, A Dog Walks into a Nursing Home is the story of how one faithful, charitable, loving, and sometimes prudent mutt—showing great hope, fortitude, and restraint along the way (the occasional begged or stolen treat notwithstanding)—taught a well-meaning woman the true nature and pleasures of the good life.
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“Charleson journeys into the world of psychiatric service, where dogs aid humans with disabilities that may be unseen but are no less felt. This work had a profound effect on Charleson, perhaps because, for her, this journey began as a personal one: Charleson herself struggled with posttraumatic stress disorder for months after a particularly grisly search. Collaboration with her search dog partner made the surprising difference to her own healing. Inspired by that experience, Charleson learns to identify abandoned dogs with service potential, often plucking them from shelters at the last minute, and to train them for work beside hurting partners, to whom these second-chance dogs bring intelligence, comfort, and hope.
Along the way she comes to see canine potential everywhere, often where she least expects it – from Merlin the chocolate lab puppy with the broken tail once cast away in a garbage bag, who now stabilizes his partner’s panic attacks; to Ollie, the blind and deaf terrier, rescued moments before it was too late, who now soothes anxious children; to Jake Piper, the starving pit bull terrier mix with the wayward ears who is transformed into a working service dog and, who, for Charleson, goes from abandoned to irreplaceable.”
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Charleson first book. In the wake of the Oklahoma City bombing, Susannah Charleson clipped a photo from the newspaper of an exhausted canine handler, face buried in the fur of his search-and-rescue dog. A dog lover and pilot with search experience herself, Susannah was so moved by the image that she decided to volunteer with a local canine team and soon discovered firsthand the long hours, nonexistent pay, and often heart-wrenching results they face.
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“Photographer Martin Usborne is on a mission to save as many animals as he can in 365 days. His aptly titled project—A Year to Help—began in July 2012 and will wrap up next month. The quest has sparked him to travel the world visiting rescue shelters in Spain and a dog meat restaurant and a zoo in the Philippines, as well as to launch a blog chronicling his adventures. In his just-released photo collection, The Silence of Dogs in Cars (Kehrer Verlag), he aims to capture the way in which we silence, control or distance ourselves from other animals. Mission accomplished.” quote by Abbe Wright.
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“No other animal loves us in quite the same way as dogs love us. And it is mutual. Is it possible that we developed the capacity for love, sympathy, empathy, and compassion because of our long association with dogs? In “The Dog Who Couldn’t Stop Loving”, Masson considers the far-reaching consequences of this co-evolution of dogs and humans, drawing from recent scientific research. Over the past 40,000 years a collective domestication has occurred that brings us to where we are today – humans have formed intense bonds with dogs, and the adoration is almost always reciprocal. Masson himself has experienced a profound connection with his new dog Benjy, a failed guide-dog for the blind, who possesses an abundance of inhibited love. But Masson knows that the love he feels for Benjy – and that Benjy feels for all the people and animals around him – is not unique, but is in fact a love that only dogs and humans possess. With wisdom, insight, and a brilliant analysis of recent scientific research, the bestselling author delivers a provocative and compelling book that will change the way we think about love and canine companions.”
Be the Change. You can make a difference.
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