Period, yes, but
fun too

Historical atlas
Prehistory
Mesopotamia
Egypt
Greece
Rome
Middle Ages
Renaissance
Industrial age
Victorian times
Depression
WWII
Cold war
Information age
Future
King's mistress

Home

Birds, Butterflies, Cats, Dogs, Farm animals, Horses, Nature, Tortoise

We had a family tradition of always walking with a book to identify plants, critters, birds or trees. Just in case we got curious about anything, my mom was ready.

Birds
It is great to pass on to your kids the pleasure of watching birds, feeding birds and watching them take a bath. I do think that it prevents suicide in bad moments. Many young people who commit suicide have no contact with nature at all, so when everything goes wrong, they have nothing left. For a lot of us, everything goes wrong, but a bird, a cat, a dog, a raccoon can still make us smile.
Chris Chester Providence of a Sparrow: Lessons from a Life Gone to the Birds
Mark Bittner The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill followd by a documentary of the same title. This is the story of a man who did not find his place in society, but found it by talking to birds. If you read the book, you should see the movie: then you will know what happened to the birds and to Mark Bittner.

Butterflies
Sue Halpern wrote the most beautiful little book about the Monarch butterflies. It is like a live poem: Four wings and a prayer
This is the most fascinating insect on this planet. If you want to know more, start with a paper written by Robert Lee Hotz for the Wall Street Journal (02/08/08) and ponder this magnificent sentence: "In its biochemical essence, the monarch butterfly is a distillation of time and light, given wing."

Cats
Cleveland Amory The Cat Who Came for Christmas
The Cat Who series, a mystery series by Lillian Jackson Braun The books are slim, the cats help solve all the mysteries, giving such clues that any cat would give you. Start with The Cat Who Could Read Backwards
Paul Gallico The Silent Miaow This great book is written by a mother cat.
E. S. Gardner I have a weakness for Perry Mason, specially in The case of the caretaker's cat, which I read when I was a teenager. That he was not a good writer and had sometimes lousy stories does not matter to me: the man did teach me a lot about the art of argumentation. You cannot say that from a lot of authors.
Carole Nelson Douglas has a series of mysteries with a detecting cat. A witty author that I have not read yet.

Dogs
Jack London (b. 1876) I quote London with a heavy heart, I did not like the books as a kid, and I do not like the man now. But every child is entitled to make his own choices. See: The Call of the Wild (DVD)
Farley Mowat, a Canadian author, wrote this delightful book for children: The Dog Who Wouldn't Be.
The Dangerous Book for Dogs: A Parody by Rex and Sparky
Written by Joe Garden, Janet Ginsburg, Chris Pauls, Anita Serwacki and Scott Sherman. This book stems from a great idea, it is a spectacular book with a nice cover and I think it makes a good gift. The book was inspired by the "Dangerous books" for girls and boys, two books with nice colors and not too good recycled content.

Farm animals
James Herriot (b.1916) is the pen name a a British veterinarian named Alf Wight. His life as an animal doctor is described in All Creatures Great and Small. The book is specially good for family reading, because it is easy to read as a collection of stories, one at a time, at it is really delightful.(see also DVD's). A perfect resource for foul weather.
Temple Grandin, who suffers from autism, used her autism as a gift to understand animal behavior, specially cows. Her book, written with Catherine Johnson, is called Animals in Translation: Using the Mysteries of Autism to Decode Animal Behavior. It is a bit of a big book and a bit complicated for children, but it is a good read for parents, and they can find in there plenty of little things to share with the kids.
Top of the page

Horses
Anna Sewell British writer, was born in 1822. She is the author of horses stories: Black Beauty being the most well known (DVD). She was a kind soul.
Monty Roberts (b. 1935) The first time I saw Mr Roberts on television, he said that he understood horses, because he was beaten as a child and "he knew what it is to be afraid for one's life". The family of his father claimed it is not true; but if you ever see that interview again, you will probably agree with me that it has to be true.
A horse trainer by profession, Mr Roberts became a successful writer with his autobiography:The Man Who Listens to Horses. The story made a romanced book The horse whisperer by N. Evans, and a movie with Robert Redford.

Nature
Bill Bryson A walk in the woods. Anything Bryson writes is interesting. Here a book on the Appalachian Trail. There is no "story" in this book, but any chapter is enchanting for somebody who is curious of nature. Quite a few funny passages too.
Henry David Thoreau Walden (essential book). I am partial to this book: I lived in a log cabin for five years and enjoyed the contact with nature and all the scents of the forest. For a kid, though, it may be slightly boring: one needs to relate.
Colin Fletcher The Man Who Walked Through Time: the Story of the First Trip Afoot Through the Grand Canyon.
The Forager's Harvest: A Guide to Identifying, Harvesting, and Preparing Edible Wild Plants by Samuel Thayer Every household should have a book like this, that makes you look at your yard in a different way.

Tortoise
Verlyn Klinkenborg Timothy, or Notes of an Abject Reptile. If you are sophisticated, you will love this book: it is beautiful as an orchid. The tortoise who inspired it is in a museum, reminding me of Flaubert's Parrot by Julian Barnes.

Try the best of real bookstores if you dislike virtual ones:

Top of the page