This is a wonderful children’s picture book that I would recommend for ny family with pets, regardless of the age of the kids. Even grownups will like this story, as it goes though the life of a family dog, and with simple, sweet illustrations that are not too cute or too childish, deal with the loss of a dog to old age.


The illustrations are by Jamie Wyeth – and yes, he’s one of THOSE Wyeths, grandson and son of NC and Andrew Wyeth. And as it turns out, he’s a dog lover, too, so when the author contacted him, he happily agreed to do the book.


The story is simple, sweet and deals with the death of a beloved hound, and how “his” girls and family deal with it. It is not at all depressing, or somber, and does not take any religious slant in particular. It’s just a gentle story that ends on a positive note, one that I think any child will like.


As so many families are spread apart geographically these days, children often don’t grow up near grandparents and older generations, so the death of a pet is their first experience with death. This book is the only one like it I have encountered, and is not at all pedantic, just straightforward and loving. Read it to child you love, even if it’s your own inner child!


And by the way, I got to interview the author on the radio, and you’ll be happy to know another hound dog, a rescue named Jack, was sitting in the car with her, as we did the interview while she was pulled over in the car!

I receieved this as an eBook, and have to say it was awfully fun! The author, Dena Harris, then was a guest on Animal Rave. “Lessons in Stalking,” is a hilarious book for anyone who has ever either owned a cat, or known someone who does.


Ms. Harris write of life with her two cats, Lucy and Olivia. Lucy came first, and as neither she nor her husband had ever owned a cat, this is a collection of the stories and experiences of what she taught them! Like thinking something is wrong when the cat is suddenly drowning her toy mice in her water dish … Homicidal tendancies? Punishing the mice? And as first-time cat people, of course they try to figure out what it all means … not knowing that cats, after all, pride themselves in being inscrutable!


Other chapters involve trying to feed a cat Benadryl (warning-Grape can make cats foam at the mouth), figuring out what certain stalking etchniques mean, and in one really funny chapter, what to do with a toy that completely freaks the cat out, and how to engage in a battle of wills against a cat!


It is obvious, by the end of the book, and through the adoption tribuations of a new second cat, Olivia, that Harris and her husband are now completely in the thrall of these two felines, and frankly wouldn’t have it any other way!


A good, funny read for any cat people, or even folks who know cat people, although I would try to read it while at work, as you might laugh out loud and give yourself away!


Dena Harris was also good enough to be my very first guest on Animal Rave, and shared more funny details, and I look forward to more from her!

I will also review the books here, for the blog, and promise I will note on all future reviews if I’ve talked to the author or not. And I promise I will still be honest with the reviews, and will never just promote a book for someone or feed you their press release.

This was another book sent to my from a friend from Pet Talk who lives in Denmark, and I liked it much better than Everything is Illuminated. I don’t know that this would even make it into stores here, but it’s a small book about a small country, Denmark, at a time when it was still very much ruled by the royal family, but things were beginning to transition to the more modern era. It was the 1760′s the height of the Age of Enlightenment, and men were battling over issues of religion versus science, as well as the usual swap of politics. Add to this the fact that the King of Denmark is mentally unstable, his bride is a young Englishwoman married off to him for typical political reasons, and it makes for an intriguing book. None of the characters are particularly heroic, but several are sympathetic, particularly Catherine Mathilde, who seems to come into her own after a life as pretty much a pawn with little expectations of her other than fecundity. The author does a good job of imagining what might have been going on in the heads of these actual historical figures. It was a dramatic time in Danish history, and while this is a work of fiction, it makes me want to learn a bit more about the actual characters. An enjoyable read, especially if you have an interest in European history around this time, and it draws in Voltaire, Catherine the Great and George III.

I found the book quite interesting, maybe because I know so little about Denmark during that period. And also it makes me wonder how much of this Danish schoolchildren learn, or whether it’s just glossed over with a few sentences … especially as the King was mentally ill, and that never seems to make it in history books much. Unless, that is, it’s the opposing side’s monarchy – like I know of “Mad King George” almost exclusively by that title, as he was the English King at the time of the American Revolution, and was a little bemused to him simply referred to as George III when we were visiting London!

I know we certainly didn’t cover Denmark any detail in my small town American high school classroom, but then, the Social Studies department was not my favorite in the school, either. They had a pretty hard time keeping our attention on the broad generalizations they did cover. But if you have any interest in European history, or Denmark, I do recommend this!

Sometimes it’s the simple things that are the best ideas! Want a case for your iPhone, or iPod that is watertight, inexpensive, keeps it from getting scratched in your pocket, but that you can still use it through if necessary? I know, this isn’t a book review, or about pets, but I now have GoogleBooks on my iPod, and sometimes read some of the free books I have gotten on it when I am waiting somewhere – Robert Frost’s collection that includes Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening feels appropriate this time of year.

Anyway, the great idea? Snack-size Ziplock bags! They are small, just 6 1/2 x 3 1/4 inches, so the iPhone fits in without a lot of extra room to slide around, and if you seal them, they’re water tight! Perfect for use on a windy day with precipitation … and to top if off, they are cheap! You can get a box of 50 for just $2, so that’s 4 cents each! And depending on how much abuse you put your device through, they can last weeks apiece.

When I first saw the ‘snack size’ bags, I thought What a gimmick! Like you cannot put a smaller portion for a snack in a sandwich bag??? I’ve never bothered to use them for actual snacks, but for my iPod, iPhone, and even my old cell phone, they are perfect!

The Amazon link is for bulk quantity, but I don’t think I’d use up 12 boxes worth in a year! Your local supermarket probably has them.

Really cool unexpected fantasy with a touch of science theory and real thought, everything from theories about time to mermaids and pirates, but none of it seems pedantic or too frothy or frivolous, either.

Set in 2001, not long after the September 11th bombings, the three Oakenfield children, Susan – the eldest, and her younger step brothers Charles and Murray are sent by their parents from New York to their uncle’s place in Canada. Real city kids, used to the congested but busy life in New York City, they are not sure really why they are being sent away, but their parents inssist it’s for their safety. The kids, though Susan had a different biological father, are typical siblings, and have their squabbles and tease each other, more Susan – born in England – and Charles, the next youngest, than Murray, who is only five years old.

Nothing is quite what it seems, aand it’s kind of refreshing that these are no Disneyland mermaids, and even the sea they are “adrift’ on is no ordinary see. It’s also cool that the kids do not automatically come together as the adventure begins, but continue their evolving relationships at what feels like an ordinary pace in extraordinary circumstances.

I highly reccomend this book to anyone age 8 to 800 who enjoys a good story, and doesn’t mind thinking about things a little as they go. It’s not too simple for adults, and it isn’t little with sly pop culture references to keep adults interested, either, it’s fine as is. And I am not even terribly bothered by the “sequel alert” subtitle of “The First Voyage” as this stands on its own, without the annoying “see what happens next” of some book series.

So, I know I said yesterday’s book was a “thriller” but really had more to it than that. Well, this book is a “mystery” that is just the opposite. There are no lingering questions, nothing disturbing, just a simple mystery book, like many others. It’s “A Regan Reilly Mystery,” so I guess it’s just one in a line of them, and it is a pleasant diversion, just a little break from reality. I have a signed copy of this, as I stood in a (very long) line to get a signed book at the BEA from Mary Higgins Clark, the very famous mystery writer, and she was doing a joint signing with her daughter, who while not as famous as her mother, is pretty well known.


A quick aside: I was startled when I got to the front of the line and met them, at the amount of make-up they were both wearing. It was frankly a little scary, and I thought “this is a crowd of book people, no one cares, really, how you’ll photograph, they just like your books. It was just plain odd, and while I don;t know how old either woman is, I thought it was trying to make them look younger but instead aged them a lot. Just odd, have to say, made me a little sad for them.


Anyway, the book is a quick read, and you kind of have it figured out by at least halfway through, but there are a few mildly surprising moments. Many of the characters are predictable, or just cartoonish – “Jimmy” the shell museum man, whose speech and mannerisms are stilted of no discernible reason, “Glenn,” the snarky but always smiling hotel worker, the evil older twins, the newly enageed couple, the man-hungry gal, and even the “best friend who always needs rescuing,” but every ends as it should, and is almost too pat. Read it in a day, a pleasant little diversion, like candy – fun while you’re at it, but pretty formulaic and forgettable afterwards. Set in Hawaii, but that doesn’t seem to matter much, aside from token objects, you get the feeling it could have taken place almost anywhere with a beach. But I’m sure it sold a ton, anyway!

This is one of those books that’s kind of hard to classify – it says it’s a “thriller” and it certainly fits that genre well, but it also has a certain amount of history, including World War II era, and occult as well as some gruesome characters, the dark underside of humainty and modern culture and explicit gore. It is darkly fascinating and you learn about places that are quite real, like the ossuary at Sedlec in the Czech Republic, which is a chapel decorated with intricate displays of human bones, and ceratin myths that have surrounded the place, as well as ones original to this book. None of the characters are pure, or even very sympathetic, and though we root for the protagonist and his group on cohorts, you somehow know, through the whole book, that no one is going to live happily ever after, if indeed any lives – or was alive in the first place, or was a fallen angel, and therefor not dead or alive, exactly.


Not for the squeamish, but there is a good deal to figure out as you read, and it kept me absorbed. All in all somewhat disturbing, but an interesting book anyway. If you are not in need of cheering up, or being reminded that there is good in the world, look elsewhere.

I love snow, the way it transforms the landscape, makes everything wild and clean again, and makes it easy to track the wild animals that live in, and go through our yard, although they are all now hunkered own for the evening. And in the time it took me to type this, the wind has picked back up again outside.

Funny, isn’t it, how as children we hope for snow days, and yet when we are adults, almost no one gets the day off, even if it’s blizzarding out!

A good night to stay inside and read a good book, don’t you think?