The classic story, A Dog Named Chips, first published in 1931, is now available in a new large-print version.Born a ragamuffin mongrel, Chips had a longing for purple and fine linen, for all the luxuries of a millionaire's world. Escaping from home in a sports car, he insinuated himself into the heart of the ninth richest woman in America, dominated her household, patched up a budding romance, and even got himself abducted and held for ransom.But the climax of his career came in a brief visit to the Philadelphia dog pound. As a result of this excursion into unknown territory, Chips presented his unsuspecting mistress with a litter of seven.In the end, Chips received her final triumph -- a new and royal name -- "Cleopatra, formerly Chips". Hilarious and exciting, this is a book for every dog lover.

    It was a lucky find; a battered old book with a green cloth cover embossed with an illustration of a mountain lion and a mule deer, and the title "Malibu." The novel, published in 1931, is a fictionalized account of author and naturalist Vance Joseph Hoyt's experiences raising an orphaned mule deer fawn with a mountain lion kitten in the Santa Monica Mountains. The story of Malibu is told primarily from the animals' perspective. Hoyt provides a fascinating look at the Santa Monica Mountains in the 1920s - describing the animals' travels from Topanga all the way to Arroyo Sequit, during an era when most of the area was still a private wilderness. Contemporary conservationists may shudder at the cavalier approach Hoyt takes to capturing and raising wild animals as pets, but Hoyt was a passionate advocate for wildlife in an era when there were few protections, and he was one of the Malibu area's first animal activists. Hoyt makes a powerful case for banning hunting and trapping in the Santa Monica Mountains. The book is a plea for peaceful coexistence with wildlife in at a time when wild animals were viewed by many as vermin. "This is the era of big cities and machinery. I wouldn't be here myself if it wasn't as good a way as any of making a living," a cynical game warden quips in the novel. Hoyt's fictional alter ego responds: "...The day is coming when our forests will be closed to hunters, and such men as you will hold their positions because of their love for the beauty of their work, not just for the dollars they are paid." Hoyt's novel follows the deer - named Malibu because "Malibu means bad road, rough going, and no one has a more rocky road to travel than a deer," and Gato, the mountain lion, from birth to adulthood. Hoyt describes their unlikely friendship and their lives in the wild when they reach maturity...