Pounce


Seth Casteel - 2016
    Now, Seth has found the perfect way to capture our other best friends: cats! A beautiful, funny gift book with more than 70 previously unpublished photographs, Pounce reveals adorable cats and kittens as they pounce and jump through the air, arms outstretched -- all in Casteel's signature up-close, mid-action style.

The Bond: Our Kinship with Animals, Our Call to Defend Them


Wayne Pacelle - 2011
    With the poignant insight of Animals Make Us Human and the shocking reality of Fast Food Nation—filled with history, valuable insights, and fascinating stories of the author’s experience in the field—The Bond is an important investigation into all the ways we can repair our broken bond with the animal kingdom and a thrilling chronicle of one man’s extraordinary contribution to that effort.

Top Dog: The Story of Marine Hero Lucca


Maria Goodavage - 2014
    An extraordinary bond develops between Lucca and Marine Corps dog handlers Chris Willingham and Juan Rodriguez, in what would become a legendary 400-mission career. A Specialized Search Dog, Lucca belongs to an elite group trained to work off-leash at long distances from her handler. She served alongside both Special Forces and regular infantry, and became so sought-after that platoons frequently requested her by name. The book describes in gritty detail Lucca's adventures on and off the battlefields, including tense, lifesaving explosives finds and firefights, as well as the bravery of fellow handlers and dogs they served with. Ultimately we see how the bond between Lucca and her handlers overcame the endless brutalities of war and the traumas this violence ignites.Here is a portrait of modern warfare with a heartwarming and inspiring conclusion that will touch dog lovers and the toughest military readers.

Cats on Instagram


@Cats_of_instagram - 2016
    Playful categories including "bowties," "surprise!," and "happy cats" showcase all the charm and delightful quirks of the wide world of cats. This is a gift that will have feline fans smiling in recognition, surprise, and appreciation.--chroniclebooks.com

Animal Madness: How Anxious Dogs, Compulsive Parrots, and Elephants in Recovery Help Us Understand Ourselves


Laurel Braitman - 2014
    Have you ever wondered if your dog might be a bit depressed? How about heartbroken or homesick? Animal Madness takes these questions seriously, exploring the topic of mental health and recovery in the animal kingdom and turning up lessons that Publishers Weekly calls “Illuminating…Braitman’s delightful balance of humor and poignancy brings each case of life….[Animal Madness’s] continuous dose of hope should prove medicinal for humans and animals alike.” Susan Orlean calls Animal Madness “a marvelous, smart, eloquent book—as much about human emotion as it is about animals and their inner lives.” It is “a gem…that can teach us much about the wildness of our own minds” (Psychology Today).

Lost Cat: A True Story of Love, Desperation, and GPS Technology


Caroline Paul - 2013
    But then her beloved cat Tibia disappeared. She and her partner, illustrator Wendy MacNaughton, mourned his loss. Yet weeks later, Tibia waltzed back into their lives. His owners were overjoyed. But they were also...jealous? Betrayed? Where had their sweet anxious cat disappeared to? Had he become a swashbuckling cat adventurer? Did he love someone else more? His owners were determined to find out.Using GPS technology, cat cameras, psychics, the web, and animal communicators, the authors of Lost Cat embarked on a quest to discover what their cat did when they weren't around. Told through writer Caroline Paul's rich and warmly poignant narrative and illustrator Wendy MacNaughton's stunning and hilarious 4-color illustrations, Lost Cat is a book for animal lovers, pet owners, and anyone who has ever done anything desperate for love.

The Cat Who Came Back for Christmas- How a Cat Brought a Family the Gift of Love


Julia Romp - 2010
    For Julia already had her hands full with her son George, who suffered from autism. Quiet and withdrawn, ten-year-old George appeared lost in his own world, upset by the slightest change in his routine and unable to make friends with other children.But George wasn’t scared by the little black-and-white visitor; instead his face lit up at the sight of him and before long George was inseparable from his new friend Ben. It was the miracle Julia had been hoping for; George began to play with Ben and create stories about their adventures together, excitedly recounting them at tea-time. For Julia, it was a magical way to communicate with her son, and Ben had made it possible. That’s why when Ben went missing Julia knew she had to do everything in her power to bring him home…Captivating, uplifting and geniunely touching, A Friend Like Ben is a remarkable true story of the extraordinary devotion and empathy between a little boy and his cat, and a mother's determination to make her son happy again."You see, Ben's not just a cat - he is George's window onto the world, the key to the door which unlocks him. Call me daft, but Ben is like my second son, so I had to find him when he went missing. Because if not, I was more scared than I can say that I would never see the light in George's eyes again. There was only one way to make sure it came back: I had to bring Ben home." ~ Julia

The Tribe of Tiger: Cats and Their Culture


Elizabeth Marshall Thomas - 1994
    Inspired by her own feline's instinct to hunt and supported by her studies abroad, Thomas examines the life actions, as well as the similarities and differences of these majestic creatures. Lions, tigers, pumas and housecats: Her observations shed light on their social lives, thought processes, eating habits, and communication techniques, and reveal how they survive and coexist with each other and with humans.

Goodbye, Friend: Healing Wisdom for Anyone Who Has Ever Lost a Pet


Gary Kowalski - 2006
    In this caring book, Gary Kowalski offers warmth, guidance and wisdom for anyone facing this loss. It is a compilation of heart-warming stories, verse and photographs to provide comfort.

The Cat Who Came for Christmas


Cleveland Amory - 1988
    Thus begins this tale of a man and his cat or, rather, of a cat and his man. A touching, timeless, and inspiring story about the animal/human bond and the spirit of the holiday season.

All Dogs Go to Kevin: Everything Three Dogs Taught Me (That I Didn't Learn in Veterinary School)


Jessica Vogelsang - 2015
    You can't always count on people, but you can always count on your dog. No one knows that better than veterinarian Jessica Vogelsang. With the help of three dogs, Jessica is buoyed through adolescence, veterinary school, and the early years of motherhood. Taffy, the fearsome Lhasa; Emmett, the devil-may-care Golden; and Kekoa, the neurotic senior Labrador, are always by her side, educating her in empathy and understanding for all the oddballs and misfits who come through the vet clinic doors. Also beside her is Kevin, a human friend who lives with the joie de vivre most people only dream of having. From the clueless canine who inadvertently reveals a boyfriend's wandering ways to the companion who sees through a new mother's smiling facade, Jessica's stories from the clinic and life show how her love for canines lifts her up and grounds her, too. Above all, this book reminds us, with gentle humor and honesty, why we put up with the pee on the carpet, the chewed-up shoes, and the late-night trips to the vet: because the animals we love so much can, in fact, change our lives.

Kit Kat and Lucy: The Country Cats Who Changed a City Girl's World


Lonnie Hull Dupont - 2016
    She immediately misses the rhythm and the pace of the city, and the isolation country living brings has her longing for something more.Enter Kit Kat and Lucy--stray cats who arrive at the farmhouse a year apart and each ask to move in. The antics and oddities of these two strong personalities wrapped in fur bring a new light to the farmhouse and DuPont's life. Kit Kat, an obsessive-compulsive tortoiseshell, can purr her new human into a happier state of mind. Lucy, the playful, leaping Russian Blue who can nail a bat right out of the air, makes her laugh.From the hysterical process of getting two strange cats to like each other, to the exciting years of watching those cats thrive--and inspire DuPont in the process--this book is an energetic tale of cat and human foibles. Animals enrich our lives, and the heartwarming story of how Kit Kat and Lucy changed one woman's world will leave readers enchanted.

The Man Who Talks to Dogs: The Story of Randy Grim and His Fight to Save America's Abandoned Dogs


Melinda Roth - 2002
    Thousands and thousands of wild dogs-abandoned to disease, starvation, and inevitable death-are leading short and brutal lives in the no-man's-land between domestication and wildness, byproducts of the human destitution around them. A lucky few are saved by dedicated rescuers, and Randy Grim, has emerged as one of the country's leading dog saviors. After years of rescuing dogs on his own, he founded Stray Rescue of St. Louis, an organization dedicated to rescue and rehabilitation. These are dogs that belong to no one, the ones animal-control experts can't catch and humane shelters won't deal with. They are stray or feral, either abandoned or born wild on the streets, which means they won't come near humans and statistically won't live past their second year. And their numbers are growing every day.In The Man Who Talks to Dogs, journalist Melinda Roth narrates Grim's dramatic, inspiring efforts and tells the horrific and heartwarming stories of the dogs he saves, showing how this growing national health problem-controlled by no federal or local regulations-can no longer be ignored.

Rin Tin Tin: The Life and the Legend


Susan Orlean - 2011
    Susan Orlean's book--about the dog and the legend--is a poignant exploration of the enduring bond between humans and animals. It is also a richly textured history of twentieth-century entertainment and entrepreneurship. It spans ninety years and explores everything from the shift in status of dogs from working farmhands to beloved family members, from the birth of obedience training to the evolution of dog breeding, from the rise of Hollywood to the past and present of dogs in war.

Huck: The Remarkable True Story of How One Lost Puppy Taught a Family - and a Whole Town - About Hope and Happy Endings


Janet Elder - 2010
     Michael was four when his relentless campaign for a dog began. At seven he made a PowerPoint presentation, “My Dog,” with headings like “A Childhood Without a Dog is a Sad Thing.” His parents, Janet and Rich, were steadfast; bringing a dog into their fast-paced New York City lives was utterly impractical. However, on a trip to Italy, a chance happening leads Janet to reconsider, a decision then hastened by a diagnosis of breast cancer.  Janet decides the excitement of a new puppy would  be the perfect antidote to the strain on the family of months of arduous treatments for her illness. The prospect of a new puppy would be an affirmation of life, a powerful talisman for them all. On Thanksgiving weekend, soon after the grueling months of treatments are over, Huck, a sweet, mischievous, red-haired, toy poodle joins the family and wins everyone’s heart. A few months later the family ventures to baseball’s spring training, leaving Huck with Janet’s sister in Ramsey, New Jersey.  Barely twenty-four hours into the trip, Janet receives the dreaded phone call: Huck has slipped through the backyard fence and run away.  Broken-hearted and frantic, the family catches the first plane to New Jersey to begin a search for their lost puppy. It is a race against time, for little Huck is now lost in an area entirely unfamiliar to him, facing the threat of bears and coyotes, swamps and freezing temperatures, rain and fast cars.  Moved by the family’s plight, strangers – from school children to townspeople to the police lieutenant – join the search, one that proves to be an unyielding test of determination and faith. Touching and warm-hearted, Huck is a spirit-lifting story about resilience, the generosity of strangers, and hope.