Pet Books

This book will be read over and over as a handy reference guide. The topic is interesting and goes to a lot of trouble to explain in simple english, what problems may occur.

Learn your horse's anatomy and put your new knowledge to work as you train your horse and develop stretching routines.

Very informative. I learned how to stretch the muscle so that the horse was more supple and less likely be to injury in competition and everyday use

For whoever said there is nothing new in this book you must be a very proficient and contentiousness horse person. I found this book pack full of goodies. Perhaps there is nothing "new" for you, but for most horse owners it is a fantastic book.

It has clear illustrations of all the stretches and explanations about why you do them. I also find this a good book for taking out to the barn and working through with my horses.

They enjoy the change from being ridden and the exercises also make good warm up and cool downs. They are the basic exercises but you don't really need to learn 999 different exercises. Just do the ones in this book well.

One of the greatest mistakes riders make is not preparing their horses to rider. They just jump on and go. They don't warm the horses up or stretch them after they have worked to keep muscles supple. Then they wonder why their horses become lame or injured. The stretches suggested in this book are a great way to treat your horse like the athlete he is.

My daughter (age 7) is never "keen" to read books. When she told me she liked the "Fly Guy" books she read in class - I went and bought the series! There are 5 books, total. The stories are silly and have a fun "gross" factor that most kids would enjoy. The books have a few chapters, but they are easy readers and so it allows the kids to have a sense of accomplishment (having read a "Chapter" book), while not being too labor-intensive. I would definitely recommend them for kids that need to be "encouraged" to read.

My little girl was introduced to fly guy in Super Fly Guy! She just loved the story! Of course we had to pick up the first story!

Buzz is looking for something to catch for the Amazing Pet Show. He meets fly guy as the bump into each other. Well fly guy boinks his noise. He catches him and takes him home but nobody believes a fly can be a pet! Dad tries to get him with a flyswatter! My girl told him NO! Even at the show, the judges keep telling him a fly is not a pet! But flyguy wins them over in the end!

This book deservedly won the Theodor Geisel award as it's really easy to read and it's interesting enough to keep children interested.

Artwork is great as my girl did not get tired of the pictures!

Fly Guy is so cute. A fly cute? Well, he is. He's drawn that way as only Tedd Arnold can. I love his pictures as they all have that same uniqueness to them. You can always spot a Tedd Arnold book.
Fly Guy has an owner named Buzz and he says his name all the time. Who wouldn't want a pet that says your name?
My kids really enjoy this book. It's simple yet innovative. How many of us wish we thought of it ourselves?
Love it!

Used this book with groups of struggling readers. It was motivating and they wanted to read the sequels. They are very fond of Fly Guy now, and they are very excited about the next book. They want to write a letter to Tedd Arnold and ask him to write more Fly Guy books.

My three year old daughter has an odd bug phobia and this book is the best! The graphics and story are so funny that I actually don't mind reading it over and over. I get as much of a kick out of it as she does. Of the 100+ books we have for our kids this is my reigning favorite!

If you want to really learn the different ways to braid manes then this book is for you.

For the aesthetically inclined book lover, this is a must. It is spiral bound and beautifully composed with rich color, clear photographs and diagrams, and an easy to read format.
My only criticism of the book was that there were no really intricate uncommon braids included. Growing up in the horse world, I have learned many braids, all of which are in this book. Unfortunately, there were no new braids for me to learn which seriously bummed me out. I'm not unhappy with my purchase though, as this is a clear and concise guide to braiding that I can use to teach students and friends.

This book has changed the way I looked at the issues of development, modernisation & morals. An amazing read, beautifully written and with great insights.

I have just returned from a trip to Ladakh and I could really relate to what Ms.Norberg talks about in the book.

Just a couple of side issues. It'd be good to know what exactly went wrong in Ladakh. Here are a people who for 2000 years had lived successfully by the rules of Buddhism. How & why did Buddhism fail these people in the face of global/western economic & cultural imperialism? Does the blame lie with Buddhism- it being too 'compassionate' and allowing a religion? Does the blame lie with the Ladakhis who probably were not as sincere Buddhists as they are made out to be?

After all if they really were such devout Buddhists, how come they fell to the greed that capitalism breeds?

Anyway, these are issues which could have been addressed in the book. Regardless, the book is excellent! A must read.

How does life in a non-industrial society compare to life in our own? In which society are people happier? If life in non-industrial societies compares favorably to life in our own, then why are the barrios of the third world filling up with migrants from remote villages? This book provides surprising insights into these questions. It also provokes reflections on our own society and its influence on the rest of the world. After reading a used copy I picked up for free, I bought seven copies of this book for friends and family!

Rarely have I felt more dispair about the direction of what we know as civilization as I felt halfway through this book. The Ladakh people are described as happy, healthy, and self-reliant. Suddenly, the "real world" happens to them, and they come to see themselves as poor, when before they had no need of money.

The authors do a nice job of weaving a story of hope at the end but I have concern for the future of these people. It helps me understand the decision the government of Bhutan has made to isolate themselves from western-style civilization.

After reading this book, I suddenly realized the root problem of Western Civilization: We have no culture. Where there was once culture, we now have an expanding economic order threatening all life on the planet. Through its mechanism of growth and expansion, the global economy is conquering and converting life's diversity into an ecological and social monoculture of cash crops, Levis, soda pop and movie theatres. Perhaps moonscape would be a better word. Of course, it doesn't have to be this way. Our fast-paced, increasingly technological, capital-intensive, fossil fuel-centered, centralized, highly specialized, travel and commercial-oriented, often stressful society is by no means the end-all-be-all of human history. Murder, child abuse, drug abuse, theft, poverty, hunger, and every other problem that plagues the West are not products of human nature. The pathology of civilization is not natural or inevitable, and the Ladakhi are proof of this. Read this book and rediscover ancient, profound, life-affirmating alternatives to the modern humdrum. Discover another way of living, thinking and feeling. Important, necessary, engaging and masterfully written - this book was a treasure to read. Indeed, it was an awaking.

A MUST READ

The first half of *Ancient Futures* will delight and amaze you; the second half will break your heart.

In the 1970s, the Ladakhis of Little Tibet were a happy people. They had a sustainable traditional economy based on trade and cooperation - not money. One person's gain was not another person's loss. There was plenty of leisure, no hunger or poverty, very little sickness or disease, everyone was valued, there was no pollution and nothing was wasted. They got along fine with their Muslim neighbors and they kept their population stable through marriage customs based on land use. Almost every family had a celibate monk or nun. Buddhist monasteries and people had a mutually beneficial economic, social and spiritual relationship. Ladakhis are a naturally contemplative people with a great deal of spiritual awareness. "Schon chan" (one who angers easily) is about the only insult in the Ladakhi lnaguage. "Lack of pride is a virtue, for pride, born of ego, has nothing to do with self-respect among these Buddhist people." The author says that it took her two years of living among them to realize that the people were genuinely and joyfully HAPPY. Then the world beat a path to their door and all that changed - in fewer than two decades.

It's like a little piece of cultural time-lapse photography. What took western culture more than four centuries to do to the Native-Americans took only twenty years here. Ladakh has become a cautionary tale and a monument to western greed and stupidity.

Now there is poverty and unemployment, stress-related disease, women are devalued, the people are ashamed of their "backward" culture, there is little leisure but a great deal of pollution and waste as well as dispute between Muslims and Buddhists and the population had increased markedly. ("Interestingly, a number of Ladakhis have linked the rise of birth rates to the advent of modern democracy. "Power is a question of votes" is a current slogan, meaning that, in the modern sector, the larger your group, the greater your access to power. Competition for jobs and political representation within the new centralized structures is increasingly dividing Ladakhis.")

Chiildren are trained to become specialists in a technological rather than an ecological society. They no longer have time to learn the superb survival techniques of their families. Western culture is creating artificial scarsity and inducing competition.

Now I understand the mechanism better. A culture that has a heavily subsidized infrastructure invades a traditional self-sustaining culture and creates artificial "needs." So they go to the city to earn money which they never needed before, leaving their farms and women, who are immediately devalued because they're not wage earners. The people are no longer planting, irrigating, spinning wool, gathering seeds, harvesting, playing music and singing and telling stories, having seasonal parties, marriage parties or funeral watches - together.

Time has become a commodity. It has become uneconomical to grow one's own food, make one's own clothes and build one's own house. You have to pay your neighbors for the work that the whole community used to do for free.

The men are in the cities earning money and the women are producing tourist commodities with the wool they used to spin for their own use and the food they used to grow for their own families. Now they grow cash crops for strangers so they can make enough money to buy polyester clothes and walkmans and jeans for their kids and food grown hundreds of miles away and fuel trucked in from afar.

The Yak and the Dzo, uniquely suited for high altitudes of Ladakh gave rich milk but not as much as western cattle. So what did the conquering culture do? They imported cattle that can't make it at such altitudes, so more land has to be relegated to planting crops to feed the cattle, thereby upsetting the balance. And they call this progress.

Why can't we just leave people alone - especially when they're doing FINE without us?

"When one-third of the world's population consumes two-thirds of the world's resources," says Norberg-Hodge, "and then in effect turns around and tells the others to do as they do, it is little short of a hoax. Development is all too often a euphemism for exploitation, a new colonialism."

All this would be a dismal tragedy comparable to Columbus's complete genocide of the Tainos if not for a "counter development" movement generated in part by this author. Since the Ladakhis can't go back, they can at least go forward. Instead of importing expensive fossil fuels (previously they had used yak dung and kept warm) they can have solar houses and greenhouses, which have worked very well and given them one benefit that they have previously not had. That's something. Information is another plus. The people are being made aware that westerners pay more for whole grains, organic vegetables, pure water, natural fibers, and natural building materials - things these people have had for a thousand years without money. This is something so-called third-world people are generally not told about.

Once in a while a book comes along that changes one's perspective forever. *Ancient Futures* is such a book. I haven't been the same since.

One of the reviewers on this site said he ended up buy copies for his friends. So have I. This book is a must-read for every person who is concerned about the preservation of our planet and our species.

pamhan99@aol.com

We have many of the Henry & Mudge stories. We love the humor, thoughtfulness, and the way the love and bond between a child and his dog is captured in these stories. This one is a favorite of mom and dad. We would probably read it without reading it to the children - because of the memories this story brings back of visits to the beach. The children, of course, also love it!

The winsome, colorful illustrations in the Henry and Mudge books are delightful. I used to read the series when I was in elementary school. This one, for whatever reason, has remained my favorite and is actually the only one I owned personally. Any fellow dog-loving children should enjoy learning to read and explore with Henry and Mudge, as well as other book series like 'Nate the Great,' a detective. Recommended.

My 1st grader just loves Henry and Mudge books. They are "chapter" books-- and not "baby" books. But, they are easy to read. (Easier than Magic Tree House, for example.) Plus, this series appeals to both boys and girls (but especially boys).

This particular books captures the essence of going on a trip to the beach: the anticipation, the long drive, the waves, the crabs. This book would also make a good read-aloud for a younger child about to go on a trip to the beach.

Note: you might want to purchase Henry And Mudge First Book before this book or with this book. It introduces the characters used in the rest of the series.

Enjoy!
P. Gould, co-author of Feeding the Kids: The Flexible, No-Battles, Healthy Eating System for the Whole Family

I picked this book out at our local library for my two year old daughter because she loves dogs and the beach. It turned out to be such a big hit that I am buying it! She of course can't read, but enjoyed the story and pictures very much. She loves Mudges playfullness and had just been to the beach recently so she could relate to Henry and his father playing in the water. The length of the story is just right also for her. It's a wonderful book and we are buying two more from the series besides this one!

I just thought I should explain that clearly (hint, hint) after reading a few of the negative reviews. NOT a whole lot of singin' and dancin' going on in the south during Reconstruction, historically speaking that is. And this book doesn't make you feel "sad"...just oppressed...wait for it...ah, ha!...a masterpiece for all races, without a doubt. If younger readers don't get it, that might not be such a tragedy after all.

William H. Armstrong, Sounder (Harper Collins, 1969)

Sounder is another book I read this year because I missed it when I was growing up; I somehow never had to read it for class when I was in school, and since my daughter did last year, I figured I'd give it a shot. And I had the same reaction as I did to the other book I read this year for the same reason (The House of Dies Drear)-- what's all the fuss about?

Sounder is the story of a boy and his dog. Early in the story, the boy's father is arrested for stealing a ham and carted away; as they're leaving, one of the policemen shoots the dog, who then disappears. Much of the rest of the book is spent on the unnamed boy searching for the dog, while learning to deal with having a father in prison and learning far more about the world than he ever wanted to know. So, in other words, not your normal a-boy-and-his-dog tale. Why I don't get what all the fuss is about is that books, especially those for younger readers, are supposed to be about character transformation; there can be no doubt that the subject of this book transforms, but there's no connecting the forces that cause him to transform (for none of it, as far as I could discern, comes from within; his transformation depends entirely on outward forces, which feels artificial) with his actual transformation except in the most basic, clumsy of ways. We don't actually see the boy transforming; we are given the forces, we cut to a later point in the story, and presto, the transformation has occurred without us having to see it-- or Armstrong having to write it.

None of this is to say it's necessarily a bad story. On its face, it works, and Armstrong keeps the pages turning. But in the greater scheme of things, it just seems to me there are a whole lot of books that handle everything here better; the obvious comparison is the superior Where the Red Fern Grows. It's not bad, but it's nothing special. ***

The novel Sounder, by William Armstrong, depicts a story about a young boy, his family and his dog. The story is set in the early 19th century and most of the events occur in and around the families meager cabin house. The novel opens with a scene depicting the boy (whose name remains unknown throughout the novel) and his father, a struggling sharecropper. The boy's attachment to his family and love for his dog is clear in the early lines of the story.
Soon the families struggle to earn money and survive leads the father to steal a ham in a desperate attempt to put food on the table. The next morning, the police arrest the father. As he is taken away, the boy attempts to hold onto the dog, who is snarling and lunging at the police. As night falls, one of the police officers shoots the dog. He lies, seemingly dead, in the road as the mother quickly ushers her young children inside.
The story continues as the boy searches desperately for his dog. His hope that the dog survived the gunshot turns sour as weeks go by. One day, the dog miraculously reappears, with a wounded shoulder and missing eye. The boy and his mother are astonished to see the dog still alive, and take him back into their home.
The family soon learns about the fate of the father. After being locked up in the town prison, he has been released to do hard labor. The boy searches for his father, sometimes walking miles only to find a long line of laboring men he cannot recognize. After one visit, he stumbles upon a school and is taken in by the head teacher. The boy has a book with him and the teacher reads him part of the story. After this encounter, the boy decides to go away to school in the winters and stay back to help with the harvest in the summers.
The boy continued at the school for several years. One summer when he was home, Sounder came running up to the house, barking wildly. The father followed shortly behind, dragging his leg which had been destroyed when dynamite exploded in a prison quarry. Eventually, his broken body let go, and the father dies. Sounder dies shortly after his master.

Negative aspects:
While Sounder is an engaging novel, some of the language used is simple and may not challenge all students in the upper grades. The vocabulary is not overly difficult, yet might be on the correct level for some students. Lastly, because Sounder was written in 1969 and takes place in a old, country setting, students may have difficulty relating to the characters and making connections to their own lives. However, the themes of family, loss of a loved one (even a pet) and courage will engage students in the story.

I would recommend Sounder to any middle school teacher. The novel is interesting, engaging and generally easy to read. It would be perfect to implement in literature circles or as a whole-class novel, as students could read chapters on their own or at home.

The book "Sounder" was very depressing and at times annoying. It has no main characters besides Sounder and the boy. There are sad things in the story like when the boy's dad dies and a month later Sounder dies. The police were not nice either to the visitors. Once the boy went to the police to see his dad. His mom baked a cake to bring and the polic threw it on the ground and told him to pick it up. A guard threw a piece of metal and injured the boy's hand too. The only nice thing in the story is a school teacher that teaches the boy how to read and write. The ending left me sad and wishing for a happier story. However, all stories don't have to have a happy ending, if you're looking for a sad and realistic book this could be for you.

Sounder is one of the best dog books I've ever read, even though there are some ups and downs in the plot. Comparing it to Shiloh and Because of Winn-Dixie, I realized sometimes ups and downs are good things. For example, in Shiloh it was always tense, and always what I call "up". In Sounder, though, there was calm "down" and tense "up". It is amazing how the author captures the reader's interest in a short story, whereas some longer books don't even get close to keeping the reader's nose in the book.

There were some slow parts, but on the other hand, it was a very good story, told very descriptively and in complete detail. The story starts out calmly, describing Sounder, a racoon or "coon" dog as the best, fastest, loudest and calmest of them all. The boy, his father a sharecropper, really wants to go hunting. The father doesn't allow him because it is cold and windy that night. The father says he won't have a good hunt anyway since the wind will blow away any animal scent. Later, the father steals a ham because his family is hungry and so poor. The father gets arrested for the theft, and the sheriff shoots Sounder in the process. Sounder crawls under the porch, and then isn't seen for a while. Finally, Sounder turns up, bone weary. The boy works in fields to earn money. The boy's father gets sent to many other jails across the state, so the boy sets out to find him. One day, the boy's father comes home. One whole side of him is distorted. That is because he got trapped beneath limestone while working in a prison quarry. Sounder is so happy to see his long-lost master that he lovingly welcomes him with a long bark: something he hadn't done in weeks. It was a very heartbreaking story.

This is an incredibly detailed book, especially in terms of the nutritional needs of horses. The nutrient and ration tables in the back have been invaluable for tailoring diets specific to my horses' needs. My only complaint is that the second edition was published in 1996 and it is getting a bit dated. There is no discussion of the newer "nutraceutical" supplements on the market these days, or new research into topics already covered. I am hoping for a third edition, but I suspect I shouldn't hold my breath.

This book is very informative. We have 6 horses with different nutritional needs and this book is my favorite "go to" source. It has lots of tables regarding optimal growth rate, nutrient needs etc. It has a very good section on deworming and much more. There are quite a few nutrition related books for less money, however, they are not as detailed as this one and often they cite this book as their source.

This truly tells what to and not to let a horse eat.

You might not like this book.The best part of this story is when he finds a cat in the trashcan.And he all ways wanted a dog.And I did not like the book becuse it got boring when you just read it all the time.But you might like it.But it was kind of good.

I love to use this book to teach kids how to make inferences while reading. It's a fabulous book!

I read this book. It was a sweet book with innocents. It will bring a tear if you are a tender like myself. This book relates to real todays times.

This is a sweet story about a family that experiences financial troubles. I actually purchased and used it to help my high school students with inferencing - it worked well.

I cried when I read this story. That doesn't happen very often to me while reading a children's book, but Tight Times is so sweet that I was very moved. The story is about a small family doing their best to cope despite their financial troubles. The parents are worried and feel bad for their son. Seeing their child do without is so much harder on them than their own deprivation. It was gratifying that the little boy found a way to get a pet after all. The little family is filled with such a stong love that the reader knows that somehow things will turn out well for them, despite their problems. The artwork is excellent. In particular, the drawing of the mother and father hugging their son says more than words ever could. I just love this book and recommend it for any family, whether having "tight times" or not.

Sure, this book may speak strongly for the respect and preservation of the desert southwest, and for that, it deserves proper credit.

But for me, it has had a much deeper impact. This is a lot more than just an argument that we should protect our wilderness, although it is easily that. Rather, I found it to be a profound guide on how to think and act in general, about pretty much everything, everywhere.

This is one of the greatest books of the American twentieth century, a true classic, and everyone pondering how to think about and evaluate everything these days could surely benefit by reading it carefully.

I purchased this book because David Quammen referenced it in one of his books, and I really enjoy Quammen's books. It is listed on various websites and in some magazines as a "Nature Classic".

I have visited and hiked the deserts and canyon in Utah and northern Arizona. That allowed me to feel a lot of what Abbey writes about. It is a special place. I wish I could go back and see Arches National Park when Abbey was there. (It was Arches National Monument at the time of his stay there.)

While there are some controversial things in this book, and while I don't agree with everything Abbey writes, I have to say that I really hated to come to the end of this book. Besides the stories about nature, Abbey also writes about some of the human activities in this area.

I think I understand why people call this a landmark book. The environmental movement was just starting in the sixties. (Does anyone else remember the green Ecology symbol?)

An early environmentalist even before the term came into use. Ranks up there with Sand County Almanac and Silent Spring. A must read for those who care about the environment. Abbey predicted some of the water problems that now face the southwest.

This is my favorite book. I consider Abbey to be a hippie environmentalist--a sort of modern day Thoreau. The book will suck you in and you'll be wishing you could run off to Moab and have a beer with Abbey.

This is "classic Abbey" and his best work. What else can be said? This book should be on everyone's reading list whether you agree with Abbey on everything or not. I loved it. You will especially enjoy it if you have an affinity for deserts, the southwest, or Moab country.

This book is invaluable. It is perfect for leisurely identification as well as research. Amazing descriptions and photographs, sturdy compostion, and great information.

Forest Plants of the Southeast is good book for just about anyone who is interested in what is out in the woods. I am a professional forester and the book is useful to me to know what the ground cover is. Also the book explains the forage value of specific plants and then you can figure out what wildlife will be present.

This book should be in the collection of anyone interested in wildlife, plant ID, botany or gardening. Quality pictures make identification easy. The information is concise and helpful.

This is an excellent plant guide with great photo illustrations. The use of as many as four images to illustrate a plant makes this book one of my favorite plant guides.

This book is a wonderfully organized reference for anyone. It contains all important details while still remaining concise and efficient.