Pet Books

The book was new and i received it quickly. The price was far cheaper than the campus bookstore and it came to me. No lines!

If you are interested in getting a well described picture of the author's idea of good conformation, you will probably be dissatisfied with this book. As an example, on page 200 (paperback) figure 8-20, the explanation of a profile of the rear portion of a horse says, " If the croup and thigh are fairly long, the hindquarters have a triangular shape." Certainly drawing straight lines between three points (the point of the hip to the point of the buttock to the stifle) forms a triangle. In order to be of any value however, it is important that the type triangle formed be named (possibly an equilateral triangle?).

The point I would like to make is that the book seems to be thrown together from different sources in what, to me, seems a slipshod manner. Some areas are helpful, but overall, in my opinion, the lack of attention to detail by either the author or the editor, or both is problematic.

An example of a book on the subject, which I think was prepared to be truly useful, is "The Horse Conformation Handbook" by Heather Smith Thomas.

I thought this book was great it has a ton of info.

I purchased several of these books to use as gifts for my horsey friends. Each one loved it. It's loaded with useful information and is well written. I highly recommend it.

This is probably the best conformation book I have ever owned. It is detailed and has more information than I will ever need. The pictures are very informative and really help with understanding what is written.

A bit like Pippi Longstocking, Ottoline Brown is left alone while her parents are off on their own adventures. Actually she is not alone but tended to by Mr. Munroe, a mysterious creature rescued from a Norwegian bog. Her apartment on the 24th floor of the P.W. Huffledinck Tower (also known as the Pepperpot Building) is cared for by a team of housekeepers, leaving young Ottoline free to pursue her interests: splashing in puddles and working out tricky problems. When Mr. Munroe brings to her attention a lost dog flyer, Ottoline gets busy with a clever plan to solve this particularly tricky problem that has the police stumped.

Ottoline Brown is the charming heroine of Chris Riddell's strange and lovely book, OTTOLINE AND THE YELLOW CAT. The story is a simple mystery, neatly and smartly solved by Ottoline and Mr. Munroe. Someone has been stealing the lap dogs of the society women of the neighborhood, or so it seems. But Ottoline and her hairy, silent companion uncover a canine crime ring led by a sneaky yellow cat. Mr. Munroe must go undercover to break up the ring and return the dogs back to their worried owners.

The mystery is nicely interrupted here and there, bringing readers details about the collections of Professor Brown (emperors' hats, meteorites and "mysterious objects of various kinds") and Ottoline (odd shoes and postcards from her parents --- the postcards are on these pages as well), the housecleaning and cooking teams, and a bear living in the building's basement. All of this contributes to a wonderful and fantastic tale.

But for kids and grown-ups alike, the real wonder of this book may well be its illustrations. Riddell's line drawings, in black and white with interspersed red, are whimsical and full of amazing, surprising details. From the floor plan of Ottoline's apartment to the alley behind her building, from her eccentric outfits to the cartoonish dog owners, his illustrations are fun and accomplished and the best thing about OTTOLINE AND THE YELLOW CAT.

Although the book is recommended for readers 8 to 12 years old, children much younger and even older will enjoy it a great deal. It will also appeal to adults, who will surely appreciate the creative Ottoline, not to mention the imagination of her creator. OTTOLINE AND THE YELLOW CAT is entertaining to read, beautiful to look at, and a funky bridge from picture books to chapter books.

--- Reviewed by Sarah Rachel Egelman

My daughter found it at the school's book fair (sponsored by a local bookstore that advertises itself as emphasizing quality children's books). As the reviewer above said, it's a bit like Pippi. But it's not a novel. It's also a bit like Eloise, and the format is closer to that. Like a lot of British books, it's more sophisticated than it first appears and is a lot of fun. I was annoyed at the brief mention of passing gas (a prerequisite these days, if you're not going to mention vomit). But the rest of it was creative enough that I forgave that.

"Ottoline and the Yellow Cat" by Chris Riddell is an extremely entertaining book that reads more like a comic book than a novel due to the authors wonderful illustrations. My 5-year-old son love reading this and laughed at the crazy antics of the characters. This book is pretty short, but there is no lack of material, again due to the wonderful illustrations by Mr Riddell.

Overall grade: A-

Ottoline and the Yellow Cat, by Chris Riddell of Edge Chronicles fame, is the kind of book you might imagine if Roald Dahl and Brian Selznick had teamed up on a graphic novel. Ottoline is a young girl whose parents travel the world and leave her home in the family townhouse in the care of a friendly, hairy creature-person named Mr. Monroe.

I loved the characters in this book. Ottoline's a little like Pippi Longstocking -- brave and funny and always up for an adventure. And Mr. Monroe.... well, he was so cute I want to adopt him and keep him as a lap dog. Ottoline and Mr. Monroe team up to solve the mystery of a string of neighborhood burglaries -- a plot that is brought to life by the abundant and amazing illustrations.

Chris Riddell has humour and style. My son read this book in one evening, he is waiting for the next one, "Ottoline goes to school". I liked Riddell's work in 'Edge Chronicles', "Far Flung Adventures" and "Muddle Earth" (with Paul Stewart). "Ottoline" is for younger kids (7-8 years); both girls and boys will enjoy it.

This book is fun, easy to read, and has many practical tips and ideas for integrating a rescued dog into your home. I work with rescued dogs and offer this book to new adopters when they pick up their new best friend.
Carol Lea Benjamin has written several dog training books, which offer dog owners lots of training advice.
Great book, great ideas!

This book is dangerous and filled very bad, dangerous advice. It was written in 1998, so giving the benefit of the doubt, perhaps our thinking about homing a rescue dog has evolved, but this book is extremely outdated. It recommends using the dog's crate as a place for punishment -which we all know is wrong. It further recommends "pops" with the leash to jerk your dog into obedience and "staring down" a dog into submission -again, outdated, inappropriate concepts. It is a very high level, superficial, quick read riddled with inappropriate advice that certainly does not speak to how one goes about brining a new, most likely scared, rescue dog into your home.

This book was so disappointing! I bought it after we got an adult dog from a shelter who had some serious behavior problems. But this book was completely useless!

It isn't about rescued or adopted dogs or how to help them. It is a VERY basic training guide [and I do mean *very* basic]. It is only 93 pages long and at least 30% of those pages are just hand drawn cartoons or stark black and white photos that are irrelevant to the text. I read the whole thing in less than 1 hour [an hour that I wasted unfortunately :( ].

There was *nothing* specifically about training or working with second hand dogs and the special problems/challenges and rewards you face.

The training advice is pretty bad too. First, it is very basic. Second, it is very negative and punative - most "modern" trainers would not advocate or approve of her methods. Third, some of the advice is just plain dangerous. [For example, her advice on how to deal with a dog who is growling is actually contra-indicated by every other resource I've read - her advice will actually teach the dog to *bite* first instead of giving the warning growl. Many of the techniques she recommends would be especially inappropriate for a rescue/shelter dog who faces special challenges in getting past aggression and/or fear because of their history.

Do yourself a favor and skip this book - there are many better books on both dog behavior and dog training. This book is a waste of your time.

I was recommended this book as I adopted a dog. I've had dogs, but never an adult rescue dog. I thought it would give me advice on dealing with issues specific to an adult rescue dog, solutions to problems I may encounter, what to expect, etc. What I got was a sappy "be patient and love your dog" summary. Any advice in the book was extremely basic and common sense, especially if you've owned any dog before. Yes, we need to understand and train our second hand dog, but this book provides NONE of the "how". I thought it was a complete waste of money.

I read this book before adopting my first Weimaraner; 4 years later I volunteer as a foster for Weimaraner Rescue and I've re-read it several times. After reading many other training books over the years, I've found Carol Lea Benjamin's dog-training books to be the best in their class.

Our rescue gives Second Hand Dog to each new adopter. I also highly recommend Dog Training in 10 Minutes. Both books provide invaluable information--in an entertaining and informative format--as an easy to read, easy to implement way to acclimate & train a new dog in the household.

All of Ms. Benjamin's books give newbie & experienced dog owners insight to canine behavior as well as provide the vehicle to make your dog "the dog you've always wanted." She emphasizes consistency and humane training that's enjoyable to both owner & dog.

Carol Lea Benjamin's dog-training books should be a must-read for every new dog owner!

It was in 1968, exactly fifty years after Sterling North befriended his little raccoon, that I first read this captivating story. I was ten years old, and the book was an abridged version called "Little Rascal." Just before the Disney movie came out, in 1969, I read the complete "Rascal." Then saw the movie. I've read the book several times since, including just last week.

This story mesmerized me so much that, for several years, I was obsessed with getting my own pet raccoon. I eventually did, at age eleven, the same age that North adopted Rascal. A few years later, while visiting my aunt in New Jersey, I actually telephoned Mr. North, who was retired and living in Morristown (his wife said he was very ill, but told me she'd tell him I called. He sadly passed away not long afterwards).

I'm not sure why I was so taken with this book, but I know much of it has to do with North's ability to weave a tale. Reading "Rascal" again as an adult reinforces that opinion. There's much more here than a Disney-esque adaptation of boy frolicing with a wild animal. North vividly recreates a bygone time, when hickory and walnut-hunting, whippoorwill sighting, and trotter races weren't corny anachronisms. As a young reviewer astutely noted, his relationship with the lovable, intelligent Rascal was a true friendship. North invested human characteristics in his furry hero, but without stretching credulity or sounding trite. Only eleven, North had already experienced tragedy and stress in his young life - his mother had died when he was seven, his father was attentive but detached, and his brother was far away in France fighting in World War I. Rascal helps pull North into a world of humor and sunshine...and at least one jarring awakening. After seeing a picture of a trapped raccoon on the cover of his fur catalogue, the image of Rascal's gentle, inquisitive hand in a jaw trap is too much for the sensitive boy, and he decides to give up trapping. He declares a "peace" with nature on the same day as Armistice Day. North concludes the chapter with the memorable sentence: "It is perhaps the only peace treaty that was ever kept."

If you're a young person, I know you'll enjoy this beautiful book, many times, like I did. And if you're a parent, read it - no, savor it - for yourself.

What a boring book! Seriously, get a plot! I wouldn't recommend this book to people who like realistic, exciting books. This just made me go to sleep. If you're a preteen girl like me, I wouldn't advise to read this book.

Rascal was my favorite book when I was young. I don't have children, but I have since bought countless copies of Rascal for young friends, and have read the book aloud to youngsters on several occasions, part of summer "reading clubs" to keep kids busy when school is out. Rascal is always a big favorite. Any child (or adult) who loves animals, and has ever raised or thought about raising a young wild animal as a domestic pet, will love this book. The stories about the adventures of young Stirling and his smart, inquisitive pets, Rascal the racoon and Poe the crow, have broad appeal to all ages.

I am an adult who received this delightful book as a birthday present. In 1918, when he was eleven years old, Sterling North rescued a baby raccoon and tamed him into a pet. This book covers the year that he spent with Rascal. What struck me about this book was the vivid, evocative, and emotional language that North uses to bring to life his eccentric family, the small town in which he lived, and the woods and natural settings where he and Rascal had their greatest adventures. Compared to today's youngsters, North, who writes movingly of having lost his mother, had to be incredibly handy, self-reliant, and hard-working. Although obviously kids would love this book (it won the Newberry Award), it isn't dumbed down at all. For anyone who ever dreamed of riding their bike at top speed with a raccoon on the handlebars.

I enjoyed this book when I was a boy and now my children love it too. Sterling North paints a delightful picture of rural Wisconsin in 1918. This novel should be required reading in middle school literature.

This book is exactly as described and what I wanted. After a trip to the Channel Islands where great precautions are taken to keep the environment as natural and pristine as possible, I developed an interest in California's flora and fauna. This book along with some other natural history guides has given me a new perspective on living in Southern California.

This is a wonderful reference book for more serious California native plant enthusiasts. It has detailed drawings of most referenced plants and also shows a map illustrating the native range of every specimen (which I find particularly interesting). Although I have found some missing species -- I really value this book. It is a great companion to the Sunset Western Garden Book (I go back and forth between the two). It also provides information on non-native plants that have long naturalized in the Golden State.

Hi I was required this book for my course at UCB, Trees: taxonomy, growth & structure. This book was extremely helpful for identification. The only weird thing I found thus far is in the index for hairy bush it says refer to hairy bush. Funny, but good reference book if you are just starting to identify.

This guide is easy to use and full of information. A great field guide for anyone interested in California's native woody plants.

This would seem to be OK. Nicely printed with attractive line-drawings that give a good overall picture of what the plant looks like (not quite one for every species, also somewhat short on botanical detail) and distribution maps (one for every species). A separate section with pretty decent color photographs (39 total).

The downside is that this is a guide for North and Central California, with the occasional South Californian species thrown in, which makes it a compromise. Also I don't really like the size: I would have preferred a bigger page size in a less chunky volume. But good value for money overall.

Kids ages 4-7 will relish this fun picturebook story of a pet turtle who lives to listen to Emma talk about far-away places, and longs to see them. Trouble begins when he decides to embark on his own exciting journey away from home, only to find that adventure isn't quite as exciting as he'd imagined - and a lot more scary.

Caldecott Medal winning author Eve Bunting is a natural born storyteller. Whether or not her birth in Ireland has anything to do with that is immaterial as to date she has penned over 200 books for young readers. Many parents today may well remember having Bunting's books in their libraries as children and eagerly buy them for their own youngsters. Here's one more to enchant young eyes and ears.

The author might well have titled this story The Traveling Turtle because this small reptile lives in a pen in Emma's backyard yet he longs to see the world. He's very fond of Emma as she visits him often, rubs his head, and brings him treats.

However, the tales she has read to him about faraway places - India, Africa - have whetted his appetite to see for himself. So, one morning he digs a hole under the wire of his pen and begins his journey. He's amazed at what he sees but as turtles move very, very slowly, how far did he go?

Marsha Winborn's gentle watercolor illustrations are a perfect companion for this story of a globe trotting pet.

- Gail Cooke

I was suckered into buying this book because I too bought a Puggle 6 months ago and have found it difficult to find any specific information about the breed (in the form or a book anyway, there's lots of info online).

Apart from the photos, which are admittedly VERY cute, the information contained within is not specific to the breed at all.

There's an intro section which talks about the history of the pug and the beagle and the first cross breed. But following this the book just goes into general dog welfare, ie do you really want a dog, how to care for a puppy, how to toilet train, etc.

Apart from the occasional pop out box which states some general traits of the puggle, they could have been talking about any dog.

I was rather disappointed as I had done a fair bit of research about the breed I was interested in before purchase and since buying our pup - so was hoping for a lot more.

I never got this product. they sent me an email later saying it was out of stock. so that was pretty much it.

This book I found was very useful. We bought a Puggle back in June. And I still wondered so many things about her. This book, started with the history to each subject that you could run into. It has helped me in so many ways. I would suggest this book to all

I did not even know I had a Puggle until a neighbor said what a nice Puggle! This book is great and has a lot of good pictures.

This book was great advice and training information on the new "puggle" breed! I had been reading books on both the Pug and the Beagle to learn about our new family addition (Bella). It's great to have a book that speaks directly to the breed (Puggle).

I birded several Mexico places with this little fieldguide booklet.. it was perfect for me!... I had experience birdng (not good book for the beginner or amateur) so it was eeezy.. in fact, better, faster, greater than birding a year or two later with the big MEXICO and CENTRAL AMERICA field guide...even illustrations are not as good as in other Princeton illustrated mini field guides, they were enough good to ID all species in the field...nice book, worth!!

Just the right guide, especially when used with "A Field Guide to the Birds of Mexico and Adjacent Areas: Belize, Guatemala, and El Salvador"

With 15 birds, and sometimes more, by plate; illustrations are very small and the one under an other ! The text of 3 lines is front of the illustration ... 3 lines is not a description.

One reviewer mentioned "openly envious" Howell & Webb users. I think that may be a bit of hyperbole. I am one of those people who have separated the Howell & Webb plates (from a worn copy) for use in the field. I also carry the old Peterson & Chalif guide when birding down Mexico way, but the Howell-Webb plates volume is easily the most used. This illustrated checklist by Van Perlo really doesn't change that. It is what it claims to be: an illustrated checklist. It helps a birder in the field narrow down the choices readily by portraying many species per page and offering succinct diagnostic and distribution information on a facing page. But until someone does for Mexico what Garrigues and Dean did for Costa Rica, that will have to suffice. I recommend that any birder unfamiliar with the majority of species in Mexico and Central America (which includes me) take this volume along as one useful supplement. Just don't expect a field guide in the tradition of Peterson or National Geographic or Garrigues-Dean or Howell-Webb.

This is one of the most compact field guide to Mexican birding that I own. That's about it's best virtue. The illustrations are tiny, poorly layed out, and sometimes incorrect (that's the part that really bugs me - sometimes the illustrations flub key details). I suspect it's not the illustrator's fault, but rather the editorial and layout which seeked to create the minimum number of plates needed. As an example of equivalent size/species count done better look at National Geo's field guide, or Sibleys.

I'd love to see the illustrator who did the most recent National Geographic Birds of America field guide take a whack at Mexican birds. That would be the field guide I'd want.

I purchased this coloring book for my grandmother who has Alzheimer's. It helps her feel as if she is accomplishing something and also she is using her mind and hands to stay in the lines. It's an ideal coloring book for anyone who wishes to color like they use to.

I just purchased these Dover COloring Books for my mother and she loves them. The detail is out of this world and the variety of colors you can use are only limited by your inagination. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

Dover flower coloring books are hard to beat. Inexpensive & accurate, they are ideal for older children & adults & well-suited for a set of colored pencils rather than crayons. American Wild Flowers would please even Ladybird Johnson.

Bob Rixon

When I read this book I was astonished that he wrote with such empathy for the bees. He also explains why the bees are disappearing and predicted there decline over a hundred years ago. He explained the benifits of formic acid and the connection of the bees, wasps and ants to our lives and the life of plants. He considers these animals as emotional and feeling and writes for all of them as such.