The Eyes and the Impossible by Dave Eggers

The Eyes and the Impossible: by Dave Eggers
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I loved this book, plot, and the animals, especially Johannes, who runs so very fast, and reports to the leaders and has many friends who help him in his duties- this is a book middle grade children, YA & adults will all enjoy! The pictures are beautiful as well!

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No Matter the Distance by Cindy Baldwin

No Matter the Distance by Cindy Baldwin
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I loved this fiction novel in verse based on the author's cystic fibrosis and her life in middle school. Penny Rooney is a 6th grader with a supportive best friend and family. I learned so much about cystic fibrosis both from Penny's perspective, her parents, and also the dolphin who meanders into her creek. Immediately Penny can relate to this dolphin which she names Rose while her father contacts a friend who is a biologist and brings her team to the creek. As time passes, Penny and Rose forge a bond/friendship and as Rose battles a lung infection & Penny battles CF, it becomes critical to get meds into Rose & help her out to the ocean. I just loved so much about this book! Penny is so strong but the pain of CF is a daily, weekly, life long disability that she and her family deal with; the words Cindy Baldwin uses in this novel in verse sing to me, and the beauty in her words open a new world of Penny's life with this special dolphin in her life.

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Queer Ducks (and Other Animals): The Natural World of Animal Sexuality by Eliot Schrefer

Queer Ducks (and Other Animals): The Natural World of Animal Sexuality by Eliot Schrefer
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Just as I loved Eliot Schrefer's fiction The Ape Quartet series was so so good, I loved this nonfiction book about the animal world and the different kinds of sexual behavior in the animal world. Schrefer uses humor especially in the illustrations, exhaustive research, interviews with field scientists that are very informative and language that is authentic. There are so many animals and history that Schrefer delves into; I was riveted and learned so much. This is a book teens and adults will learn so much from about animals and humans. Highly recommended!

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Bear Has a Belly by Jane Whittingham

Bear Has a Belly by Jane Whittingham
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

From a blog post, this Jane Whittingham book is perfect for my animal loving grandson, and the pictures, photographs of the many different animals AND children each with a different body part highlighted. With activities detailed at the end, this book is perfect for little minds, hands and eyes, the pages are heavy but not board book material, they will stand up to the sometimes rough little hands turning those pages! Highly recommended!

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Animals Move by Jane Whittingham

Animals Move by Jane Whittingham
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Including all kinds of animals - pets, farm animals and wild animals, Jane Whittingham gives beautiful photographs on heavy sturdy pages with the many things kids do and animals do such as a little girl is swimming underwater with a corresponding photograph on the right with a baby whale---CALVES SWIM, Children and adults will learn the FUN Baby animal names from the familiar to the strange (echnidas are spiny anteaters, did you know that? their babies are PUGGLES). So take your time and enjoy the many different animal babies rhyming with the way children MOVE. Highly recommended!


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a bear, a bee, and a honey tree

A Bear, a Bee, and a Honey Tree by Daniel Bernstrom
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

From a blog post I can't remember this book struck me as a book my K granddaughter would love with all the word, word play, and antics of the bee and bear trying for the honey high up in a tree. I am also going to enjoy this with my grandson who will be 2 years old. With great illustrations by Brandon James Scott, Daniel Bernstrom deliver s a delightful book of the bear and bee fighting over the honey, who will be the winner? Excellent picture book will appeal to all younger children and their parents!

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Circe by Madeline Miller

Circe by Madeline Miller
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Awesomely narrated by Perdita Weeks, this saga of Circe's life among the Gods and mortals was beautiful, fantastic, and compelling. Circe's life was not easy, always being misunderstood/threatened by her parents and the Gods who were not nice at all (evil creatures); constantly tearing Circe down and when she is banished to an island forever, I enjoyed listening to her thoughts and feelings as she navigates her isolated life and populates her house with wild animals who are tame to Circe, beginning her practice of witchcraft- learning the many herbs and plants that will sustain her life. I enjoyed the many people and gods who grace her door, her son, and the life she finally chooses to live. I can't wait to listen to The Song of Achilles now!

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Anonymouse by Vicki Van Sickle

Anonymouse by Vikki VanSickle
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I loved the colors in this fun picture book; someone is drawing art all over for the creatures. In pinks, white, and black --VanSickle's book is a treat for all and will bring a smile on each page. But who is creating this art? Turn the pages...and prepare to be happy with the art.

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The Hedgehog of Oz by Cory Leonardo

The Hedgehog of Oz by Cory Leonardo
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I read this animal main character for the #BitAboutBooks Winter reading Challenge and LOVED the animals and their adventures as try to help each other find home. Marcel is the sweetest main character; as a hedgehog he has fears but he is a leader as he watches over his friends (hens) Aunt Hen and Uncle Henrietta scavenge for food in his beloved Emerald City Theatre. When his world is crashed; men chasing them and Marcel loosing his friends and being spirited away in a truck, all Marcel wants to do is go home. The reader learns he had a wonderful owner, Dorothy, who took him to the movies and took the best care of him, until a boy comes around and Marcel thinks he has been forgotten. I loved Leonardo's worldbuilding--thrill tingling adventure abounds in the movie theatre and the woods, as Marcel makes friends with Oma the moth, Scamp the tiny but heroic mouse, crusty older Ingot the squirrel, and mighty baby raccoon, Tuffy. Middle grade readers will love these animals/pets and their friendships, loyalty, and courage as they search for "home" family and friends. A must read!

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The Lovely and the Lost by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

The Lovely and the Lost by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Oh did I love this compelling must read about search and rescue dogs, a missing girl (plus Kira was found as a child in a ravine), keeping secrets, protecting family and a thrilling plot that kept me turning the pages. I was riveted to Kira's story, how she has come from wildness under Cady's loving hands and her vast knowledge of search and rescue dogs saved Kira. Kira's family of Jude and Free, teens close in age to Kira and their dogs, NATO, Silver, and Saskia were smart, fierce and knew their jobs, in addition to loving their human masters. It is when a little girl goes missing that the mystery deepens and secrets begin to spill. A must read for animal lovers!

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Unlikely Friendships: 47 Remarkable Stories from the Animal Kingdom by Jennifer S. Holland

Unlikely Friendships : 47 Remarkable Stories from the Animal Kingdom by Jennifer S. Holland
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The beautiful photographs and remarkable short stories will entice ALL ANIMAL LOVERS to read and LOVE this book! Friendship is stressed in these different but oh so important relationships between some very different animals

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