The Animals In Our Lives: Stories of Companionship and Awe

by Catherine Lawton (Compiler)

Overview

As fellow creatures, we give animals attention and care and they give us so much in return.

The animals in our lives--pets, farm animals, and wildlife--entertain us, help us, play with us, mourn with us, even work with us. Our dogs and cats, our sheep and horses, our backyard birds and woodland deer have much to teach us. The interactions and adventures of people and animals in these stories will delight and engross you from beginning to end. Most of the stories are written by authors of books published by Cladach Publishing. Included are:

• childhood memories
• family experiences
• wilderness adventures
• life challenges
• humans and animals bonding

These true tales celebrate the companionship we have with animals in good times and bad, times of celebration and times of challenge.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781945099274
Publisher:	CLADACH Publishing
Publication date:	08/20/2021
Pages:	210
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.48(d)

Editorial Reviews

2024-08-20
A faith-based collection of essays and poems about experiences with domestic and wild animals.

This assortment of 43 contributions recounts a wide array of interactions with beasts of all kinds. Editor Lawton divides the works into five categories: “Our Dogs,” “Our Cats,” “Our Farm Animals,” “Our Unusual Pets,” and “Our Wild Animal Encounters.” Perhaps unsurprisingly, half the material recounts charming and tender tales of dogs and cats. One of several works written by Lawton highlights the variety of pets that she and her spouse owned after their children left for college, including a large dog named Shelly, an active cat named Zorro, a few pigeons, and a flock of chicks—one of whom inspired Shelly’s protection and devotion even after she became a full-grown hen. Although the bulk of the works here are by North American authors, several heartwarming minimemoirs come from distant locales. Especially poignant is Kathy Rubin’s tale of Bogar, a small dog that survived the terrifying final year of World War II on its own, wandering the frigid streets of Hungary while its family was imprisoned in the Ļeresienstadt forced-labor camp in Czechoslovakia. Happily, the canine and its family reunited at the war’s end. From Eilat, Israel, comes Judith Galblum Pex’s unique account of an inquisitive pet iguana named Dostoevsky; another essay by the same author recalls a recent, depressing summer lightened by the extraordinary joy of swimming with playful wild dolphins in the Red Sea. The stories are sweet, and animal lovers will relate to the antics and devotion of the authors’ special companions. They are mainly used to illustrate a single religious theme: that these relationships are a manifestation of God’s love for humans and all other living creatures; Lawton clearly asserts in her introduction that “Animals can teach us about the Creator and how to relate to God.” Individual anecdotes are humorous and inspiring, although the repetitious, faith-based messaging is likely to limit its readership to those who share the authors’ faith.

A set of often engaging animal tales for a religious audience.

Kirkus Reviews