You’d have to look long and hard to find someone in the world who hasn’t visited the zoo. Menageries have been part of human history for ages (the Tower of London was a zoo in 1235, and later became one again in the 1800s). Marveling at animals you can’t see in your backyard holds amazing appeal. And yet, as we learn more about animal society and consciousness, the moral implications of keeping them confined versus educational and conservational value of zoos are being weighed.
This conflict of “conservation and commerce,” as Pulitzer prize-winning writer Thomas French puts it, is one of the reasons he decided to write Zoo Story. In an interview with BookPage con tributing writer Alden Mudge, French explains, “From the very beginning I had in mind this question of freedom. What does freedom mean to humans? What does it mean to other species? What are the limits of freedom in a world that is so crowded that many species are becoming extinct every year?” French says. “A zoo is one of the frontiers where we confront these issues.”
This week, we’re giving away two copies of Zoo Story to two lucky Book Case readers. To enter to win, leave a comment telling us about your favorite animal story. Mine? For pure heartstring-plucking goodness, you can’t beat Brighty of the Grand Canyon. At least, not according to my 11-year-old self.
While you’re waiting for your name to be selected, take a sneak peek at our Thomas French interview!
Contest closed: congrats to winners LuAnn of Reading Frenzy and janflora of Writer’s Flow.
I love All Creatures Great and Small, James Herriott. My dad is a veterinarian and we both read this together.
I love marley and me. I laughed and I cried.
I usually can’t do animal stories because they make me cry. But I did enjoy Grayson, by Lynne Cox. What an amazing experience she had swimming with the baby gray whale who had lost its way.
My favorite one that I loved was Dog On It.
Water for Elephants!
Our book club read & discussed ‘The Story of Edgar Sawtelle’ a few months ago & everyone loved it!
My favorite is THE WIND IN THE WILLOWS by Kenneth Grahame.
Recently read with my son and enjoyed “Seven Spunky Monkeys” by Jackie French Koller.
The Yearling by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings. Even though it’s tragic, it explores so many themes–a classic!
Really want to win this book–it takes place at Lowry Park in Tampa, where I grew up!
The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein. Excellent narrator who happens to be a dog – but don’t let that deter you from reading this one!
The Horse Whisperer by Nicholas Evans
#1 for me is All Creatures Great & Small – makes me smile whenever I re-read it:-)
Zoos Story looks like a great book for ALL ages!! My favorite annimal book is Marley & Me!
Although not strictly an animal story, my favorite book about animals is Animals in Translation by Temple Grandin.
I actually have two: Dewey: The Small Town Library Cat and Marley and Me. If I have to choose, it would be Dewey!! I love cats and I love libraries.
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Where the Red Fern Grows is the story of a boy named Billy from the Ozarks and his two coonhounds, Old Dan and Little Ann. I read it for my 5th grade bookclub and even after 40 years it conjures up a range of emotions.
loved water for elephants….and the sick side of me loved pet cemetary!
Loved Misty of Chincoteague!
Reading at the beach, watching the dolphins–the best.
“The Art of Racing in the Rain” by Garth Stein. I truly believe, after reading that book, that my dog is thinking and I treat him with a new respect!
Christian the Lion….the true story of two Australians and thier adopted lion cub, Christian. This story grabbed my heart and two years ago and still hasn’t let go. Simply amazing and blessed.
Oh, sooo many, #1 is Lassie Come Home, then Edgar Sawtelle and The Art of Racing in the Rain and all the ones listed above
I loved Dewey the Library Cat.
This is hard. I think The Outcast of Redwall is my favorite. I love ferrets so much that a client of mine gave me this book. It’s fictional and fantasy and not really about a real ferret, but I fell in love with the story.
My favorite animal story is definitely the Daily Coyote by Shreve Stockton. It’s newly out in paperback, if you haven’t yet read it, definitely pick up a copy–it’s worth it for the pictures alone!
I would have to say the complete Herriot
series of “All Creatures Great and
Small” which had a bit of everything
about animals. Happy and sad, poignant
and sympathetic–you get it all in this
wonderful group of books about a
Yorkshire vet.
I absolutely loved The Art of Racing in the Rain.
It’s a toss up between Wesley the Owl by Stacey O’Brien and The Good Good Pig The Story of Christopher Hogwood by Sy Montgomer and Chosen By a Horse by by Susan Richards
One of my favorites is The Horse Whisperer.
I love Old Yeller Read it a a child and it still stays with me. Edgar Sawtell is also a favorite
When my daughter was little, I would read “The Christmas Kitten” by James Herriott to her in December. I could never get through it without crying. Maybe it’s a true story, maybe not, but it would tear me up every time.
I’ve always loved “Charlotte’s Web”.
While many of the above are among my favorites,
nothing has ever moved me as much as “The Zookeeper’s
Wife” by Diane Ackerman, the true story of the Warsaw
Zoo in WW II.
My favorite animal story is “Koko” the gorilla. The story of how Penny Patterson raised Koko and taught her to comunicate through sign language
I have loved Robert Lawson’s Ben and Me for almost as long as I’ve been alive, having had it read to me as a small child, reading it on my own, and then reading it aloud to my own kids.
Right now I’d say Sprite
Oh, my favorite, which I can’t contain in one book are ALL Marguerite Henry books, especially Brighty of Grand Canyon. When I read that, I play the Grand Canyon Suite. Then, James Herriot and All Creatures . . ., Charlotte’s Web, which I believe I’ve read since childhood and still love it and cry when Charlotte dies; any and all of the Redwall books and finally a book that has been out of print for years and I purchased in the 1950s at a school library sale: Son of Curly (which I still have, threadbare, but still readable. Oh yes, Dewey, The Library Cat. A bit indecisive, don’t you think? lol
Has to be Black Beauty…always have loved horses!
I liked Dewey The Decimal Cat. I lent it to a friend who read it to her mother-in-law in the nursing home, and they loved it too.
The Black Stallion
Dewey. About the cat in the library in a small town in Iowa.
A Big Little Life, Dean Koontz’s story about his golden retriever Trixie. I laughed and cried.
I loved Water for Elephants.
Marley and Me was a favorite. I have a yellow lab named Max and there are days he’s acts just as Marley did.
I really like to win. I love to read about animals, they are a passion of mine
I have always loved the “Incredible Journey”
“Pixie, Sled Dog of Snow Park” a true story for little kids
My all-time favorite are the James Herriot All Creatures series. Endearing, timeless and at times, laugh out loud!
The Art of Racing In The Rain, Water For Elephants and of course, Charlotte’s Web!
Mine is “Make Way for Ducklings.”
Hannah’s Dream by Diane Hammond is a favorite of mine.
I loved reading “Dewey: the Small Town Library Cat who Touched the World” by Vicki Myron
I used to live in Iowa so I found this especially interesting since I had heard about Dewey before the book was written.
Going back to childhood, it has to be “Charlotte’s Web” which still makes me cry, or 101 DALMATIONS by Dodie Smith (the real book, not the disney one!) which I read at least 2 dozen times. As an adult, WATER FOR ELEPHANTS was a great read.
My favourite story is A Lion Called Christian by Anthony “Ace” Bourke and John Rendall. It is very touching and illustrates just how intelligent animals are.
I couldn’t pick a favorite. I grew up on a farm and had horses and every other animal imaginable! The Jack London stories, the Chincoteague books, Marley & Me. Maybe Little Black, A Pony – it still makes me cry every time!
I always liked Lassie Come Home.