Tag: animals

ONCE UPON A CLOCK by Jenny and Christine Harrison

September 2, 2025 / Kyle Wendy Skultety / 0 Comments

An original and humorous anthology of stories and poems, with animals and nature at its heart.

Many thanks to the author for graciously providing this review copy! (You can check out her Instagram here.)

Once Upon a Clock by Christine and Jenny Harrison is a whimsical and heartwarming anthology that blends stories, poems, and cartoons into a delightful celebration of animals and nature. Created during the 2020 lockdowns, this book is a true family collaboration—one handled the illustrations and some writing, the other contributed the majority of the text.

This isn’t a grand fantasy quest, but rather a collection of whimsical moments and observations from the natural world, infused with a gentle wit.

Each page is infused with humor and charm, making it suitable for readers of all ages. Each piece feels like a small window into a world where tails wag with wisdom and time ticks to the rhythm of rhymes. The illustrations, particularly the animal cartoons, add a playful and endearing layer to the reading experience. This book is crafted with affection for its subjects.

Once Upon A Clock is the kind of book you can pick up and enjoy a few pieces from or read cover-to-cover for a dose of warmth and gentle humor. It’s perfect for anyone who loves animals, enjoys short, digestible reads, or just needs a little bright spot in their day. Forget epic battles and ticking chronometers – this book offers a quiet, delightful escape into a world where everyday nature takes the spotlight.

What truly shines in this collection is its heart. Each piece, whether a short tale or a playful poem, showcases a keen appreciation for the creatures and landscapes around us. You’ll find yourself smiling at the antics of various animals and nodding along to poems that capture the simple beauty of nature’s rhythm. The “humorous” aspect mentioned in its description truly comes through, making it a light and enjoyable read that can bring a chuckle or a moment of reflection.

The collection’s core strength lies in its profound appreciation for its subject matter. Each individual piece, be it a short story or a poetic verse, demonstrates a keen and discerning appreciation for the diverse creatures and natural landscapes it portrays. Readers will find themselves engaged by the spirited portrayals of animal behavior and resonate with the poetic depictions that artfully capture the inherent beauty and rhythm of nature. The promised humorous elements are consistently delivered, rendering the collection a pleasant and enriching read capable of eliciting both amusement and thoughtful contemplation.

What I loved about this book: connection to nature, imagination and whimsy, family and creativity, with resilience and joy. There are opportunities for learning new vocabulary words (such as pompous and peripheral) with some science added in (“Surfy says waves are made by the moon (?!!!?!”). Other stories leave the ending open for readers to come up with their own thoughts and create an ending. The dog drawings are endearing and hilarious (loved the canine banging his long snout on a chair and the scruffy dog running away with knickers in his mouth, and expecially the two little doggies in love), while Little Miss Ruffet is drawn as a quite opinionated little girl.

One story touches on the myth of the Phoenix rising from the ashes – another chance for the parent to do some teaching, as they explain how “Phoenix Nick” is a play on another character.

Nestled amongst the short stories and rhyming poems is a longish tale entitled “The Tale of a Tail and Bark’s Lost Bark”. Whimsical characters (an aardvark, dogs, a mouse, and a horse, just to name a few) share adventures and silliness, and the story comes to a satisfying conclusion.

I definitely recommend this sweet collection to kids of all ages. Want your own copy? You can pick it up here.

The Truth About Animals by Lucy Cooke

January 28, 2020 / Kyle Wendy Skultety / 0 Comments

Mary Roach meets Bill Bryson in this “surefire summer winner” (Janet Maslin, New York Times), an uproarious tour of the basest instincts and biggest mysteries of the animal world

Humans have gone to the Moon and discovered the Higgs boson, but when it comes to understanding animals, we’ve still got a long way to go. Whether we’re seeing a viral video of romping baby pandas or a picture of penguins “holding hands,” it’s hard for us not to project our own values–innocence, fidelity, temperance, hard work–onto animals. So, you’ve probably never considered if moose get drunk, penguins cheat on their mates, or worker ants lay about. They do–and that’s just for starters. In The Truth About Animals, Lucy Cooke takes us on a worldwide journey to meet everyone from a Colombian hippo castrator to a Chinese panda porn peddler, all to lay bare the secret–and often hilarious–habits of the animal kingdom. Charming and at times downright weird, this modern bestiary is perfect for anyone who has ever suspected that virtue might be unnatural.

Thanks to NetGalley for this review copy!

This book reads like it was written by the love child of Charles Darwin and Mary Roach. There is humor, pathos, and animal facts aplenty. The author’s writing style is easy to read and captured my attention immediately. The love Cooke has for these beasties is obvious from the start. Hopefully, given the facts, others will learn to appreciate these maligned characters that occupy the animal world.

Each chapter is devoted (lovingly) to a misunderstood animal, where we find myths debunked through modern science. The reader will learn about sloths, bats, and hyenas, to name a few. The author will discuss how the animals were experimented on/studied over hundreds of years (Who knew that Aristotle was a proponent of spontaneous creation?) then we get to modern times, where myths are debunked and the many reasons to love these animals are revealed.

Some of the experiments detailed can be a bit gory, such as when, in the 18^th century, the Catholic priest Lazzaro Spallanzani practiced blinding bats to find out how they managed to find their way around in darkness. (He also coated them in varnish for another experiment, but I digress). Other tales are edifying and satisfying, such as:

It may sound suspiciously like bogus medieval folk medicine, but from the 1940s through the 1960s the world’s first reliable pregnancy test was a small, bug-eyed frog. When injected with a pregnant woman’s urine, the amphibian didn’t turn blue or display stripes, but it did squirt out eggs 8-12 hours later to confirm a positive result.

Cooke’s book is full of factoids like that one. How can you not love this book? You will learn, you will laugh, and you will be full of obscure information. That sounds like a winner to me.

Yes, you want your own copy and can pick it up here.

The Soul of All Living Creatures by Vint Varga, DVM

August 5, 2014 / Kyle Wendy Skultety / 2 Comments

Dr Vint Varga knows animals. He has practiced veterinary medicine for decades, first as an emergency room vet, then a specialist in veterinary behavior medicine.

Early on in his career, he realized that a strong connection could be made between humans and animals, enough to cause healing on both sides. The Soul of All Living Creatures is a quick read filled with real stories and real patients Dr Varga has seen during his career. Each chapter is titled with the name of a human emotional trait, and he goes on to explain how animals embody these traits as well. If we can learn to understand our pets better, we will learn something about ourselves in the process.

The introduction to the book has tear-jerking potential. Varga tells us about a dog that is hit by a car, and how the dog failed to thrive despite his excellent medical care. I’m not giving anything away here…but you will nod your head when you how things turn out.

Bloodhounds, mice, clouded leopards….all non-human creatures are the same to the good doctor, as he illustrates the chapter’s subject (sensitivity, integrity, forgiveness, etc.) with short tales about patients that he has seen and tried to fix/cure, with thorough analysis of the animal’s behavior and listening to those who know the creatures best.

Varga believes that “in the presence of animals, we find true acceptance” and so we can be ourselves in front of our dog or cat. He says that he remembers each case not only for what illness the patient had but recalls the bond that was shared between the pet and the owner.

Interspersed throughout the book are short fables and folk tales that also illustrate Varga’s point, as well as little snippets of his own wisdom, such as “When one behavior is not expressed, another behavior will take its place” and “When we limit our experience to what we perceive, we let our senses define our existence”. Despite all this home-grown sentiment, the book is not overly touchy-feely. What is obvious is Varga’s love and compassion for those who cannot tell their own story, and how he does his best to help every single one he can, even to the point of rescuing a tiny field mouse that was helpless on a busy road during a torrential rainstorm.

My only complaint with the book was that we never got to hear how most of the patients did after the treatment. It was as if they dropped off the face of the earth with no follow up. I was curious to see if his instinct and healing methods worked. That being said, this book would make a terrific addition to an animal lover’s library.

If you would like to enjoy this book as I did, click here to get a copy of your own!

Interested in what the New York Times said about this book? Click here.

Thanks to the publisher, Broadway Books for providing me with this review copy. I received this book from Blogging for Books in exchange for this honest review.