This week’s books
“Unlikely Friendships for Kids Vol. One: The Monkey and the Dove — and Four Other True Stories of Animal Friendships” by Jennifer S. Holland (Workman, 48 pages, $7.95)
“Unlikely Friendships for Kids Vol. Two: The Dog and the Piglet — and Four Other True Stories of Animal Friendships” by Jennifer S. Holland (Workman, 48 pages, $7.95)
Last year Jennifer S. Holland published “Unlikely Friendships: 47 Remarkable Stories From the Animal Kingdom.” Holland has now adapted some of her stories into chapter books for readers age 7 and older.
The first book is “Unlikely Friendships for Kids Vol. One: The Monkey and the Dove — and Four Other True Stories of Animal Friendships.” The author opens with her story of scuba diving in the Great Barrier Reef of Australia. She saw a puffer fish swimming with sweetlips fish. Day after day she noticed these same fish swimming together.
She observed “it made me wonder if other animals become friends with animals that were very different from them.” She studied this phenomenon and found “sometimes the animal friendships were so unlikely that I wondered if they were true. But when I checked them out, they were!”
The story of “The Monkey and the Dove,” takes place on an island. A young rhesus monkey was found alone. It was much too young to be living without its mother. The monkey was befriended by a white dove. The chapter opens with a photo of the monkey snuggling with the dove.
In “The Bear and the Cat,” an elderly Asian black bear has lived her entire life in a German zoo. One day a black cat showed up. There are photos of this lovely bear with her feline friend. Holland writes that “the two of them spent all their time together. They ate their meals together. They slept next to each other.” Such an amazing friendship.
In “The Elephant and the Dog,” Tarra, an ancient Asian elephant, has been rescued from a circus and is living at the Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee. Bella the dog befriends Tarra: “as soon as Tarra saw her friend, she ran over to greet her. She placed her trunk on her body to pet her.” There are some sweet photos that document their close relationship.
At my house our cat tries to show affection to our dog. So far the dog hasn’t reciprocated. In chapter four, “The Dog and the Cat,” we meet a dog and a cat that lived together for twelve years. They ignored each other until Cashew the dog began to go blind. Then Libby the cat took care of him: “everywhere the old dog went, Libby was there to guide him.”
The second book, “Unlikely Friendships for Kids Vol. Two: The Dog and the Piglet,” has one of the most touching stories. Katjinga was a dog living on a German farm. Her breed, Rhodesian ridgeback, was bred to hunt lions in Africa. She befriends a tiny baby potbellied pig. The photos of these two nuzzling one another are heart melting.
It also has “The Orangutan and the Cat,” “The Hippopotamus and the Goat,” “The Deer and the Dog” and “The Iguana and the Cat.” Each story has several photos of the animals hanging out together. The shots of the iguana and the cat nestling have to be seen to be believed.
There is also a third book, “Unlikely Friendships for Kids Vol. Three: The Leopard and the Cow.” These books employ large type for easy reading by young readers. Many grandparents will probably appreciate this simple print format, too. Each book closes with an informative list of the animals included within and word and phrase lists that contain helpful definitions of terms like “inseparable” and “tsunami.”
Vick Mickunas of Yellow Springs interviews authors every Friday at 1:30 p.m. and on Sundays at 11 a.m. on WYSO-FM (91.3). For more information, go online to www.wyso.org/programs/book-nook. Contact him at vick@vickmickunas.com.
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