Favorite Animals - Exodus Books

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It would be easy to make a catalog of all the pets we've had over the years, but that's not the kind of "favorite animals" we're talking about. Favorite animals are those animals that have most thoroughly captured the imagination and love of humans. Okay, so maybe love is the wrong word to describe the dragon-craze or our enduring fascination with dinosaurs, but it surely applies to horses, dogs and cats.

The philosopher Plato had an idea that subsequent thinkers called "idealism." They didn't mean that Mr. Plato was an idealist in the way we'd call Rosa Parks or Gandhi idealists: the term idealism referred to the concept that for everything in the world (trees, chairs, noses), there was an ideal form or version of that thing in the spiritual realm.

According to Plato's theory, the azalea bush in your front yard is simply a physical representation of the perfect Azalea Bush floating who-knows-where in the infinite void. While we don't want to start any kind of philosophical war here, that's kind of the idea we're going for in this category. The animals you'll encounter in these stories, coloring books, and reference volumes embody "horseness," "catness," and "dragon-ness."

After all, the image Fred Gipson paints of Old Yeller is just a bit too good to be true. Sure, many of us have had a favorite dog who could do no wrong in our forgiving eyes, but Old Yeller is like every awesome dog who ever lived rolled into one mangy mutt. Which is the whole point—by creating a slightly unrealistic portrait of an old doggy, Gipson is able to celebrate doghood itself.

In a culture that generally looks only at the way things sometimes appear to be, however, it's easy to value animals too highly. Sure, they deserve our attention and care as representatives of creation, but no more. The Creator who made them is the only One deserving all our praise, glory and love; the animals He's made are simply avenues through which to show our worship and gratitude.

Review by C. Hollis Crossman
C. Hollis Crossman used to be a child. Now he is a husband and father, teaches adult Sunday school in his Presbyterian congregation, and likes weird stuff. He might be a mythical creature, but he's definitely not a centaur. Read more of his reviews here.

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Parent Categories

Just for Fun

Favorite Animals

Subcategories

- G&D Famous Dog Stories

- Hank the Cowdog

Dragons & Mythical Beasts

Elephant Books

Horses & Ponies

- G&D Famous Horse Stories

48 Items found Print

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8th grade (Ages 13-14),

Books for Guys

	Big Red by Jim Kjelgaard from Holiday House Realistic Animal Stories for 4th-8th grade in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
	Big Red by Jim Kjelgaard from Holiday House Realistic Animal Stories for 4th-8th grade in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI) $17.99
	Call of the Wild Whole Story Series by Jack London, illustrated by Philippe Munch from Viking Press Action/Adventure for 7th-10th grade in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
	Call of the Wild Puffin Classics by Jack London 2008^th edition from Puffin Books Action/Adventure for 7th-10th grade in Puffin Classics (Location: FIC-PUF) $7.99
	Call of the Wild Dover Thrift Editions by Jack London from Dover Publications Action/Adventure for 7th-10th grade in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20) $3.00 $2.00 (1 in stock)
	Call of the Wild Children's Classics by Jack London, illustrated by Paul Bransom from Dilithium Press, Ltd. Realistic Animal Stories for 7th-10th grade in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
	Call of the Wild Macmillan Classics by Jack London, illustrated by Karel Kezer from Macmillan Realistic Animal Stories for 7th-10th grade in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
	Call of the Wild by Jack London, Michael Clay Thompson from Royal Fireworks Press Action/Adventure for 7th-10th grade in Michael Clay Thompson Language Arts (Location: GRA-MCT) $9.00 (1 in stock)
	Call of the Wild & White Fang Reader's Digest World's Best Reading by Jack London Unknown from Reader's Digest Action/Adventure for 7th-10th grade in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
	Call of the Wild & White Fang Sterling Classics by Jack London, illustrated by Scott McKowen Unabridged from Sterling Publishing Co. Action/Adventure for 7th-10th grade in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
	Call of the Wild and Other Stories Illustrated Junior Library Series 4 by Jack London, illustrated by Kyuzo Tsugami from Grosset & Dunlap Realistic Animal Stories for 7th-10th grade in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
	Call of the Wild and Other Stories Illustrated Junior Library Series 2 by Jack London, illustrated by Kyuzo Tsugami from Grosset & Dunlap Realistic Animal Stories for 7th-10th grade in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
	Call of the Wild and Other Stories Illustrated Junior Library Series 1 by Jack London, illustrated by Kyuzo Tsugami from Grosset & Dunlap Realistic Animal Stories for 7th-10th grade in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
	Call of the Wild and Other Stories Illustrated Junior Library Series 3 by Jack London, illustrated by Kyuzo Tsugami 1981 Printing from Grosset & Dunlap Realistic Animal Stories for 7th-10th grade in Illustrated Junior Library (Location: VIN-IJL)
	Call of the Wild and Other Stories Illustrated Junior Library Series 2 by Jack London, illustrated by Kyuzo Tsugami from Grosset & Dunlap Realistic Animal Stories for 7th-10th grade in Illustrated Junior Library (Location: VIN-IJL)
	Day No Pigs Would Die by Robert Newton Peck from Random House Realistic Stories for 6th-9th grade in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA) $7.99
	Day No Pigs Would Die by Robert Newton Peck 1994 Printing from Random House Realistic Stories for 6th-9th grade in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA) $3.00 (1 in stock)
	Dragons of the Deep Ocean Monsters: Past and Present by Carl Wieland from Master Books for 5th-8th grade in Dinosaurs & Fossils (Location: SCI-DINO) $13.59
	Irish Red by Jim Kjelgaard from Yearling Realistic Animal Stories for 4th-8th grade in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI) $7.99
	Old Sam, Dakota Trotter by Don Alonzo Taylor, Illustrated by Lorence Bjorklund from Bethlehem Books Historical Fiction for 5th-8th grade in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF) $14.95
	Old Yeller by Fred Gipson from HarperCollins Realistic Animal Stories for 4th-8th grade 1957 Newbery Honor Book in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI) $9.99 $4.50 (1 in stock)
	Old Yeller by Fred Gipson from Scholastic Inc. Realistic Animal Stories for 4th-8th grade 1957 Newbery Honor Book in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
	Outlaw Red by Jim Kjelgaard from Yearling Realistic Animal Stories for 4th-8th grade in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
	Outlaw Red G&D Famous Dog Stories by Jim Kjelgaard from Grosset & Dunlap Realistic Animal Stories for 4th-8th grade in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
	Scout Series by Piet Prins from Inheritance Publications Action/Adventure for 4th-8th grade in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI) $65.13
	Scout's Distant Journey Scout Series by Piet Prins from Inheritance Publications Action/Adventure for 4th-8th grade in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI) $10.95 $7.00 (1 in stock)
	Scout: The Flying Phantom Scout Series by Piet Prins from Inheritance Publications Action/Adventure for 4th-8th grade in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI) $10.95
	Scout: The Haunted Castle Scout Series by Piet Prins from Inheritance Publications for 4th-8th grade in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI) $10.90
	Scout: The Mystery of the Abandoned Mill Scout Series by Piet Prins from Inheritance Publications Action/Adventure for 4th-8th grade in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI) $10.95
	Scout: The Sailing Sleuths Scout Series by Piet Prins from Inheritance Publications for 4th-8th grade in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI) $10.95
	Scout: The Secret of the Swamp Scout Series by Piet Prins from Inheritance Publications Action/Adventure for 4th-8th grade in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI) $10.95
	Scout: The Treasure of Rodensteyn Castle Scout Series by Piet Prins from Inheritance Publications Action/Adventure for 4th-8th grade in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI) $10.95
	Shiloh Shiloh #1 by Phyllis R. Naylor from Aladdin Paperbacks Realistic Animal Stories for 5th-8th grade 1992 Newbery Medal winner in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI) $8.99 $3.00 (2 in stock)
	Shiloh Christmas Shiloh #4 by Phyllis R. Naylor from Scholastic Inc. Realistic Animal Stories for 5th-8th grade in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI) $3.00 (1 in stock)
	Snow Dog by Jim Kjelgaard from Yearling Realistic Animal Stories for 4th-8th grade in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI) $7.99
	Snow Dog by Jim Kjelgaard from Holiday House Realistic Animal Stories for 4th-8th grade in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
	Snow Dog G&D Famous Dog Stories by Jim Kjelgaard from Grosset & Dunlap Realistic Animal Stories for 4th-8th grade in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
	Sounder by William H. Armstrong from HarperCollins Realistic Fiction for 3rd-8th grade 1970 Newbery Medal winner in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA) $6.00 (1 in stock)
	Sounder by William H. Armstrong from Harper & Row Realistic Fiction for 3rd-8th grade 1970 Newbery Medal winner in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA) $6.00 (1 in stock)
	Stormy by Jim Kjelgaard from Yearling Realistic Animal Stories for 4th-8th grade in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI) $6.99
	Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls from Bantam Books Realistic Animal Stories for 4th-8th grade in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI) $8.99 $5.00 (1 in stock)
	White Fang Whole Story Series by Jack London from Viking Press Action/Adventure for 7th-10th grade in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
	White Fang Puffin Classics by Jack London from Puffin Books Action/Adventure for 7th-10th grade in Puffin Classics (Location: FIC-PUF) $7.99
	White Fang Thrushwood Book by Jack London from Grosset & Dunlap Action/Adventure for 7th-10th grade in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
	White Fang by Jack London, illustrated by Helen Ward from Templar Books Action/Adventure for 5th-8th grade in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
	White Fang Scribner Illustrated Classics by Jack London, illustrated by Ed Young Unabridged from Atheneum Action/Adventure for 7th-10th grade in Scribner Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SCRIB) $29.99
	White Fang G&D Famous Dog Stories by Jack London from Grosset & Dunlap Action/Adventure for 7th-10th grade in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
	White Fang by Jack London, illustrated by Charles Livingston Bull from Living Book Press Action/Adventure for 7th-10th grade in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)

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