Favorite Animals

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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Active Filters: 9th grade (Ages 14-15)
All About Cats
All About Books #58
by Carl Burger
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in All About Books (Location: VIN-ALL)
All Creatures Great and Small
James Herriot Series Book 1
by James Herriot
from St. Martin's Press
Realistic Fiction for 7th-Adult
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
$15.20
All Things Bright and Beautiful
James Herriot Series Book 2
by James Herriot
from St. Martin's Press
Realistic Fiction for 7th-12th grade
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$14.40
Beowulf
by Anonymous, translated by Seamus Heaney
from W. W. Norton and Co.
Medieval Poetic Epic for 9th-Adult
in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED)
$24.95
Black Star, Bright Dawn
by Scott O'Dell
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$7.99
Bob, Son of Battle
G&D Famous Dog Stories
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Book of Lost Tales 2
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$8.99
Book of Lost Tales 2
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Book of the Dragon
by Montse Sant, illustrated by Ciruelo
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$6.00 (1 in stock)
C. W. Anderson's Favorite Horse Stories
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from Viking Press
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Puffin Classics
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$7.99
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Call of the Wild
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Realistic Animal Stories for 7th-10th grade
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Call of the Wild
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from Royal Fireworks Press
Action/Adventure for 7th-10th grade
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Call of the Wild & White Fang
Reader's Digest World's Best Reading
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Unknown from Reader's Digest
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Call of the Wild & White Fang
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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
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Call of the Wild and Other Stories
Illustrated Junior Library Series 2
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from Grosset & Dunlap
Realistic Animal Stories for 7th-10th grade
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Call of the Wild and Other Stories
Illustrated Junior Library Series 1
by Jack London, illustrated by Kyuzo Tsugami
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Realistic Animal Stories for 7th-10th grade
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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
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Coloring Dragons
by Amy Brown
for 3rd-Adult
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Come On, Seabiscuit!
by Ralph Moody
from University of Nebraska
Biography for 5th-9th grade
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$14.95 $10.00 (1 in stock)
Complete Horse Care Manual
from DK Publishing
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Danger in the Desert
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Day No Pigs Would Die
by Robert Newton Peck
from Random House
Realistic Stories for 6th-9th grade
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$7.99
Day No Pigs Would Die
by Robert Newton Peck
1994 Printing from Random House
Realistic Stories for 6th-9th grade
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$3.00 (1 in stock)
Day No Pigs Would Die
by Robert Newton Peck
1994 Printing from Dell Publishing
Realistic Stories for 6th-9th grade
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$3.00 (1 in stock)
Dragons
from Simon and Schuster
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Dragons & Fantasy
from Walter Foster
for 4th-Adult
in Advanced Drawing Instruction (Location: ELE-ARTDRAD)
Dragons and Dragon Lore
2007th edition from Forgotten Books
for 7th-Adult
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$7.00 (1 in stock)
Earth for Sam
by W. Maxwell Reed, revised by Paul F. Brandwein
Revised edition from Harcourt, Brace & Company
for 6th-12th grade
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$8.00 (1 in stock)
ECL: Call of the Wild
Educator Classic Library #11
by Jack London, illustrated by Ron King
Complete and Unabridged Edition from Classic Press
Action/Adventure for 7th-10th grade
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Encyclopedia of the Horse
by Elwyn Hartley Edwards, ed.
from Crescent Books
for 7th-12th grade
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$7.50 (1 in stock)
Eye of Zoltar OSI
Chronicles of Kazam Book 3
by Jasper Fforde
from HMH Books for Young Readers
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Flight of Dragons
by Peter Dickinson, illustrated by Wayne Anderson
from Harper & Row
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$15.00 (1 in stock)
Fossil Book
Wonders of Creation Series
by Gary & Mary Parker
from Master Books
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$15.19
Gold Rush Dogs
by Claire Rudolf Murphy, Jane G. Haigh
from Alaska Northwest Books
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Gray Dawn
by Albert Payson Terhune
from Grosset & Dunlap
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Great Alaskan Dinosaur Adventure
by Buddy Davis, John Whitmore, Mike Liston
from Master Books
for 9th-Adult
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$8.79
Great Book of Dragon Patterns
from Fox Chapel Publishing Company
for 6th-Adult
in Art & Drawing Reference (Location: ELE-ARTREF)
Great Dinosaur Hunters and Their Discoveries
by Edwin H. Colbert
from Dover Publications
for 9th-Adult
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Greyfriars Bobby
by Eleanor Atkinson
from Living Book Press
for 6th-Adult
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$9.99
Greyfriars Bobby
by Eleanor Atkinson
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 6th-Adult
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Grosset All-Color Guide Horses and Ponies
by Judith Campbell
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 7th-12th grade
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$8.00 (2 in stock)
Hero and the Crown
by Robin McKinley
Reissue from Puffin Books
for 5th-9th grade
1985 Newbery Medal Winner
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$6.99
Hero and the Crown
by Robin McKinley
from ACE Publishing
for 5th-9th grade
1985 Newbery Medal Winner
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
Hobbit
by J. R. R. Tolkien
2nd edition from Ballantine Books
Fantasy for 5th-9th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$8.99
Hobbit
by J. R. R. Tolkien
from Houghton Mifflin
Fantasy for 5th-9th grade
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$35.00
Hobbit
by J. R. R. Tolkien
from Houghton Mifflin
Fantasy for 5th-9th grade
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$19.99 $10.00 (1 in stock)
Hobbit
by J. R. R. Tolkien
from Houghton Mifflin
Fantasy for 5th-9th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$15.99
Hobbit
by J. R. R. Tolkien
from Houghton Mifflin
Fantasy for 5th-9th grade
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$18.99
Hobbit and Lord of the Rings - Deluxe Hardcover Collection
by J. R. R. Tolkien
from Houghton Mifflin
Fantasy for 5th-12th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
Horse & Pony Breeds
Kingfisher Riding Club
by Sandy Ransford
from Kingfisher
for 4th-Adult
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$8.00 (1 in stock)
Horse Anatomy
from Cadmos
for 5th-Adult
in Horses & Ponies (Location: SCI-MAMHOR)
Horse and His Boy
Chronicles of Narnia Book 3
by C. S. Lewis
from HarperCollins
Allegorical Fantasy for 3rd-9th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$8.99
Horse and His Boy
Chronicles of Narnia Book 5
by C. S. Lewis
from Macmillan
Allegorical Fantasy for 3rd-9th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
Horse and His Boy
Chronicles of Narnia Book 5
by C. S. Lewis
from Macmillan
Allegorical Fantasy for 3rd-9th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Horses and Riding - Coloring Book
by John K. Anderson
from Bellerophon Books
for 4th-9th grade
in Horses & Ponies (Location: SCI-MAMHOR)
Horses I've Known
by Will James
from World Publishing Company
for 6th-9th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Hound-dog Man
by Fred Gipson
First Edition L-X from Harper & Brothers
for 6th-9th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
How to Draw Dragons in Simple Steps
by Paul Bryn Davies
from Search Press
for 6th-Adult
in Advanced Drawing Instruction (Location: ELE-ARTDRAD)
Inheritance Cycle - Hardcover set
by Christopher Paolini
from Random House
for 8th-12th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
James Herriot Series
by James Herriot
from St. Martin's Press
Realistic Fiction for 6th-10th grade
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
$72.77
James Herriot's Favorite Dog Stories
by James Herriot
First Printing from St. Martin's Press
for 8th-Adult
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
Kazan the Wolf Dog
G&D Famous Dog Stories
by James Oliver Curwood
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 5th-9th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Last Dragonslayer
Chronicles of Kazam Book 1
by Jasper Fforde
from HMH Books for Young Readers
for 5th-9th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$7.99
Last Dragonslayer Set
by Jasper Fforde
from Houghton Mifflin
for 5th-9th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
Last Unicorn
by Peter S. Beagle
from ROC Science Fiction
for 9th-Adult
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$17.00
Le Morte d'Arthur
Signet Classics
by Sir Thomas Mallory
from Signet Classics
for 9th-Adult
in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED)
$7.95
Le Morte d'Arthur
Signet Classics
by Sir Thomas Mallory
from Random House
for 9th-Adult
in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED)
Living Fossils
by Carl Werner
from Master Books
for 9th-Adult
in Evolution: The Grand Experiment (Location: SCICUR-EVO)
$23.99
Living Fossils - DVD
by Dr. Carl Werner
from Master Books
for 9th-Adult
in Evolution: The Grand Experiment (Location: SCICUR-EVO)
$15.99
Living Fossils - Presentation CD
by Carl Werner
from Master Books
for 9th-Adult
in Evolution: The Grand Experiment (Location: SCICUR-EVO)
$11.99
Living Fossils - Set
by Carl Werner
from Master Books
for 9th-Adult
in Faith & Science (Location: XAP-SCI)
$69.67
Living Fossils - Teacher's Manual
by Carl Werner
from Master Books
for 9th-Adult
in Evolution: The Grand Experiment (Location: SCICUR-EVO)
$13.59
Lord of the Rings Deluxe Hardcover Boxed Set OSI
by J. R. R. Tolkien
from Houghton Mifflin
Fantasy for 5th-12th grade
in Boxed Sets & Literature Packages (Location: FIC-BOX)
$125.00
Mrs. Chippy's Last Expedition
by Caroline Alexander
from Harper Perennial
for 8th-Adult
in 20th Century Exploration (Location: HISW-20EXP)
Nine Man Tree
by Robert Newton Peck
from Random House
for 6th-9th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
Prehistoric America
Landmark #11
by Anne Terry White
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in American Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAND)
Robert Vavra's Classic Book of Horses
by Robert Vavra, illustrated by John Fulton
1st edition from William Morrow & Company
for 7th-Adult
in Horses & Ponies (Location: SCI-MAMHOR)
$16.00 (1 in stock)
Sand
by Will James
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 6th-9th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Smith of Wootton Major and Farmer Giles of Ham
by J. R. R. Tolkien
from Ballantine Books
Fantasy for 4th-10th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$8.99
Smith of Wootton Major and Farmer Giles of Ham
by J. R. R. Tolkien
from Ballantine Books
Fantasy for 4th-10th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Smithsonian Handbook of Horses
Dorling Kindersley Handbooks
by Elwyn H. Edwards
from DK Publishing
Science Reference for 4th-12th grade
in Horses & Ponies (Location: SCI-MAMHOR)
Song of the Quarkbeast
Chronicles of Kazam Book 2
by Jasper Fforde
Reprint from HMH Books for Young Readers
for 5th-9th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$7.99
Thunderhead
Flicka #2
by Mary O'Hara
from Lippincott
for 5th-9th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
To the Top of the World
by Jim Brandenburg
from Walker and Company
for 5th-9th grade
1994 NCTE Orbis Pictus Honor Book
in Arctic & Tundra (Location: SCI-ECO)
Tolkien Reader
by J. R. R. Tolkien
from Ballantine Books
Fantasy for 4th-12th grade
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$8.99
Tolkien Reader
by J. R. R. Tolkien
from Ballantine Books
Fantasy for 4th-12th grade
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$3.00 (4 in stock)
Treasury of Classical Mythology
by A. R. H. Moncrieff
from Barnes & Noble
for 7th-Adult
in Oversized History Books (Location: HISW-OVER)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Unfinished Tales
by J. R. R. Tolkien & Christopher Tolkien
from Ballantine Books
Mythology, Faƫrie for 8th-12th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$8.99
Watership Down
by Richard Adams
from Charles Scribner's Sons
Animal Fiction for 7th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$19.99
Watership Down
by Richard Adams
Reissue from Atheneum
for 10th-Adult
1972 Carnegie Medal
in Scribner Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SCRIB)
$29.99
White Fang
Whole Story Series
by Jack London
from Viking Press
Action/Adventure for 7th-10th grade
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
12