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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47 Items found Print
Active Filters: 9th grade (Ages 14-15), Hardcover
All About Cats
All About Books #58
by Carl Burger
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in All About Books (Location: VIN-ALL)
Bob, Son of Battle
G&D Famous Dog Stories
by Alfred Ollivant
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 5th-9th grade
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
Book of Lost Tales 2
by J. R. R. Tolkien & Christopher Tolkien
from Houghton Mifflin
Mythology, Faërie for 8th-12th grade
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Call of the Wild
Portland House Illustrated Classics
by Jack London, illustrated by Paul Bransom
from Portland House
for 6th-10th grade
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
Call of the Wild
by Jack London, illustrated by Wendell Minor
1st edition from Aladdin Paperbacks
for 6th-10th grade
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
Call of the Wild
G&D Famous Dog Stories
by Jack London
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 6th-10th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
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 & 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)
Complete Horse Care Manual
from DK Publishing
for 5th-10th grade
in Raising Livestock & Animal Husbandry (Location: SS-FARM)
$12.00 (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
in Vintage Nonfiction (Location: VIN-NFIC)
$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
in Educator Classic Library (Location: VIN-ECL)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Encyclopedia of the Horse
by Elwyn Hartley Edwards, ed.
from Crescent Books
for 7th-12th grade
in Oversized Science Books (Location: SCI-OVER)
$7.50 (1 in stock)
Flight of Dragons
by Peter Dickinson, illustrated by Wayne Anderson
from Harper & Row
for 8th-Adult
in Dragons & Mythical Beasts (Location: FIC-DRAG)
$15.00 (1 in stock)
Fossil Book
Wonders of Creation Series
by Gary & Mary Parker
from Master Books
for 4th-10th grade
in Dinosaurs & Fossils (Location: SCI-DINO)
$15.19
Greyfriars Bobby
by Eleanor Atkinson
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 6th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Grosset All-Color Guide Horses and Ponies
by Judith Campbell
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 7th-12th grade
in Vintage Science & Math (Location: VIN-SCI)
$8.00 (2 in stock)
Hobbit
by J. R. R. Tolkien
from Houghton Mifflin
Fantasy for 5th-9th grade
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$19.99
Horse & Pony Breeds
Kingfisher Riding Club
by Sandy Ransford
from Kingfisher
for 4th-Adult
in Horses & Ponies (Location: SCI-MAMHOR)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
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)
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)
Inheritance Cycle - Hardcover set
by Christopher Paolini
from Random House
for 8th-12th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
James Herriot's Dog Stories
by James Herriot
1st edition from St. Martin's Press
for 7th-Adult
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
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)
Living Fossils
by Carl Werner
from Master Books
for 9th-Adult
in Evolution: The Grand Experiment (Location: SCICUR-EVO)
$23.99
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)
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)
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)
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
Thrushwood Book
by Jack London
from Grosset & Dunlap
Action/Adventure for 7th-10th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
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)
Winnie
by Sally M. Walker, Illustrated by Jonathan D. Voss
from Henry Holt and Company
for 9th-Adult
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$17.99
Works of Jack London Illustrated
by Jack London
from Avenel Books
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
World of the Bobcat
Living World Books
by Joe Van Wormer
from J.B. Lippincott Co.
for 6th-12th grade
in Vintage Science & Math (Location: VIN-SCI)