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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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
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
Bombproof Your Horse
by Sgt. Rick Pelicano
from Trafalgar Square Publishing
for Adult
in Raising Livestock & Animal Husbandry (Location: SS-FARM)
Book of the Dragon
by Montse Sant, illustrated by Ciruelo
from Paper Tiger
for 7th-Adult
in Dragons & Mythical Beasts (Location: FIC-DRAG)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
C. W. Anderson's Favorite Horse Stories
by C. W. Anderson
from E.P. Dutton & Co.
for 4th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Coloring Dragons
by Amy Brown
for 3rd-Adult
in Literary & Fantasy Coloring Books (Location: COL-LIT)
Conditioning to Win
for Adult
in Raising Livestock & Animal Husbandry (Location: SS-FARM)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Dragonriders of Pern Omnibus
by Anne McCaffrey
from Del Rey
for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Dragons
from Simon and Schuster
for 7th-Adult
in Dragons & Mythical Beasts (Location: FIC-DRAG)
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
in Dragons & Mythical Beasts (Location: FIC-DRAG)
$7.00 (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)
Great Alaskan Dinosaur Adventure
by Buddy Davis, John Whitmore, Mike Liston
from Master Books
for 9th-Adult
in Dinosaurs & Fossils (Location: SCI-DINO)
$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
in Dinosaurs & Fossils (Location: SCI-DINO)
Greyfriars Bobby
by Eleanor Atkinson
from Living Book Press
for 6th-Adult
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
$9.99
Greyfriars Bobby
by Eleanor Atkinson
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 6th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Healthy Horse the Natural Way
by Catherine Bird
from Lyons Press
for Adult
in Raising Livestock & Animal Husbandry (Location: SS-FARM)
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 Anatomy
from Cadmos
for 5th-Adult
in Horses & Ponies (Location: SCI-MAMHOR)
Horse Care Tips from A to Z
from EQUUS Magazine
for Adult
in Raising Livestock & Animal Husbandry (Location: SS-FARM)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Horses Never Lie
by Mark Rashid
for Adult
in Raising Livestock & Animal Husbandry (Location: SS-FARM)
How to Draw Dragons in Simple Steps
by Paul Bryn Davies
from Search Press
for 6th-Adult
in Advanced Drawing Instruction (Location: ELE-ARTDRAD)
Imprint Training of the Newborn Foal
by Robert M. Miller
for Adult
in Raising Livestock & Animal Husbandry (Location: SS-FARM)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Innocent Killers
by Hugo and Jane Van Lawick-Goodall
1st edition from Houghton Mifflin
for Adult
in Vintage Science & Math (Location: VIN-SCI)
$8.00 (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)
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
Mrs. Chippy's Last Expedition
by Caroline Alexander
from Harper Perennial
for 8th-Adult
in 20th Century Exploration (Location: HISW-20EXP)
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)
Seabiscuit
by Laura Hillenbrand
from Ballantine Books
for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$6.00 (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)
Story of Edgar Sawtelle
by David Wroblewski
from Ecco Press
for Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$8.00 (1 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)
Understanding the Ancient Secrets of the Horse's Mind
for Adult
in Raising Livestock & Animal Husbandry (Location: SS-FARM)
Unfinished Tales
by J.R.R. Tolkien, Edited by Christopher Tolkien
Reprint from William Morrow & Company
for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$17.99
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
What Every Horse Should Know
by Cherry Hill
from Storey Publishing
for Adult
in Raising Livestock & Animal Husbandry (Location: SS-FARM)
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
Wolves of Denali
by L. David Mech
from University of Minnesota
for Adult
in Dog Books (Location: SCI-MAMDOG)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Wonderful Life
by Stephen Jay Gould
from W. W. Norton and Co.
for Adult
in History of Science & Mathematics (Location: SCI-HIS)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Works of Jack London Illustrated
by Jack London
from Avenel Books
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
World of Cats to Paint or Color - Coloring Books
by John Green
from Dover Publications
for 4th-Adult
in Mammal Coloring Books (Location: COL-MAM)
$5.99