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.

Did you find this review helpful?
27 Items found Print
Active Filters: 5th grade (Ages 10-11), Trade Paperback, Used Books & Materials
Because of Winn-Dixie
by Kate DiCamillo
from Candlewick Press
Realistic Fiction for 3rd-6th grade
2001 Newbery Honor Book
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Black Gold
by Marguerite Henry
from Rand McNally
for 4th-7th grade
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Black Stallion Adventures - Boxed Set
by Walter Farley
from Yearling
Realistic Animal Stories for 5th-6th grade
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Cat Who Went to Heaven
by Elizabeth Coatsworth
PF from Collier Books
for 4th-6th grade
$2.50 (1 in stock)
Chucaro
by Francis Kalnay
from Walker and Company
Realistic Fiction for 4th-6th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Come On, Seabiscuit!
by Ralph Moody
from University of Nebraska
Biography for 5th-9th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$14.95 $10.00 (1 in stock)
Dog's Life
by Ann M. Martin
from Scholastic Inc.
for 4th-8th grade
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
$2.50 (1 in stock)
Dry Bones and Other Fossils
by Gary Parker
7th edition from Master Books
for 4th-6th grade
in Dinosaurs & Fossils (Location: SCI-DINO)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Hank the Cowdog #08
Hank the Cowdog #8
by John R. Erickson
from Puffin Books
for 2nd-5th grade
in Hank the Cowdog (Location: SER-HANK)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Horse Called Willing
by Rebecca Martin
from Christian Light Education
for 4th-6th grade
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Horse Crazy!
by Jessie Haas
1st edition from Storey Publishing
for 3rd-8th grade
in Horses & Ponies (Location: SCI-MAMHOR)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Letters to Seabiscuit
by Compiled by Barbara Howard
from Seven Locks Press
for 4th-8th grade
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Misty's Twilight
by Marguerite Henry; illustrated by Karen Hause Grandpre
from Aladdin Paperbacks
for 3rd-6th grade
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
$7.99 $4.50 (1 in stock)
Mouse of Amherst
by Elizabeth Spires, Illustrated by Claire A. Nivola
from Scholastic Inc.
for 3rd-6th grade
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
$3.00 (2 in stock)
Saint George and the Dragon
by Margaret Hodges & Trina Schart Hyman
from Little, Brown & Company
Fairy Tales, Fables, and Legends for 2nd-3rd grade
1985 Caldecott Medal winner
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$8.99 $5.00 (1 in stock)
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)
Sea Star
by Marguerite Henry
from Aladdin Paperbacks
for 2nd-5th grade
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
$2.00 (1 in stock)
Seaman
by Gail Karwoski & James Watling
from Peachtree Publishers, Ltd.
Historical Fiction for 5th-8th grade
in Lewis & Clark Expedition (1801-1803) (Location: HISA-19L&C)
$9.99 $6.00 (2 in stock)
Sir Cumference and the Great Knight of Angleland
by Cindy Neuschwander & Wayne Geehan
from Charlesbridge
for 2nd-6th grade
in Math Picture Books (Location: MATR-PIC)
$7.99 $5.00 (1 in stock)
Trails to Poosey
by Olive R. Cook
from Misty Hill Press
Pioneer Fiction for 4th-7th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$4.00 (2 in stock)
Tucker's Countryside
by George Selden; illustrated by Garth Williams
from Farrar, Straus and Giroux
for 3rd-6th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Usborne Book of Horses and Ponies
by Lucy Smith
from Usborne
for 2nd-5th grade
in Horses & Ponies (Location: SCI-MAMHOR)
$3.50 (1 in stock)
Wanted...Mud Blossom
by Betsy Byars
from Dell Publishing
for 4th-6th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$1.50 (1 in stock)
War Horse
by Michael Morpurgo
from Scholastic Press
for 2nd-6th grade
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
$7.99 $4.50 (1 in stock)
White Stallion of Lipizza
by Marguerite Henry, illustrated by Wesley Dennis
from Sonlight Curriculum, Ltd.
for 2nd-5th grade
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
$7.50 (1 in stock)
Wild Cats and Other Dangerous Predators
by Clare Oliver
from Parragon Publishing
for 4th-8th grade
in Mammals (Location: SCI-MAM)
$2.00 (1 in stock)
Winter With the Moodys
Moodys #3
by Sarah Maxwell
from Communication Concepts
for 4th-6th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$6.00 (1 in stock)