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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Billy and Blaze - Boxed Set
Billy and Blaze
by C. W. Anderson
from Simon and Schuster
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Boxed Sets & Literature Packages (Location: FIC-BOX)
$79.99
Black Gold
by Marguerite Henry; illustrated by Wesley Dennis
from Aladdin Paperbacks
for 4th-6th grade
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
$7.99
Blaze Finds Forgotten Roads
by C. W. Anderson
from Simon and Schuster
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$9.99
Bolivar
by Sean Rubin
from Archaia
for 3rd-6th grade
in Comic Books & Graphic Novels (Location: FIC-COMIC)
$14.99
Church Mice Spread Their Wings
by Graham Oakley
from Atheneum
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
Dinosaurs! A Drawing Book
by Michael Emberley
from Little, Brown & Company
for 3rd-6th grade
in Drawing for Beginners (Location: ELE-ARTDRAW)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
DK Classics: Black Beauty (adapted & annotated)
by Anna Sewell, illustrated by Victor Ambrus
from DK Children
for 4th-8th grade
in Adapted or Abridged (Location: SER-ABR)
DK findout!: The Living World - boxed set
from DK Publishing
for 3rd-6th grade
in Zoology (Location: SCI-ZOOL)
$45.00 (1 in stock)
Dragon Drawing Book
by Ralph Masiello
from Charlesbridge
for 3rd-8th grade
in Drawing for Beginners (Location: ELE-ARTDRAW)
$5.50 (1 in stock)
Drawing Horses (that look real!)
by Don Mayne
from Williamson Publishing Company
for 3rd-6th grade
in Drawing for Beginners (Location: ELE-ARTDRAW)
$4.50 (1 in stock)
Eric Carle's Dragons Dragons
by Eric Carle
from Scholastic Inc.
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Fossils Tell of Long Ago
Let's-Read-and-Find-Out Science Stage 2
by Aliki
Revised from HarperCollins
for 2nd-3rd grade
in Dinosaurs & Fossils (Location: SCI-DINO)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Hondo & Fabian
by Peter McCarty
from Square Fish Publishing
for Preschool-1st grade
2003 Caldecott Honor Book
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$8.99
How and Why Wonder Book of Fossils
by John Burton, illustrated by John Barber
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 3rd-6th grade
in How and Why Wonder Books (Location: VIN-H&W)
$2.00 (1 in stock)
How Smudge Came
by Nan Gregory, illustrated by Ron Lightburn
from Walker and Company
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$2.50 (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)
Jackrabbit and the Prairie Fire
Smithsonian Wild Heritage
by Susan Saunders, illustrated by Jo-Ellen Bosson
from Soundprints
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Mammals (Location: SCI-MAM)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Kitten Tale
by Eric Rohmann
from Dragonfly Books
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Kitten Who Thought He Was a Mouse
by Miriam Norton, illustrated by Garth Williams
from Golden Books
for Preschool-1st grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Little Fellow
by Marguerite Henry, illustrated by Rich Rudish
from Weekly Reader
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Little Polar Bear, Take Me Home!
by Hans de Beer
from Scholastic Inc.
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$3.50 (1 in stock)
Mrs. Katz and Tush
by Patricia Polacco
from Dragonfly Books
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$7.99
Mush!
from Millbrook Press
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Dog Books (Location: SCI-MAMDOG)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Our Puppy's Vacation
by Ruth Brown
from Dutton Children's Books
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Patrick's Dinosaurs
by Carol Carrick, illustrated by Donald Carrick
from Clarion Books
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Puppy Who Wanted a Boy
by Jane Thayer, Illustrated by Lisa McCue
from Scholastic Inc.
for Preschool-1st grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Raising Dragons
by Jerdine Nolen, illustrated by Elise Primavera
from Harcourt
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$4.50 (1 in stock)
Rocks and Fossils
by Martyn Bramwell
from Usborne
for 4th-6th grade
in Geology (Rocks & Minerals) (Location: SCI-GEO)
$3.50 (1 in stock)
Science of Monsters
by Timothy J. Bradley
from Teacher Created Materials, Inc.
for 3rd-6th grade
in Dragons & Mythical Beasts (Location: FIC-DRAG)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Seaman's Journal
by Patricia Reeder Eubank
from Ideals Children's Books
Historical Fiction for 5th-8th grade
in Lewis & Clark Expedition (1801-1803) (Location: HISA-19L&C)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Sneakers, the Seaside Cat
by Margaret Wise Brown, illustrated by Anne Mortimer
from HarperTrophy
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
There's No Such Thing as a Dragon
by Jack Kent
from Dragonfly Books
for Nursery-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$8.99
True Book: Fossils
by Ann O. Squire
from Scholastic Inc.
for 2nd-5th grade
in Dinosaurs & Fossils (Location: SCI-DINO)
$3.50 (1 in stock)
True Book: Gray Wolves
A True Book
by Patricia A. Fink Martin
from Children's Press
for 2nd-4th grade
in Dog Books (Location: SCI-MAMDOG)
Twig
by Elizabeth Orton Jones
1st edition from Purple House Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$12.95
Victorian Pets - Paper Dolls in Full Colors
by Evelyn Gathings
from Dover Publications
for 3rd-6th grade
in Dover Paper Dolls (Location: COL-DOLL)
Wolf Island
by Celia Godkin
from Fitzhenry & Whiteside
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Wolves of Denali
by L. David Mech
from University of Minnesota
for Adult
in Dog Books (Location: SCI-MAMDOG)
$10.00 (1 in stock)