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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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38 Items found Print
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Active Filters: 3rd grade (Ages 8-9), Hardcover, Used Books & Materials
All About Dinosaurs
All About Books #1
by Roy Chapman Andrews
from Random House
for 3rd-6th grade
in All About Books (Location: VIN-ALL)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Blind Colt
A World Famous Horse Story Library selection
by Glen Rounds
from Holiday House
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Bony
by Frances Zweifel; illustrated by Whitney Darrow, Jr.
from Harper & Row
for 1st-3rd grade
in I Can Read Books (Location: EAR-ICR)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Bringing Back the Wolves
by Jude Isabella; illustrated by Kim Smith
from Kids Can Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Ecology (Location: SCI-ECO)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?
by Bill Martin Jr.; illustrated by Eric Carle
Second Edition, 25th Anniversary Edition from Henry Holt and Company
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Bruce
by Albert Payson Terhune
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Champion Dog Prince Tom
Weekly Reader Children's Book Club
by Jean Fritz and Tom Clute, Illustrated by Ernest Hart
from Coward McCann
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Charlotte's Web
by E. B. White
from HarperCollins
for 2nd-6th grade
1953 Newbery Honor Book
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$6.00 (2 in stock)
Chief Takes Over
by Helen Rushmore, Illustrated by Charles Geer
from Weekly Reader
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Children of Odin
by Padraic Colum, illustrated by Willy Pogany
from Macmillan
Norse Mythology for 3rd-8th grade
$40.00 (1 in stock)
Complete Tales & Poems of Winnie-the-Pooh
by A. A. Milne, illustrated by Ernest H. Shepard
70th anniversary from Dutton Children's Books
for Kindergarten-4th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
December Dog
by Jan M. Robinson; illustrated by Joan Sandin
from J.B. Lippincott Co.
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Discovery of Dragons
by Graeme Base
from Harry N. Abrams, Inc.
for 1st-4th grade
in Dragons & Mythical Beasts (Location: FIC-DRAG)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
DK Eyewitness: Cat
from DK Publishing
for 3rd-6th grade
in Cat Books (Location: SCI-MAMCAT)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Elephant's Child
by Rudyard Kipling
2nd Printing from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for 2nd-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Faith of a Collie
by Albert Payson Terhune
Reprint from Grosset & Dunlap
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Great Dinosaur Mystery and the Bible
by Paul S. Taylor
from Master Books
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Worldview & Apologetics for Kids (Location: BIBWV-APK)
$7.50 (1 in stock)
Green Smoke
by Rosemary Manning, illustrated by Constance Marshall
from Doubleday & Company
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Horton Hatches the Egg
by Dr. Seuss
from Random House
read-aloud poetry picture book for Preschool-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$18.99 $10.00 (1 in stock)
I Give You My Colt
by Alice Geer Kelsey, illustrated by Helen Torrey
from Longmans, Green & Co.
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Infamous Ratsos: Project Fluffy
by Kara LaReau, Illustrated by Matt Myers
from Candlewick Press
for 1st-4th grade
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
$7.50 (1 in stock)
Legacy of the Dog
by Tetsu Yamazaki
2nd edition from Chronicle Books
for 3rd-8th grade
in Dog Books (Location: SCI-MAMDOG)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Lion Family Book
by Angelika Hofer, Gunter Ziesler, Translated by Patricia Crampton
from Picture Book Studio
for 2nd-4th grade
in Cat Books (Location: SCI-MAMCAT)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Little Polar Bear, Take Me Home!
by Hans de Beer
from North-South Books
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Misty of Chincoteague
by Marguerite Henry; illustrated by Wesley Dennis
from Rand McNally
for 3rd-8th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Once Upon an Elephant
by Linda Stanek, illustrated by Shennen Bersani
from Arbordale Publishing
for 1st-3rd grade
in Mammals (Location: SCI-MAM)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Pet Dragon
by Christoph Niemann
from Greenwillow Books
for 1st-3rd grade
in Oversized Picture Books (Location: PIC-OVER)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Pony Problem
by Barbara Holland
from E.P. Dutton & Co.
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$15.00 (1 in stock)
Sam, Bangs & Moonshine
by Evaline Ness
from Holt, Rinehart and Winston
Allegorical and Moral Stories for Kindergarten-3rd grade
1967 Caldecott Medal winner
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Seven True Dog Stories
by Margaret Davidson
from Hastings House
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Simba of the White Mane
by Jocelyn Arundel, illustrated by Wesley Dennis
from Whittlesey House
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$7.00 (1 in stock)
Sounder
by William H. Armstrong
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction for 3rd-8th grade
1970 Newbery Medal winner
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Stuart Little
by E.B. White
from Harper & Row
Animal Fantasy for 3rd-6th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$7.00 (2 in stock)
Sunnybank Home of Lad
by Albert Payson Terhune
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Three Tales of My Father's Dragon
by Ruth Stiles Gannett
from Random House
Fantasy for 1st-3rd grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$18.99 $10.00 (1 in stock)
Thunder of Triple R Ranch
by Betty Swinford
from Zondervan
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Velveteen Rabbit
by Margery Williams, illustrated by Michael Green
from Running Press
Personification for 1st-4th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Wildwing
by Phoebe Erickson
from Harper & Brothers
for 2nd-4th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
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