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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101 Arena Exercises
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101 Jumping Exercises for Horse & Rider
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3D Sapshots: Puppies (with 3D glasses)
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Afraid to Ride
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Album of Horses
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Alexander, the Old Town Mouse
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Amazing Bone
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Angelina's Birthday
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Art of Raising a Puppy
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Babar and His Children
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Backyard Bear
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Bad Puppy
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Realistic Fiction for 3rd-6th grade
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Big Dog... Little Dog
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Biggest Bear
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Biggest Bear
by Lynd Ward
from Houghton Mifflin
Realistic Animal Stories for Preschool-1st grade
1953 Caldecott Medal winner
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Black Beauty
Illustrated Junior Library Series 4
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Realistic Animal Stories for 4th-8th grade
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Black Beauty
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Black Beauty
by Anna Sewell, illustrated by William Steinel
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Black Beauty
by Anna Sewell, illustrated by John Beer
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Black Beauty
Children's Classics
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Black Beauty
Everyman Children's Classics
by Anna Sewell, illustrated by Lucy Kemp-Welch
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Realistic Animal Stories for 4th-8th grade
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Black Beauty
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Black Beauty (abridged)
by Anna Sewell, illustrated by Chiara Fedele
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Black Gold
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Black Stallion #1
by Walter Farley
from Random House Books for Young Readers
Realistic Animal Fiction for 5th-6th grade
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Black Stallion Adventures - Boxed Set
by Walter Farley
from Yearling
Realistic Animal Stories for 5th-6th grade
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Black Stallion Revolts
Black Stallion #9
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Realistic Animal Fiction for 5th-6th grade
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Black Stallion's Filly
Black Stallion #8
by Walter Farley
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Realistic Animal Stories for 4th-8th grade
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Black Stallion's Ghost
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by Walter Farley
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Blind Colt
A World Famous Horse Story Library selection
by Glen Rounds
from Holiday House
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Bombproof Your Horse
by Sgt. Rick Pelicano
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Book of the Dragon
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Boy and His Bear
by Harriet Graham
from Margaret K. McElderry Books
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Bringing Back the Wolves
by Jude Isabella; illustrated by Kim Smith
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Bunch Quitter
by Don Patton, illustrated by Paul Clowes
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Bushels of Bears
by Sue Hegarty, illustrated by Alice Shaw
from Zon International
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Call of the Wild
Dover Thrift Editions
by Jack London
from Dover Publications
Action/Adventure for 7th-10th grade
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Call of the Wild
Puffin Classics
by Jack London
from Puffin Books
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Call of the Wild
by Jack London, Michael Clay Thompson
from Royal Fireworks Press
Action/Adventure for 7th-10th grade
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Cat Who Went to Heaven
by Elizabeth Coatsworth
from Aladdin Paperbacks
Eastern Fairy Tale for 3rd-6th grade
1931 Newbery Medal winner
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Cat Who Went to Heaven
by Elizabeth Coatsworth
from Aladdin Paperbacks
Eastern Fairy Tale for 3rd-6th grade
1931 Newbery Medal winner
$6.99 $4.00 (3 in stock)
Cat Who Went to Heaven
by Elizabeth Coatsworth
PF from Collier Books
for 4th-6th grade
$2.50 (1 in stock)
Cats
Usborne Beginners
by Anna Milbourne
from Usborne
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in Usborne Beginners (Location: SCI-USBREA)
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Cats from Away
by Peter Parnall
from Macmillan
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Champion Dog Prince Tom
Weekly Reader Children's Book Club
by Jean Fritz and Tom Clute, Illustrated by Ernest Hart
from Coward McCann
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Chestnut
by Constance W. McGeorge, illustrated by Mary Whyte
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
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Chief Takes Over
by Helen Rushmore, Illustrated by Charles Geer
from Weekly Reader
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in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
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Children of Odin
by Padraic Colum, illustrated by Willy Pogany
from Macmillan
Norse Mythology for 3rd-8th grade
$40.00 (1 in stock)
Chinese Mythology: The Four Dragons
from PowerKids Press
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Comic Books & Graphic Novels (Location: FIC-COMIC)
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Chinese Siamese Cat
by Amy Tan, illustrated by Gretchen Schields
from Macmillan
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$8.00 (1 in stock)
Chipmunk Terrace
by John Oldrin, illustrated by Kurt Wiese
from Viking Press
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in Vintage Science & Math (Location: VIN-SCI)
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Chucaro
by Francis Kalnay
from Walker and Company
Realistic Fiction for 4th-6th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
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Cinchfoot
by Thomas C. Hinkle
from Grosset & Dunlap
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Come On, Seabiscuit!
by Ralph Moody
from University of Nebraska
Biography for 5th-9th grade
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Complete Horse Care Manual
from DK Publishing
for 5th-10th grade
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$12.00 (1 in stock)
Conditioning to Win
for Adult
in Raising Livestock & Animal Husbandry (Location: SS-FARM)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Cowboys with Penny the Mustang Pony
by Barbara Knight, Illustrated by Dale "Wink" Burgess
from Mustang Books
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Morality Tales (Location: FIC-WH05)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Coyote
by Stephen R. Swinburne
from Boyds Mill Press
for 2nd-5th grade
in Mammals (Location: SCI-MAM)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Cricket in Times Square
by George Selden, illustrated by Garth Williams
from Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Animal Fantasy for 3rd-6th grade
1961 Newbery Honor Book
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Dancing with Horses
from Trafalgar Square Publishing
in Raising Livestock & Animal Husbandry (Location: SS-FARM)
$18.00 (1 in stock)
Day No Pigs Would Die
by Robert Newton Peck
1994 Printing from Random House
Realistic Stories for 6th-9th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
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December Dog
by Jan M. Robinson; illustrated by Joan Sandin
from J.B. Lippincott Co.
for 3rd-6th grade
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$5.00 (1 in stock)
Detective Dinosaur
by James Skofield
from Barnes & Noble
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$4.50 (1 in stock)
Dick Whittington and His Cat
by Margaret Hodges, illustrated by Melisande Potter
from Holiday House
for Preschool-2nd grade
1951 Caldecott Honor Book
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$7.50 (2 in stock)
Digging Up Dinosaurs
by Aliki
from HarperCollins
for Preschool-3rd Grade
in Dinosaurs & Fossils (Location: SCI-DINO)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Dinosaur Activity Book
by Earl & Bonita Snellenberger
2015 Printing from Master Books
for Preschool-1st grade
in Dinosaurs & Fossils (Location: SCI-DINO)
$7.99 $5.50 (1 in stock)
Dinosaur Days
Step Into Reading 3
by Joyce Milton, Franco Tempesta
Revised from Random House Books for Young Readers
for 1st-3rd grade
in Step into Reading (Location: EAR-STEP)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Dinosaurs
Usborne Beginners
by Stephanie Turnbull
from Usborne
for 1st-2nd grade
in Usborne Beginners (Location: SCI-USBREA)
$2.70 (1 in stock)
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)
Dinotopia
by James Gurney
from Scholastic Inc.
for 4th-6th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Dinotopia: The World Beneath
by James Gurney
2012nd edition from Calla Editions
for 3rd-6th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Discover & Draw Dragons
by Eugene Caine
from Walter Foster
for 5th-Adult
in Dragons & Mythical Beasts (Location: FIC-DRAG)
$10.00 (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)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
DK Eyewitness: Horse
by Julie Clutton-Brock
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for 4th-6th grade
in Horses & Ponies (Location: SCI-MAMHOR)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
DK Eyewitness: Horse
DK Eyewitness Series
by Juliet Clutton-Brock
from DK Publishing
Science Reference for 4th-8th grade
in Horses & Ponies (Location: SCI-MAMHOR)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
DK Eyewitness: Viking
DK Eyewitness Series
by Susan M. Margeson
from DK Publishing
History Reference for 4th-8th grade
in Middle Ages (Location: HISW-MID)
$16.99 $9.00 (1 in stock)
DK Ultimate Horse
by Elwyn Hartley Edwards
from DK Publishing
for 3rd-6th grade
in Horses & Ponies (Location: SCI-MAMHOR)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Doctor De Soto Goes to Africa
by William Steig
Reprint from HarperCollins
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$6.99 $4.89 (1 in stock)
Dog for Davie's Hill
by Clare Bice
from Macmillan
for 3rd-5th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$6.00 (2 in stock)
Dogs
Usborne Beginners
by Emma Helbrough
from Usborne
for 1st-2nd grade
in Usborne Beginners (Location: SCI-USBREA)
$2.70 (1 in stock)
Dragon, Hound of Honor
by Julie Andrews Edwards and Emma Walton Hamilton
1st edition from HarperCollins
for 4th-8th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Dragons and Dragon Lore
2007th edition from Forgotten Books
for 7th-Adult
in Dragons & Mythical Beasts (Location: FIC-DRAG)
$7.00 (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)
Dry Bones and Other Fossils
by Gary & Mary Parker
2nd edition from Master Books
for 4th-6th grade
in Dinosaurs & Fossils (Location: SCI-DINO)
$11.19 $6.50 (3 in stock)
Duff: The Story of a Bear
by William Marshall Rush, illustrated by Gardell Dano Christensen
from David McKay Company
for 4th-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$25.00 (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)
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