Number one: For grown-ups

The review of Flight of the Goose first caught my eye because of some fantastically long and unfamiliar words, which turned out to be from Inupiaq, an Inuit dialect spoken in parts of Alaska. One of the story’s narrators is a scientist who studies birds.

The meeting of cultures that can occur when field biologists from the West venture to other parts of the world can be beautiful, negative, humorous* and transformative. The review suggests that there might be a little of each in this story.

Number two: For kids of all ages

The second book review was for, Give a Pig Pancake. It sounds like a fun way to think about cause and effect and the future as well as a silly, entertaining story. Pigs are amazingly smart and social animals, so maybe one could sneak in a little biology lesson as well!

According to the Amazon review, the moral of the story is “Give ‘em and inch, and they’ll take a mile.” To my way of thinking, “Be kind to pigs, who certainly don’t want to go to farms,” would be a more useful moral lesson. And it makes sense, given the story begins with the kindness of sharing pancakes and syrup!

Looking for some children’s books about animals?

I wrote a post about one with a conservation theme earlier this week. Check out I’m Lucy.

*I say this as someone who unwittingly mispronounced the word for “bird” for weeks or months, instead saying “ass.” I eventually figured something was up when I was constantly being asked to repeat myself.

Bonobos are a species of chimpanzee whose last remaining stands of habitat in Africa are severely threatened. Like other great apes, bonobos are our closest primate cousins. Fun facts about bonobos are woven into a larger message about conservation and caring for animals and the earth. Need another reason to order a copy of I’m Lucy? According to the website,

“All profits from I’m Lucy go to the Bonobo Conservation Initiative and
Jane Goodall’s Roots and Shoots program – organizations working to save
the bonobos and the Earth.”

The accompanying website, bonobokids.org, is fun and colorful. The pictures, sounds and music will appeal to many kids.

For the budding primatologist or eco-minded kid, I’m Lucy should be a fun and educational summertime hit. And what a great cause. And look at that face. Makes me wish I were a kid!

Here are the general guidelines:

1. Read at least 6 books that have any of these requirements:

a. an animal in the title of the book
b. an animal on the cover of the book
c. an animal that plays a major role in the book
d. a main character that is or turns into an animal (define that however you’d like ;>)).2. The animal can be any type of animal (real or fictitious)–dog, cat, monkey, wolf, snake, insect, hedgehog, aardvark…dragons, mermaids, centaurs, fairies, vampires…you get the idea…
3. Challenge runs from July 1, 2008 to June 30, 2009. You can still sign up after July 1st as long as you can get 6 books read by June 30th ;>).
4. Books can be fiction or nonfiction.

As I’ve mentioned before, reading is part of my work and my non-fiction reading is less of a cover-to-cover all at once phenom. The challenge for me, then, is not so much to read books about animals, as to read them in a more conventional way and post more conventional reviews.

What an Animal! book list

• Monkeyluv by Sapolsky
• The parrot who owns me by Bburger
• The animal that I therefore am by Derrida
• Watching Wildlife by Chris, and
• Baboon Metaphysics by Cheney and Seyfarth

Check out this good looking line up, eh?

Another edition of Weekly Geeks goodness from The Hidden Side of a Leaf. This time around, the theme is challenges.

I don’t participate in challenges, but see all the wonderful badges of so many Weekly Geeks who do.  Because I read non-fiction (almost) exclusively, I noticed there were fewer options.  There is an active non-fiction challenge now, but it kind of felt like cheating to sign up and then read what I’d already planned to read (Veteran book challengers - is that a faux pas or?).  What I decided to do instead was challenge myself to read a fiction book - and a fiction book that wasn’t about animals. Gasp!  It’s true.

The Boat by Nam Le is going to be reviewed in the LA Times next week and reviews looked interesting.  I also heard an interview with Le on the NPR Books podcast about a month ago.  So far I have only read the first chapter, which is about an author exploring his own multi-cultural identity by recalling his father’s stories and also inviting his father to recount those stories with him during a visit.

I checked out the entries of some other Geeks who are new to challenges (and may inspire me to take the plunge!).

I was inspired by Moo who just finished her first challenge.  Yay!  There’s even a handy post, What’s the appeal of reading challenges? which I have tagged for future reading.  Tasses at Random Wonder also admits to not being much for challenges, but she also wrote about her first experience with them recently, in My very first reading challenge.  (She’s also go lots of -ologies as categories that I’m looking forwad to checking out!)

Belated Scavenger Hunt thank yous!

Dewey was kind enough to list ReadingAnimals in the scavenger hunt for Week #8 - during a week when I was (coincidentally) out of town teaching a seminar.  Doh!  I can’t believe I missed it.  At any rate, a big thank you to Dewey (are you still having trouble commenting here?) and all the Weekly Geeks who visited during the scavenger hunt!

A few of the Weekly Geeks who linked here during the scavenger hunt were:

Just Books

Tiny Little Reading Room

Out of the Blue

Puss ReBoots

(I’ll be updating my blogroll soon. )

Greenland’s request to hunt humpback whales has been denied by the International Whaling Commission. The reason: the commercial nature of the hunt.

“But really it’s the volume and scale of trade in Greenlandic hunts that is simply not appropriate, and also the profit that’s being made by third parties such as supermarkets and a private company that’s processing the whales.”

–World Society for the Protection of Animals

And so let’s hope there is no whale meat on supermarket shelves next year. Or any year.

I remember seeing beautiful humpback mothers with their calves from the shore when I was staying on Nosy Boraha. I saw them swimming during the day - and could hear them clear their blow holes night when they were resting in a nearby cove - almost like snoring. I’m glad to know that fewer of them will be at risk because of this decision.

Then today I see that Philosophy titles are 20% off with free shipping. I’ve blown my summer book budget (and then some. Ouch!) but with these prices and the absolute certainty that I will get them at some point - hard to refuse.

Only got to get one? Get The feminist care tradition in animal ethics. Paper is only $12.25 and it is absolutely amazing. Truly I cannot recommend it highly enough.

I’m really looking forward to this one - look at the line up! Am looking forward to sharing with others who are reading this book. Please come back to post your thoughts and questions here

1. INTRODUCTION: NEVER FORGETTING THE IMPORTANCE OF ETHICAL TREATMENT OF ELEPHANTS
Christen Wemmer and Catherine A. Christen

PART I. OVERVIEW OF ELEPHANT PHILOSOPHY AND SCIENCE

2. ELEPHANTS IN TIME AND SPACE
Raman Sukumar

3. PERSONHOOD, MEMORY, AND ELEPHANT MANAGEMENT
Gary Varner

4. ELEPHANT SOCIALITY AND COMPLEXITY
Joyce H. Poole and Cynthia J. Moss

5. ELEPHANTS, ETHICS, AND HISTORY
Nigel Rothfels

6. PAIN, STRESS, AND SUFFERING IN ELEPHANTS: WHAT IS THE EVIDENCE AND HOW CAN WE MEASURE IT?
Janine L. Brown, Nadja Wielebnowski, and Jacob V. Cheeran

PART II. ELEPHANTS IN THE SERVICE OF PEOPLE: CULTURAL DIFFERENCES AND ETHICAL RELATIVITY

7. ELEPHANTS AND PEOPLE IN INDIA HISTORICAL PATTERNS OF CAPTURE AND MANAGEMENT
Dhriti K. Lahiri Choudhury

8. CARROTS AND STICKS, PEOPLE AND ELEPHANTS: RANK, DOMINATION, AND TRAINING
John Lehnhardt and Marie Galloway

CANVAS TO CONCRETE : ELEPHANTS AND THE CIRCUS-ZOO RELATIONSHIP
Michael D. Kreger

10. WHY CIRCUSES ARE UNSUITED TO ELEPHANTS
Lori Alward

11. VIEW FROM THE BIG TOP: WHY ELEPHANTS BELONG IN NORTH AMERICAN CIRCUSES
Dennis Schmitt

12. THE CHALLENGES OF MEETING THE NEEDS OF CAPTIVE ELEPHANTS
Jane Garrison

13. MOST ZOOS DO NOT DESERVE ELEPHANTS
David Hancocks

14. ZOOS AS RESPONSIBLE STEWARDS OF ELEPHANTS
Michael Hutchins, Brandie Smith, and Mike Keele

15. CAN WE ASSESS THE NEEDS OF ELEPHANTS IN ZOOS: CAN WE MEET THE NEEDS OF ELEPHANTS IN ZOOS?
Jill D. Mellen, Joseph C. E. Barber, and Gary W. Miller

16. GIANTS IN CHAINS: HISTORY, BIOLOGY, AND PRESERVATION OF ASIAN ELEPHANTS IN CAPTIVITY
Fred Kurt, Khyne U Mar, and Marion E. Garaï

PART III. ELEPHANTS AND PEOPLE IN NATURE: THE ETHICS OFCONFLICTS AND ACCOMMODATIONS

17. RESTORING INTERDEPENDENCE BETWEEN PEOPLE AND ELEPHANTS: A SRI LANKAN CASE STUDY
Lalith Seneviratne and Greg D. Rossel

18. SUMATRAN ELEPHANTS IN CRISIS: TIME FOR CHANGE
Susan K. Mikota, Hank Hammatt, and Yudha Fahrimal

19. HUMAN-ELEPHANT CONFLICTS IN AFRICA: WHO HAS THE RIGHT OF WAY?
Winnie Kiiru

20. PLAYING ELEPHANT GOD: ETHICS OF MANAGING WILD AFRICAN ELEPHANT POPULATIONS
Ian Whyte and Richard Fayrer-Hosken

21. TOWARD AN ETHIC OF INTIMACY: TOURING AND TROPHY HUNTING FOR ELEPHANTS IN AFRICA
Rebecca Hardin

22. THE ETHICS OF GLOBAL ENFORCEMENT: ZIMBABWE AND THE POLITICS OF THE IVORY TRADE
Rosaleen Duffy

The Month of Elephants series was a series that I initiated back in May out of my frustration with the rhetoric of institutions that exploit and harm elephants. As this project has finally come to a close, I wanted to take a moment to reflect on the series.

The series included posts on how we think about elephants, the ways in which elephants live their lives and, sometimes, their suffering. We also looked at practices that influence human-elephant relations, especially in cases where those relations are rife with conflict. There were posts about elephants in the wild and in captivity. In addition to covering the arts - books, film and live performance, we also took a look at science as a tool for knowing and protecting elephants.

I enjoyed writing the series very much and appreciated what the comments and ensuing dialogue added to the mix. Elephants will surely continue to inspire posts at ReadingAnimals. Please watch for them.

Animal rights groups fear for health of elephants, including pregnant mother

Editorial board “underwhelmed” by zoo claims that elephants thrive in zoos

Elephant, other animals used in circus survive truck crash; freed with jaws of life

Man in UK caught with dozens of illegal elephant tusks

One injured elephant survives an attack, another dies in unrelated incident