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This entertaining and inspiring collection explores the minds, lives, and mysteries of animals as diverse as house cats, hawks, sharks, octopuses, dogs, lions, and even snails
In this, their first joint book venture, celebrated animal writers Sy Montgomerie and Elizabeth Marshall Thomas draw on stories of animals both wild and domestic, to put humans back into the animal world. The more we learn about what other animals think and do, they explain, the more we understand ourselves as animals, too. Writes Montgomery, "The list of attributes once thought to be unique to our species – from using tools to waging war – is not only rapidly shrinking, but starting to sound less and less impressive when we compare them with other animals' powers".
With humour, empathy, and introspection, Montgomery and Thomas look into the lives of all kinds of creatures – from man's best friend to the great white shark – and examine the ways we connect with our fellow species. Both authors have devoted their lives to sharing the animal kingdom's magic with others, and their combined wisdom is an indispensable contribution to the field of animal literature.
Researching articles, films, and her twenty-one books for adults and children, bestselling author Sy Montgomery has been chased by an angry silverback gorilla in Rwanda, hunted by a tiger in India, and swum with piranhas, electric eels, and pink dolphins in the Amazon. Her work has taken her from the cloud forest of Papua New Guinea (for a book on tree kangaroos) to the Altai Mountains of the Gobi (for another on snow leopards.) Her books for adults include The Soul of an Octopus (a National Book Award finalist), The Good Good Pig, Birdology, Spell of the Tiger, Journey of the Pink Dolphins, and Walking with the Great Apes. She lives in New Hampshire with her husband, the writer Howard Mansfield, their border collie, Thurber, and their flock of free-range laying hens.
One of the most widely read authors on anthropology and animals, both wild and domestic, Elizabeth Marshall Thomas has observed dogs, cats, elephants, and humans during her 50 year long career, all of which was inspired by her lengthy trips to Africa as a young woman. Her many books include Dreaming of Lions, The Hidden Life of Dogs, The Social Lives of Dogs, The Tribe of Tiger, The Old Way, and The Hidden Life of Deer. She lives in New Hampshire.
