Tonya Plank's Blog, page 3
October 24, 2017
Witty Kitty: Review of Living the Farm Sanctuary Life
Our sister Sofia reading Living the Farm Sanctuary Life by Gene Baur with Gene Stone, which we found at Changing Hands Bookstore in Tempe, AZ.
We loved this book! It’s a nice, big, glossy coffee table book by the founder of the Farm Sanctuary in Woodstock, NY, Gene Baur. It’s a combination of little vignettes illustrating what it’s like to live at the sanctuary, where your friends consist of cows, pigs, chickens, turkeys, goats, sheep, and ducks, stories about some of the animals and how they came to live there, lovely photos of the animal residents and the people who come to visit, facts about the health benefits – both mental and physical – of eating a plant-based diet, and really wonderful vegan recipes! Witty Kitty can’t wait to try some of these – particularly the Wild Mushroom and Spinach Roulade, the Osso Vita (using parsley root instead of deer bone), and the Lobster Mushroom Tostada Tower. Not to even mention the desserts: Salted Caramel Chocolate Bliss Bites, need I say more!
The book also gives you tidbits on how to find some good cheese and dairy replacements. Witty kitty loves cheese, so knowing some quality artisan cheese companies are out there – like Kite Hill, Dr-Cow, and Miyoko’s Kitchen – is very helpful! They also give you some good sources of protein, such as beans, and tempeh, which WK has heard a lot about and must try.
But the best thing about this book is the happy little stories about some of the animals who live there, such as Opie, the calf who was born on a freezing NY morning in a dairy farm still wet from birth, who nearly died. The dairy farmer was just going to let him die when he was found by a member of Farm Sanctuary, who, despite the veterinarian’s warnings that he wouldn’t live, took him in anyway. After keeping 24-hour watch on him, his body temperature improved and Opie began eating well, mooing happily, and frolicking with the other cows. He grew to be a gentle giant, weighing nearly 3000 pounds, and a favorite of cows and human visitors alike, living for 18 years.
Another story features a hog farmer who became fond of a runt he managed to nurse to good health. His friendship with the little pig grew so that, after ten years, he could no longer bring himself to continue to raise pigs for slaughter. He ended up becoming a vegetarian.
And those are only a couple of the stories. There’s also a section on how to dress stylishly and vegan! Sweet, informative, fun book with lots of colorful pics!
October 14, 2017
Witty Kitty: Review of THE ONE AND ONLY IVAN
Our sister, Rhea, poses with our copy of the book. Ivan’s coloring on the cover kind of matches her coat 
October 12, 2017
Witty Kitty: Review of THE RIGHT SIDE by Spencer Quinn
From Witty Kitty’s book blog:
Because this is a book featuring a dog – and a black dog at that – we have graciously allowed our sister, Sofia, to model it
From Witty Kitty: A Review of the Movie BORN IN CHINA
In the plane on her way to Italy late this summer, Witty Kitty saw this most amazing movie, Born in China, a documentary about three animal families living in the harsh wilds of China. The film began and ended with the family WK found by far the most fascinating (though all three were tremendously interesting) – Dawa, a snow leopard, and her two adorable little cubs. Dawa – WK’s Big Auntie in the Wild! – fiercely struggles to get food for her little ones, after another leopard, aided unfairly by his male companions – steals prey she has killed and then takes over her lair. She is forced off her land, and ventures to another area, but there is less prey there. Okay, WK does not normally like to watch these National Geographic movies where you see predators kill their prey, but you just couldn’t take your eyes off Dawa as she tries and tries to get food for her little cubs. It was heartbreaking. And when WK got back home, she did some research and found that lots of viewers – not just cats! – were most enthralled with Dawa, and sought out the filmmaker to find out what had happened to the cubs after filming ended.
The movie also follows a mother panda as she raises her baby to adulthood, when she will part ways with her – since pandas are solitary animals, and a rebellious little golden snub-nosed monkey who joins a group of hooligan monkeys called The Lost Boys after fighting with his father over a new little sister. That story was a lot of fun too, and had a happy ending. And, while the credits roll, the monkeys are shown playing with the camera equipment!
Seriously, what’s so amazing about this film is how the filmmaker was able to capture the animals’ thoughts and emotions through their facial expressions and body movement. And how human that emotion was. I kept thinking the animals must have been either very real-looking puppets or visual tricks in order to be able to “act” their roles in the stories. I was surprised to find that it was all real footage. Real animals, real footage, real stories that are so human.
WK (and her human!) highly recommend! Five scrumptious bonito flakes!
Above photo of Dawa and the cubs taken from CinemaBlend.
September 28, 2017
New Name for Tumblr: Witty Kitty’s Book Blog
I have once again changed the name of my Tumblr book blog, this time from To A Mouse: An Animal Lit Blog, to Witty Kitty’s Book Blog
August 6, 2017
I Did Goat Yoga!
Yesterday I went out to Welcome Home Ranch in Gilbert and had my first AZ goat yoga class! It was basically about 10 minutes of yoga and 50 minutes of adult petting zoo 
July 23, 2017
TO A MOUSE: “We Are Not the Only Species Who Grieves.”
Again, from the To a Mouse blog:
Yesterday was a hard day for me. I attended the funeral of a co-worker, 35, who died of pancreatic cancer. Later, I went to a talk at Changing Hands bookstore given by Terry Tempest Williams discussing her latest book, The Hour of Land. The talk was rather sobering given all that’s going on to privatize and potentially destroy those miraculous lands. But she told a little story about her visit to Yellowstone National Park that I thought was beautiful and fitting for my new animal lit blog and wanted to share.
She and her husband wished to catch a glimpse of white wolves, so they found a little lookout over a canyon bed, where they saw a bison carcass being eaten by several coyotes and birds. Their guide told them that yesterday the bison had given birth to a stillborn calf and hungry wolves had attacked her during this vulnerable moment. They continued watching as suddenly the coyotes’ hackles rose and the birds quickly fluttered away, followed by the coyotes. They then saw a majestic white wolf, who came down from the hill, licking his lips. He ate more of the carcass. The next day, they returned in hopes of seeing the wolves again. Instead, they saw that the carcass had been completely eaten. Only the skeleton remained. Soon, a trail of bison appeared. They walked in a line toward the bison’s bones, then walked in a circle around her, their pacing identical, their bodies evenly spaced apart. They made a circle three times, then stopped and lowered their heads toward her bones. After a moment, they raised their heads and walked, again in a line, their bodies evenly spaced, up the hill, leaving only one small buffalo, who stayed with the mother.
She let us envision it for a moment, then said, (I’m paraphrasing) “We are not the only species who loves, who feels, who thinks, who grieves.” Yes, something anyone who’s a close observer of animals knows very well.
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July 20, 2017
TO A MOUSE Blog: PAX by Sara Pennypacker
I loved this book so much. Couldn’t put it down. I’ve been reading so many really compelling children’s books. In some ways they are more full of compassion and heart and soul than many adult books these days.
This is the story of a boy and his little fox named Pax. The boy finds Pax as a small cub and raises him to fox-hood. The setting is rather timeless and placeless. The boy and his father live in the country somewhere near a forest and there’s a war about to begin. But it’s not the Civil War era; it’s a modern war because the father, an engineer, is called upon to create land mines. When the father must leave, he takes the boy to live with an elderly relative, who can’t live with animals. This means the boy must drop Pax off in the forest.
As Pax tries to learn how to survive in the wild, the boy worries that Pax will get killed. The story alternates back and forth between the two, as they search for each other. I won’t say how it ends but it’s full of truth and beauty and love. Both characters stole my heart and I will never forget Pax.
I recently visited Joshua Tree National Park. In their gift shop I found a photo of a fox. It reminded me of little Pax, so I bought it and hung it on my wall.
July 18, 2017
July 16, 2017
TO A MOUSE: Fenway and Hattie
Here’s another review on my new blog, To A Mouse: An Animal Lit Blog. I won’t link to all of them, just my faves
