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Helping Our Animal Friends
Children demonstrate proper care of pets and of sick or helpless wild animals who may need our help from time to time.
- GenresNonfictionAnimals
31 pages, Hardcover
Published January 1, 1985
About the author
Judith E. Rinard
20 booksJudith E. Rinard is a freelance writer who worked for more than 20 years as staff writer for National Geographic. She has written extensively - both books and articles - on subjects as diverse as astronauts, whales and dolphins, and ancient cities.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
July 11, 2011
“A mixed bag” is how I’d describe the book Helping Our Animal Friends. On one hand, it models compassionate behavior, such as children diligently caring for their pets and meeting adult professionals such as veterinarians and wildlife rehabilitators. On the other hand, a few of the values expressed will have some animal-friendly parents cringing.
The cringing begins on page 4, which shows a young girl looking after her cat, who is nursing a litter. Parents and teachers could use this as a “teachable moment”: the best way to help our animal friends is to have them spayed and neutered so they don’t bring any more surplus litters into the world.
Some decent stuff for the next few pages, and then on page 13 we have a school hatching project. Ducklings are shown hatching in a wooden incubator as a child watches, with the rather over-optimistic assurance that “The school will find good homes for the ducklings.” Wishful thinking.
A few pages later comes a passage that will bother veg*n parents in particular:
Many children who live on farms raise animals as projects for 4-H clubs. … Many boys and girls learn about farm animals by joining clubs such as 4-H. The clubs teach grooming and other skills needed to care for animals.
The illustrations show two girls grooming a young sheep and an Angus steer, and another girl polishing the hooves of a horse. What is not mentioned is the ultimate fate of that lamb and steer in the 4-H program. So while grooming and feeding animals is important, some of us are going to question whether the betrayal that occurs at the end of this relationship is indeed “helping our animal friends.”
Other potentially problematic images show five large goldfish kept in an unfiltered, un-aerated fishbowl, and two parakeets housed in a very small old-fashioned birdcage.
It’s true, Friends does contain some very positive content. But some of the questionable attitudes displayed (especially the irresponsibility of allowing pets to give birth to litters) will have some parents and teachers looking elsewhere, such as the similar (but more responsible) book The Pets You Love.
Helping Our Animal Friends (Books for Young Explorers)
by Judith E. Rinard
The cringing begins on page 4, which shows a young girl looking after her cat, who is nursing a litter. Parents and teachers could use this as a “teachable moment”: the best way to help our animal friends is to have them spayed and neutered so they don’t bring any more surplus litters into the world.
Some decent stuff for the next few pages, and then on page 13 we have a school hatching project. Ducklings are shown hatching in a wooden incubator as a child watches, with the rather over-optimistic assurance that “The school will find good homes for the ducklings.” Wishful thinking.
A few pages later comes a passage that will bother veg*n parents in particular:
Many children who live on farms raise animals as projects for 4-H clubs. … Many boys and girls learn about farm animals by joining clubs such as 4-H. The clubs teach grooming and other skills needed to care for animals.
The illustrations show two girls grooming a young sheep and an Angus steer, and another girl polishing the hooves of a horse. What is not mentioned is the ultimate fate of that lamb and steer in the 4-H program. So while grooming and feeding animals is important, some of us are going to question whether the betrayal that occurs at the end of this relationship is indeed “helping our animal friends.”
Other potentially problematic images show five large goldfish kept in an unfiltered, un-aerated fishbowl, and two parakeets housed in a very small old-fashioned birdcage.
It’s true, Friends does contain some very positive content. But some of the questionable attitudes displayed (especially the irresponsibility of allowing pets to give birth to litters) will have some parents and teachers looking elsewhere, such as the similar (but more responsible) book The Pets You Love.
Helping Our Animal Friends (Books for Young Explorers)
by Judith E. Rinard
November 21, 2012
Helping Our Animal Friends by Judith E. Rinard is a great book. I personally love animals and I think this book does a great jobs showing and telling children how to help and take care of animals. It talks about sheep, cows, horses, cats, dogs, birds, rats and many other animals. The pictures show kids taking care of animals and keeping them healthy. The text goes along with the pictures to help explain what is going on and why it is important. This could be used and read to to young readers or kept in a class library for older readers as well.
July 6, 2009
Great pictures.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews