Beauty in the Beasts PA: True Stories of Animals Who Choose to Do Good

by Kristin von Kreisler

Collects hundreds of true accounts, complemented by provocative scientific findings, about animals who have demonstrated extraordinary acts of compassion, love, and heroism, from a horse that protected a baby rabbit to a pot-bellied pig who saved its owner. Reprint.

Genres: Nonfiction, Animals

226 pages, Paperback

First published February 18, 2001

About the author

Kristin von Kreisler was born on October 4, the feast day of St. Francis of Assisi, and all her life she has loved and rescued animals. She writes bestselling books about them and has spoken about their welfare on Coast to Coast to 560 U.S. cities and on the Voice of America to 123 million people.

Only after rescuing a desperate laboratory beagle did it occur to her that she could also help animals by writing about them. After two critically acclaimed nonfiction books about animal emotion, she wrote four novels that feature beloved dogs, who protect and encourage their people through contemporary problems. In the national bestseller, AN UNEXPECTED GRACE, an artist and a golden retriever help each other recover from violence and abuse. In Kristin's most recent story, A REASON FOR HOPE, a Labrador retriever courthouse dog comforts a bookmobile librarian as she fights for justice after a grievous assault.

Kristin's award-winning books have been translated into twelve languages, and her articles have appeared in anthologies, textbooks, and national newspapers and magazines, such as the Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Stanford Magazine, Woman's Day, and Reader's Digest. She has taught English at the University of Hawaii and journalism at California State University at San Jose.

Kristin lives on an island in Washington with her husband, John, and their beloved Lab, Bridget. Kristin says she'd rather work in her garden than breathe. Her kale grows to looming giants, and her lavender and catmint are sirens calling bees. From her desk she watches ospreys and seals, and every hour a ferry passes by. She and John have just renovated a historic Victorian farmhouse, where the island's first postmistress and sheriff once lived with their seven children.

Reviews

[Corrie]

Unabashedly cried many times while reading this book. Ah, animals... this book made me think of a dog I had in Brazil, named Piggy. I was really sick for a few days, sicker than I've ever been, and instead of jumping on the bed and roughhousing with me like he usually would do, Piggy curled up on the hard tile floor. When I looked over the bed, he was right under me, and always looking up worriedly whenever I looked down. The comfort this dog gave was amazing. I LOVED that dog. And I LOVED this book!

[Rachel]

Clearly targeted at animal lovers (and who would want to target those who aren’t anyway), von Kreisler seeks to fight against scientists who try to reason away animals’ bravery, compassion, loyalty and love. The concept is a noble one, and it would be a cold, non-animal-loving heart that isn’t moved by at least a handful of tales within. However, I thought there were several instances where fighting so hard against a possible scientific reason weakened the author’s point. And I would have preferred fewer, more thorough (and better cited) anecdotes than being overloaded.

[Stephen Wallace]

Really liked the book a lot. Love dog stories, but the stories about all the other animals was also great. So many great little stories. Since they are short stories or even one liner examples, it is like bam, bam, bam little nice hits, instead of longer more knock-out stories that are even more developed. So many of them though to make it a great read I would recommend to everyone.

[Christine D]

I thought I'd love this (because I am an animal lover) but the writing was disjointed.

[Allison]

This book is so beautiful. It has tons of stories about animals that will make you laugh and cry. It made me look at my own dog in a new way. In what ways does she choose to do good? It also reminds us that, overall, the way we treat animals in our society is abysmal. Thank goodness for people like those in the stories and the author of this book who are urging us to wake up and see animals the way the really are. Overall, it was a fast and satisfying read.

[Kimberly]

I admit I only picked this book up because I'm hopelessly in love with the animals in my own life. Unfortunately, there's not really a lot of fact involved in this book. It's less a scientific discovery and more a book of cute, heartwarming stories. Regardless, I can never read more than a paragraph without getting choked up.

[LizG]

Finally, a book that takes animal behaviour at face value rather than limiting it with out-dated behavioural models. Anyone who has lived with and loved an animal won't be surprised at all by the many instances of love, devotion and caring that animals show for each other, not limited by species, and for humans.

[J.A.]

This is a deeply affecting book that shows the power of unconditional love and the animals who provide it. There are some anthropomorphising moments, but all in all, it's well done, engagingly told, and touching.

[Wendy]

A very quick read that will (likely) make you think about animals a little bit differently than you did prior to picking it up.

[Dallas Rising]

Full of lovely anecdotes about animals choosing to be kind, brave, resourceful, resilient, forgiving, and grateful.

[Laura]

Boring and rambling