Animals Can Be Almost Human

by Alma E. Guiness (Editor), Nicholas Calabrese (Art Director), Katherine R. O'Hare (Contributing Editor)

An anthology of 82 stories including 3 book condensations, about the exloits of a variety of real animals.

Genres: Nonfiction, Short Stories

416 pages, Hardcover

First published May 1, 1979

Reviews

[Beverly]

82 excellent short and longer animal stories. Stories are hilarious/humorous; heart-warming, and/or heart-wrenching. The gamut covers mostly mammals, both wild and domestic, birds, an octopus, and a fish. Some are suitable to be read to young children, as long as the parent checks out the story first, to make sure it is appropriate for their child. One that I recommend for all ages is the hilarious "Monkeys Out on the Town" about 80 monkeys that escaped from a pet store and wreaked havoc in New York City. "An Armful of Gorilla" was another very funny story. Several entries were condensed from books, including: Sandy: The True Story of a Rare Sandhill Crane Who Joined Our Family, by Dayton O. Hyde, Operation Rhino by John Gordon Davis, How Do You Spank a Porcupine? by Ronald Rood,A Skunk in the House by Constance Taber Colby, A Lion Called Christian: The True Story of the Remarkable Bond Between Two Friends and a Lion by Anthony Bourke, The Incredible Journey by Sheila Burnford, Innocent Killers by Hugo van Lawick, and Time Is Short and the Water Rises: Operation Gwam Ba: The Story of the Rescue of 10,000 Animals from Certain Death in a South American Rain Forest by John Walsh. An excellent anthology.

[Laura Susan Johnson]

I was given this huge animal storybook as a gift in 1980. Within this book are numerous inspiring stories that prove animals are sentient, loving, mischievious beings, just like humans! I still have my copy, beaten and weathered by time, but still filled with its powerful tales. My favorites include "So Long, Voyageur," "Proud Head" "ESP Freddie and Me" and "The Tale of That Rabbit".

[Ashley]

#
NC
Own in hardback.

FS: "When the spring flights of Canada geese steered north above our place, my wild gander, Voyageur, was reminded of faraway places I hoped he had forgotten."

LS: "A grown-up could hardly have stood it."

[Lara]

I read the stories in this Reader's Digest anthology over and over again as a kid and they were the springboard into the full versions of many real-life animal classics.

[R]

I absolutely read this with the intention of sharing with my nephews all over Wyoming who I know will appreciate this book.

[Lorraine]

It took us almost four months to read this, and the kiddo and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I was given this compilation of animal stories that had been featured in Reader's Digest in the 80s and really enjoyed it as a kid.

Rereading as an adult, I noticed a fair amount of casual racism in the stories that feature characters of color or are set in places outside the Western world that I did not pick up on as a kid. I tried to modify and/or contextualize that for the kiddo as I was reading. I also had forgotten how sad a lot of these stories are (with a lot of them ending in animal death). Those two things kept this volume from being a five star read for me.

[Kelly]

Depressing. So many of the stories had a sad ending. And I realize these stories happened over 50 years ago, but the way things with animals & the animals themselves were handled then was INFURIATING!!

[Beverly Stewart]

I've read this book multiple times. Such great & true animal stories. Just read it again, because I was passing it on to my 9 yo granddaughter who loves animals.

[Cierra]

This was a good book it had a lot of good shot stories.