Book Review
Conquering the Food Chain - Living Amongst Animals Without Becoming One
by Stacy Mantle
Publisher: Southwest Educational Publishing, AZ
ISBN: 0-9716575-0-5
Ordering Information: Click here
Web Site: http://geocities.com/stacymantle/
Book Review by your Guide, Janet Crosby Tobiassen DVM

Guide Rating -

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In this humorous and touching book about living with a large assortment of pets, author Stacy Mantle had me chuckling out loud to myself more than once.

Stacy Mantle has quite a variety of pets -- from a coyote to a turtle -- and they all live in their own little "pet planet" under her roof. Harmoniously? Well, for the most part. Harmonious living is usually a work in progress (for all of us!).

This book is a wonderful perspective of how "ordinary" events are viewed through our pet's eyes. Everything from a simple game of "Cicada Chase" to what to do when the alpha of the pack (this would be the author) falls ill.

The book is composed of small essay-like chapters that are an excellent way to relax and end a busy day with a smile on your face. One of my favorite chapters was "Falling Into The Food Chain", where Stacy happens to fall while vacuuming and cannot get up (this is not the funny part...yet). Her pets think that this is quite a fun game, and are seemingly amazed at how "into" the game she is as she crawls to the nearest telephone. What fun!

I also enjoyed the chapters on Cat Games - "Hockey" and "The Cicada Chase". Hockey is scored on the basis of how many times the human must be involved in the game -- i.e. to quiet the players or get off of the couch to settle things down. Cicada is scored on the basis of how long the poor bug can survive the multi-cat player chaos. I laughed knowingly, as I have experienced both of these spectator sports in my own household. (Usually involving an insect other than a cicada, but the game was the same.)

For a peek at what this book has to offer, you can read a selection that was featured on this site in the Viewer Viewpoint, titled, "Do Animals Have Souls?" (Titled "On Animals And Emotions" in the book.)

This book makes a wonderful gift for yourself, for all of the pet lovers in your life, and for all of the people who don't know they are pet lovers... yet.

MORE:
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Text: Copyright © Janet Tobiassen Crosby. All rights reserved.

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