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    Unlikely Friendships: 47 Remarkable Stories from the Animal Kingdom
    Unavailable
    Unlikely Friendships: 47 Remarkable Stories from the Animal Kingdom
    Unavailable
    Unlikely Friendships: 47 Remarkable Stories from the Animal Kingdom
    Ebook224 pages1 hour

    Unlikely Friendships: 47 Remarkable Stories from the Animal Kingdom

    By Jennifer S. Holland

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    The “irresistible” New York Times bestseller that “features heartwarming stories of interspecies love and adorable photographs” (The New York Times Book Review).

    Written by National Geographic magazine writer Jennifer Holland, Unlikely Friendships documents one heartwarming tale after another of animals who, with nothing else in common, bond in the most unexpected ways. A cat and a bird. A mare and a fawn. An elephant and a sheep. A snake and a hamster. The well-documented stories of Koko the gorilla and All Ball the kitten; and the hippo Owen and the tortoise Mzee. And almost inexplicable stories of predators befriending prey—an Indian leopard slips into a village every night to sleep with a calf. A lionness mothers a baby oryx.

    Holland narrates the details and arc of each story, and offers insights into why—how the young leopard, probably motherless, sought maternal comfort with the calf, and how a baby oryx inspired the same mothering instinct in the lionness. Or, in the story of Cashew, the lab mix that was losing his eyesight, and Libby, the stray cat who began to guide the dog’s way through the house and yard. With Libby, Cashew lived out his last few years with loving support and a lasting friendship.

    These are the most amazing friendships between species, collected from around the world and documented in a selection of full-color candid photographs.

    “The feel-good book of the summer—maybe the year—may very well be Unlikely Friendships.” —USA Today

    “With aww-inducing photographs, the book highlights the most improbable animal connections.” —National Geographic
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherOpen Road Integrated Media
    Release dateJun 15, 2011
    ISBN9780761165316
    Unavailable
    Unlikely Friendships: 47 Remarkable Stories from the Animal Kingdom
    Author

    Jennifer S. Holland

    Jennifer S. Holland is a contributing writer for National Geographic. She has also written for, among others, The Discovery Channel, NPR, and The New York Times, specializing in science and natural history.  

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    Reviews for Unlikely Friendships

    4/5

    92 ratings14 reviews

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    • 4/5
      This was a very sweet book. It's about the friendships that developed between species of (mostly) animals who don't usually associate with each other. The stories are accompanied by beautiful photographs which highlight the warmth and affection each of the animal friends derives from and gives to the other.My only complaint about this book is that, after a while, the stories seem to run into each other so that each individual story doesn't get the special attention it needs. I prefer to read a single nonfiction book about animal relationships for this reason. However, there often isn't enough to tell about just one animal's relationship with another animal.I particularly liked the story that highlighted a dog's interaction with a school of dolphins. Now that was very unusual!
    • 5/5
      Beautiful book about animals accepting and befriending other species. More than just friends, some animals actually bonded for life--like the story of "Owen & Mzee." Wonderful life lessons, gorgeous photographs.
    • 4/5
      Whether it's maternal instinct, need for warmth, bonding or love, the animals featured in Unlikely Friendships have displayed an emotional intelligence that is difficult to fathom making it more wondrous and stunning. Holland is a good storyteller but I do wish some of the stories were longer. Go ahead and enjoy!
    • 4/5
      Cute stories about "friendships" across species. Some of the stories are quite good, but some stretch the idea of friendship.
    • 5/5
      Anyone who loves animal stories, animal photography, and being awed by animal behavior will love, love, love this book. Some of the stories have sad moments, but all are hopeful. Others are beyond incredible. It's unconscionable that scientists might still suggest animals can't make emotional bonds or don't have emotions -- there's more than enough in these stories to melt the heart of even the most stoic nonbeliever. Amazing, remarkable, and utterly beautiful. I borrowed this book from the library, but I will definitely be purchasing my own copy.
    • 3/5
      What a delightful read. This is a lovely book filled with stories and beautiful images of out-of the ordinary bonds formed by species that normally do not relate.It gives me hope for humankind that perhaps, just perhaps one day we can do the same:
    • 5/5
      A wonderful book, choc full of heartwarming and sometimes surprising stories of many breeds of dogs, their friends and companions.The photographs are lovely too!I was given a digital copy of this book by the publisher Workman Publishing Co., via Netgalley in return for an honest unbiased review.
    • 3/5
      Jennifer Holland's introduction is well written and informative. She discusses the debate about animal emotions and cites Marc Bekoff on Darwin's idea that Evolutionary continuity... stresses that there are differences in degrees rather than in kind between humans and other animals. That applies to emotions. We share many bodily systems, including the limbic system, where emotions are rooted. So if we have joy or sorrow, they have it too. It isn't the same joy or the same sorrow. But the differences are shades of gray, not black versus while. Regarding friendship, Holland defines it as seeking comfort or companionship from another to improve one's own life experience...Even if friendship is had only briefly, it is a plus. And in all of the cases..the animals are arguably better off--more confident, physically stronger, in higher spirits--after finding each other than they were before.The book shows great photographs of relationships between animals, both wild and tame, both male and female, some as short as a few hours, some lasting a life time. The pictures themselves are inspirational, the prose that accompanies them is less so.
    • 4/5
      Excellent nonfiction for animal lovers! Each of these short chapters is a separate story of animals who found each other and developed a bond. Some of the animal pairs only spent a short time together, and others have spent years together. For some, there are reasonable biological explanations for the behavior: one animal has lost its baby, and chooses another to foster and adopt, two animals bond over a common need, or an orphaned animal seeks out another to be its parent or protector. But some stories are just mysterious -- at the Berlin zoo, Muschi the cat and Mausschen the black bear have been inseparable for a decade, and in Mombasa, Kenya, an orphaned hippo and a 130-year-old tortoise (Owen and Mzee) have developed a sort of communication and traded behaviors and eating habits. Narrated by the author, there are plenty of photographs and side graphics containing information about the different species in the stories. 6th grade and up.
    • 5/5
      Highly recommend this book to anyone who loves animals. This is such a great feel good, positive book. Each segment has at least one picture, and the stories that accompany the pictures are no longer than 4 pages, so this is a real easy book to just pick up and read a bit, and come back when you'd like.
    • 5/5
      CollectionsPicture bookGrade: 4-10InformationalUnlikely Friendships is an absolutely adorable book to read cover-to-cover, or to simply browse. I really like how every other page has a new story describing an unlikely animal friendship from around the world. Sometimes informational texts can seem a bit overwhelming, but because of the variety and multitude of short stories, it is a fun and inviting read. One of the unlikely friendships described in the book is an African Elephant and a sheep. There is a photograph and then a description of how the two became friends. "At just six months of age, Themba the elephant suffered a terrible loss: His mother fell off a cliff while moving with their herd through the South African nature reserve where they lived. At such a critical time for mother-son bonding, veterinarians hoped another female in the herd would adopt the baby, but none did. So they decided to find a surrogate outside the elephant family to help Themba" (Holland, 1). Another Aspect that I really enjoy about this book is the pictures. This book has an incredible amount of beautiful wildlife photography. There are at least two pictures for every "story" written. This book's overall message of friendship over adversity and unconditional love is just as beautiful as the photography. I enjoyed reading this informational text and would recommend it to people of many different ages.
    • 5/5
      From some of the reviews I have seen this book wasn't given a lot of stars due to the fact that it wasn't scientific enough or full of lengthier details that may give away the "magical bonding factor". In my opinion if this book had been made to a scientific factor it would have lost its power to reach the everyday human for what is life if you cannot wonder. The pictures are beautiful and inspiring just like the stories. The author gives you enough background of the animals' relationships in easy to read stories so you aren't trying to drag up the computer every few minutes to check on some fact that may intrigue you but seems to skip out of the reason. And there are also other included facts such as specific animal breeds and scientific facts for those who are interested in them. In my opinion the author does a great job in writing the book the way it is to be presented. Whether tragic or joyful, skeptical or believable, these stories reach to the heart and give us a chance to truly admit there is more to life than instincts, programmed responses and strict boundaries. I strongly recommend this to animal-lovers, children and anyone who wants to know that we are not alone in this big old world.
    • 3/5
      A quick read, that was surprisingly sad, and surprisingly smart, given its cutesy cover and premise. Each story is a couple pages long, along with pictures of the animals standing next to each other, or cuddling. I needed a light fluffy read, not the rage-enducing story about endangered species being killed by poachers, or the tear-inducing ending of one half of some of these pairings dying. The writing itself is a little simplistic, but makes for an easy read, and I found myself more interested in the psychology behind animal behavior than the actual stories in some cases. (There is commentary by Goodall and Barbary King, but only snippets, here and there.) I do want to read more about some of these animals. Most of them, actually. So two stars down because I was blindsided by the depressing and rage-inducing bits, and because I wanted more meat to each story. (While each story was complete, I felt like I'd just started to get to know the animals, and then I was moved onto a different story. Perhaps I would have enjoyed another book - an unwritten book? - that delved into the psychology, and physiology, of why these animals got together. Three or four pages of mid-sized glossed over a lot of what could have made these stories more interesting, and that could have made me feel more for these stories, I think. Anyway, I did cry when some of the pairings, or more, had to part, so it did affect me emotionally, even when they were sadder than I would have liked, and I smiled at the happy endings. I was intrigued enough to look for more about Koko and All Ball, although I couldn't really find anything. I'm looking forward to reading Unlikely Loves. Library book.
    • 5/5
      I fully believe animals have much to offer to each other, and to humans, in many ways. We can learn from them. This book illustrates this fact.Jennifer Holland has captured 47 truly incredible stories of bonds between animals. These are stories of true, heartfelt connections. Accompanying each story is amazing photography of the animals showing their bond.Some of these unlikely friendships are those between a cat and a lizard, a monkey and a dove, a dog and a fish, and even a friendship between a pit bull, cat and baby chicks!Most people have heard the classic story of Koko, the 230 pound gorilla who had been taught sign language. It was a surprise when she signed that she wanted a pet kitten. Koko's favorite stories were "Puss in Boots" and "The Three Little Kitten's". For Koko's birthday, she was allowed to choose her pick of a litter of kittens. She chose a tail-less grey kitten, who she named "All Ball". Koko then treated him as a mother gorilla would her own infant. The entire story is beautifully recounted in this book.I am reminded of my dog, Maisie, a Shetland Sheepdog. In her 16+ years, Maisie was surrogate mother to many kittens and bunnies that I rescued. We called her "Auntie Maisie". She did everything for them, but feed them. It made no difference to her that they were not puppies (or that she was spayed). She was patient and loving, and she knew that was what they needed.That is the theme of this book: love and the connection that it offers. Love goes beyond species and breed. It is the common thread of life, holding us all together. The need for love is universal, promoting growth, healing and well-being.Each and every story here will leave you feeling refreshed, restored, and renewed. Yes, indeed, we have much to learn from the animal kingdom, if we only would watch from our heart and listen with our soul.This book is for all ages, all people, and one to be enjoyed through the ages, again and again. There should be sequels. This is a very special book.