Synopses & Reviews
From the author of the New York Times bestseller* Why You Shouldn?t Eat Your Boogers and Other Useless (or Gross) Information About Your Body: the be-all and end-all compendium of odd, quirky, and otherwise nauseating information. H ere is another thoroughly distasteful yet utterly compelling book from the author of the New York Times (extended list) bestseller Why You Shouldn?t Eat Your Boogers and Other Useless (or Gross) Information About Your Body. In Why Fish Fart and Other Useless (or Gross) Information About the World, Francesca Gould sifts through the world?s most unpleasant creatures, diseases, physical deformities, culinary delicacies, ritual practices, and hideous torture tactics to uncover every horrifying and stomach-turning fact under the sun. This book is full of questions you never thought to ask?and perhaps will wish you?d never had answered?including:
?What exactly is maggot cheese?
?How did anal hair help to lead to the conviction of the Great
?Train Robbers?
?What is the job of a ?fart catcher??
How exactly do ?crabs? cause such intense itching around one?s private parts?
?The real story behind why the toilet is often referred to as ?the john.?
?Why you might want to steer clear of some coffees. (Hint: If poo isn?t exactly your idea of appetizing . . .)
Why Fish Fart and Other Useless (or Gross) Information About the World is sure to delight any and all hard-core fans of the obscure, esoteric, and?last but not least?grotesque.
Review
andquot;Whether they are domestic companions, trained to serve, inspired to heal, or are found in the wild, animals have the ability to enhance our lives and even save us, and this compendium pays homage. ...Individual stories of animal derring-do, illustrated with pencil portraits, make for quick, compelling reads that prompt the reader to wonder what really goes on in an animalandrsquo;s head and heart. Give this to anyone from middle school to adult who shares that curiosity.andquot; -
Booklist andquot;All the stories are wonderful ... when starting these fifty tender stories, prepare to get teary eyed. Anyone who has ever bonded with an animal will love this book.andquot; - Voice of Youth Advocates
andquot;With an eye toward documenting remarkable animal/human interactions, Campbell has assembledand#160;a large collection of fascinating anecdotes. ...Overflowing with information, fascinating tales and thought-provoking information; give it to animal-loving middle graders on up.andquot; - Kirkus Reviews
andquot;Well-documented cases of animals rescuing men, women, and children are recounted with precision, organized into four divisions: domestic, trained, wild, and legendary animals. Campbell draws on opinions from professionals and anecdotal evidence, gleaned from ancient to modern times, to understand animal motivations. ...The text flows well, and the compact content is intense... . The documentation shines in this presentation.andquot; - School Library Journal
andquot;Animal lovers and anyone with a pet of his/her own will love reading these stories and the possible scientific explanations of how and why these animals saved the humans they did. From kangaroo to lion, from dolphin to dog, and from horse to hamster (there really isnand#39;t a hamster, but there is a rabbit), the stories will touch readersand#39; hearts and stir their imagination.andquot; - The Examiner
and#160;
Synopsis
A third installment in the delightfully disgusting miscellany series that began with the national bestseller, Why You Shouldn't Eat Your Boogers and Other Useless or Gross Information About Your Body. In the New York Times (extended list) bestseller Why You Shouldn't Eat Your Boogers and Other Useless or Gross Information About Your Body, Francesca Gould uncovered everything you'd want to know-and a few things you'd rather you didn't-about the human body. In Why Fish Fart and Other Useless or Gross Information About the World, she scoured planet Earth for a rich assortment of odd and/or unsavory facts. In Why Dogs Eat Poop and Other Useless or Gross Information About the Animal Kingdom, Francesca Gould and David Haviland explore a subject positively rife with gross miscellany: the animal kingdom.
Indeed, animals do the darnedest things and, in this vastly entertaining book, Gould and Haviland uncover a universe of strange, hilarious, and quite often disgusting animal habits, ailments, and practices, including:
-Monkey-Faced Lamb disease;
-farting snakes;
-dino-chickens;
-and a creature you've never heard of that eats with its eyes.
Why Dogs Eat Poop is sure to delight any fan of the obscure and/ or grotesque.
Synopsis
Get ready to squirm!
Did you know there are spiders that look just like bird poop? Cockroaches that can be directed by remote control? And snakes that fart to scare away predators? These are just a few of the bizarrly engrossing, disgusting, and squirm-inducing facts about animals you can use to entertain and gross-out friends and parents.
Synopsis
Who rescued who? This popular animal-shelter bumper sticker captures an enduring emotional truth: With their love and companionship, animals save our lives every day. But sometimes, to our utter amazement and everlasting gratitude, animals literally save our lives, and this heartwarming book collects overand#160;fifty real-life stories of animals rescuing people, in which their bravery and compassionand#160;have meant the difference between life and death.
Synopsis
With their love and companionship, animals help to makeand#160;our lives better every day. But sometimes, to our utter amazement and everlasting gratitude, animals literally save our lives.
Daisy to the Rescue celebrates over fifty of these heroic animals with stunning illustrated portraits and detailed accounts of their exploits. The book asks important questions about why these animals act the way they doand#8212;often putting themselves in harmand#8217;s way in the process.
Today, scientists vigorously debate whether other animals share our capacity for empathy, compassion, morality, and altruism, and amazing new research is continually revising our understanding of the human-animal bond. Daisy to the Rescue presents these findings and applies them to these extreme life-saving situations. Taken together, these rescue stories make a compelling case for the presence of compassion in other animals and for the vital importance of the human-animal bond.
The dramatic, moving stories in Daisy to the Rescue provide a hopeful message about our world. Not only do they contain startling evidence of the mental and emotional capacities of animals, but they also demonstrate the healing, transformative power of our intimate connection with those incredible beings with whom we share the world.
About the Author
Jeff Campbell is a freelance writer and book editor. For twelve years he was a travel writer for Lonely Planet, coauthoring guidebooks on Hawaii, Florida, the Southwest, and other US destinations. As an editor for the past twenty years, he has specialized in animal intelligence and emotions, among other topics. In particularly he has worked with Dr. Marc Bekoff on several books, such as the highly regarded
The Emotional Lives of Animals. He also teaches creative writing to grade-school students. He lives with his wife, Deanna, and his children, Jackson and Miranda, in Morristown, New Jersey.
Ramsey Beyer
is a comic artist and freelance illustrator living in Philadelphia. She is the author and illustrator of two autobiographical graphic novels,andnbsp;
Little Fish: A Memoir from a Different Kind of Year (Zest, 2013), and
Year One (2012). Beyer has also been published in several books, including
Fanzines by Teal Triggs,
Make a Zine!, and
Don't Leave Your Friends Behind.Table of Contents
Foreword by Dr. Marc Bekoff............................................................... 8
INTRODUCTION ........................................................................ 12
PART ONE
DOMESTIC COMPANIONS
LuLu the Pot-Bellied Pig . . . Stops Traffic...................................... 27
Dory the Rabbit . . . leaps into action.............................................. 32
Mkombozi the Dog . . . Rescues an Abandoned Baby.................... 36
Frisky the Dog . . . Kisses His Owner.............................................. 41
Honey the Cocker Spaniel . . . Meets the Neighbors........................ 45
Shana the Half-Breed Wolf . . . Digs a Tunnel of Love..................... 49
Toby the Golden Retriever . . . Performs the Heimlich Maneuver.. 53
Khan the Doberman Pinscher . . . Tosses the Toddler..................... 58
Willie the Quaker Parrot . . . Learns a New Word.......................... 62
Inky the Cat . . . Knocks on the Door............................................. 66
Angel the Golden Retriever . . . Wrestles a Cougar.......................... 70
and#8220;Free-of-Charge Muttsand#8221; . . . Fend Off a Suicide Bomber.................. 74
Stormy the Quarter Horse . . . Drop Kicks a Feral Boar................... 79
Kabang the Aspin . . . Stops a Motorcycle....................................... 83
Pudding the Maine Coon . . . Plays Doctor....................................... 89
Lilly the Pit Bull . . . Confronts a Freight Train................................... 93
Czarue the Stray . . . Keeps a Lost Girl Warm................................... 97
PART TWO
TRAINED TO SERVE, INSPIRED TO HEAL
Fonzie the Dolphin . . . Makes a Boy Laugh...................................... 107
Dakota the Golden Retriever . . . Predicts Heart Attacks.................. 112
Endal the Labrador Retriever . . . Becomes Endal, the Wonder Dog!. 118
Roselle the Seeing-Eye Dog . . . Leads the Way Out.......................... 124
Trakr the German Shepherd . . . Finds the Last Survivor.................... 130
Rocky the K-9 . . . Catches an Armed Fugitive.................................. 135
Cheyenne the Pit Bull . . . Keeps a Vet from Suicide.......................... 139
Betsy the Quarter Horse . . . Bows to a Child................................... 145
Molly the Pony . . . Loses a Leg and Inspires Hope........................... 152
Chancer the Golden Retriever . . . Calms the Storm........................... 158
Treo the Labrador Retriever . . . Sniffs Out a Bomb........................... 164
Ricochet the Surfing Dog . . . Rides with the Disabled........................ 169
Daisy the Labrador Retriever . . . Detects Breast Cancer.................... 176
Cairo the Belgian Malinois . . . Assists Navy SEAL Team Six............ 180
PART THREE
WILD SAVIORS
Jambo the Gorilla . . . Comforts a Fallen Boy...................................... 187
Ugandan Vervet Monkeys . . . Adopt a Runaway............................... 192
Binti Jua the Gorilla . . . Consoles an Injured Child............................... 198
Donna Nook Gray Seals . . . Keep a Woman Afloat............................ 204
Lulu the Kangaroo . . . Saves a Farmer................................................. 209
Bottlenose Dolphins . . . ROUND UP THE Lifeguards........................ 213
Ningnong the Elephant . . . Runs from a Tsunami.................................. 216
Ethiopian Lions . . . Rescue a Girl from Kidnappers.............................. 221
Bottlenose Dolphins . . . Stop a Shark Attack..................................... 224
Mila the Beluga Whale . . . Lifts a Drowning Diver.............................. 231
legends and folktales
PART FOUR
LEGENDS AND FOLKTALES
Mediteranean Dolphins . . . Give a Greek Poet a Ride..................... 247
Gelert the Wolfhound . . . Saves the Baby....................................... 252
Moustache the Poodle . . . Joins the French Revolution................... 255
Barry der Menschenretter . . . Saves Travelers in the Swiss Alps.. 260
Pelorus Jack . . . Guides Ships Through Rocky Straits.................... 265
Sergeant Stubby . . . Sniffs Out Gas in WWI................................... 270
Wolves in India . . . Raise Two Girls in Their Den............................ 275
Togo the Siberian Husky . . . Goes the Extra Mile............................. 282
Chips, Dog 11-A . . . Takes Italian Prisoners..................................... 288
NOTES AND FURTHER READING............................................... 295
INDEX ................................................................................................. 310