Click for accessible search Skip Navigation

Blog Posts by Subject: Animals

Booktalking "Vegan is Love" by Ruby Roth

Some animals in the world are treated badly, and vegans do not want to be a part of that. They do not use animals for food, clothing or fun. This is good for the animals, our health, and the environment.

Read More ›

Booktalking "Spirit Horses" by Tony Stromberg

Breathtaking. That is the first word that comes to mind when flipping through the spectacular visual art in this book. The dark cover photo of a relaxed, beautiful flaxen chestnut horse sets the tone for this set of pictorial works.

Read More ›

Embrace Change (and a Dog!) at the Library

April contains National Library Week (April 14-20, 2013). According to the American Library Association website, this event was “first sponsored in 1958… to celebrate the contributions of our nation's libraries and librarians and to promote library use and support."

While many of the services and features of our nation’s libraries have remained the same over the ensuing fifty-five years since the inception of National Library Week, a literal myriad of changes have been effectuated in libraries commensurate with the changes in the world. One change in particular causes people to (correctly) exclaim, "The library is going to the dogs!"

Read More ›

Booktalking "Cat Poems" by Dave Crawley

I love the cat breed illustrations on the inside of the front and back covers of this book. All of the cats look so happy! The book is full of poems that indicate the nature of cats, and anyone who has experience with cats or who has lived with cats knows exactly what Crawley is talking about in these cat poems.

Read More ›

Booktalking "Bats at the Library" by Brian Lies

This is a story about bats taking over the library at night when it is closed: "Bat night at the library." What could be better? It is a bat holiday that bats wait for all year, like Christmas.

Read More ›

Booktalking "Llama Llama Mad at Mama" by Anna Dewdney

A shopping trip with mama and baby. But Llama Llama is disappointed because he wants to play. Countless other types of animals also shop at the Shop-O-Rama. Llama Llama does not like shopping for clothes... or food.

Read More ›

Audubon Day is April 26th

Many have heard about slow food, but fewer still about slow looking. This Wall Street Journal article from 2011 coined the term, referring to LSU's Hill Memorial Library and the way in which they presented their collection of John James Audubon's four-volume Birds of America (1827-38): slowing turning the pages for a rapt audience.

Read More ›

Booktalking "The Artist Who Painted a Blue Horse" by Eric Carle

Ever wanted a yellow cow? How about a green salamander? Or a turquoise frog? You will not find any salamanders or frogs in this book. And if you did, they would not be green or blue. However, the yellow cow is a winner in this tale.

Read More ›

Horse Special Libraries and Museums

This blog post was actually spawned from a visit to Devon Saddlery near Washington, D.C. I saw a poster there for a horse event, which included information on the National Sporting Library. I then became curious as to what other horse libraries were out there.

Read More ›

Wildlife Special Libraries and Museums

Most of my experience with animals has been with domesticated animals, but I am also interested in wildlife. Below are some wildlife libraries and museums that I found.

Read More ›

2013: The Year of the Snake

According to the Chinese Lunar Calendar, 2013 is the Year of the Snake. In the Chinese zodiac, the snake is equivalent to the Taurus in Western tradition. February 10th, 2013 to January 30th, 2014 will mark the Year of the Snake.

Read More ›

English Nature Writers: Charles Waterton

Most recently discovered, just last week, is Charles Waterton (1782–1865). I've not read enough to evaluate him as a writer (of which all authors tremble in dread), but he certainly led an interesting life. Of a very ancient Catholic family including St. Thomas More and Margaret of Scotland among his ancestors, he became interested in nature in 1804 when he travelled to British Guiana to oversee his uncle's estates.

Read More ›

English Nature Writers: Richard Jefferies

"Why, we must have been blind all our lives; here were the most wonderful things possible going on under our very noses, but we saw them not." —Walther Besant.

Read More ›

English Nature Writers: Gilbert White

I'm a literary Anglophile. There — I've confessed and we can move on. One of their really cool genres is nature writing. They do it in such a quiet and smooth style, as if they've lived in field and woods all their lives. (Dah!)

Read More ›

Winter Fun for Kids and Cats

This snowy Saturday afternoon has brought to mind a couple of scenes from nineteenth-century children's books in the Rare Book Division. First, a scene of "Wintervergnügen" (winter fun) from Jugendspiele zur Erholung und Erheiterung (Tilsit, 1846). This is a two-volume work, one devoted to girls and one to boys. Sledding is categorized as one of the boys' games (Knabenspiele), but of course that needn't stop ladies of all ages from joining in.

Read More ›

Horse Professional Associations and Journals

Like always, I am horse crazy as ever, so I definitely wanted to see which professional associations and journals are out there to aid horse professionals. When I was a librarian at a corporate library, part of my job was to dig up medical professional journals. I found an association for recruiters in health care for my supervisor that she did not know about. I became aware that there is a professional association for everything, and I sometimes refer patrons to professional associations.

Read More ›

What to Draw? A Turkey, of Course

Happy Thanksgiving to you! In honor of the holiday, here's a page from one of my favorite drawing manuals in the collection, 1913's What to Draw and How to Draw It by E. G. Lutz.

Read More ›

Animal Welfare Special Libraries and Museums

I absolutely love animals. I have fostered many cats, including a queen and her three kittens this spring. I have been riding horses since I was nine years old. I volunteered in two zoo libraries, and I walked dogs for six years in various animal shelters. I used to be a big fan of Animal Planet and Steve Irwin and the Australia Zoo. Animals are cute, adorable, and they just make me happy.

Read More ›

Booktalking "Sniper" by Theodore Taylor

Sniper by Theodore Taylor, 2007

Imagine lions and tigers in your backyard and a house cheetah to guard your family. Thanks to an endowment from a wealthy widow his parents met in Africa, this is Ben's home.

Read More ›

How Did the Pigeon Get to NYC?

One can scarcely think of any park in NYC — or any city, really — without envisioning the ubiquitous pigeon there as well. Despite signs requesting you not feed the birds in adjacent Bryant Park, the library has more than its share of feathered patrons.

Read More ›
Page 1 of 2 Next
Customize This