All for Animals: Tips and Inspiration for Living a More Compassionate Life [Paperback]

Karen Lee Stevens (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 2001

Without diatribes or preaching, Karen Lee Stevens informs us about how to get along better with our animal companions and how to fine-tune the way we think about our fellow earthlings, how to curb pet overpopulation, how to coexist with wildlife, and how to avoid products that were made with cruel methods.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Karen Lee Stevens was awarded a Certificate of Excellence by the Cat Writer's Association for her book All for Animals. -- Cat Writers' Association, October 2001

From the Publisher

Cruelty-Free Living Has Never Been So Easy
“The genius of this book is that it takes you right where you are, and points the way to actions and resources that allow caring for animals to be what it should be: easy, simple and hugely rewarding.”
--John Robbins, author of Diet for a New America, founder, EarthSave
The rewards of a compassionate attitude toward animals are not often heralded in an economy concerned mostly with industrial growth, but Karen Lee Stevens’ new book shows that practicing even small acts of respect and tenderness for animals can deeply enrich our everyday lives. All for Animals--Tips and Inspiration for Living a More Compassionate Life explores the many ways in which we can show appreciation and consideration for not only our own companion animals, but for all of the animals who share our earth.

To show the lasting personal effects of a relationship with animals, Karen includes many uplifting stories from contributing writers who share their own experiences of learning from their encounters with animals. In addition to these stories, there are dozens of tips on purchasing household products, cosmetics, and personal care items that have not been tested on animals; suggestions for coexisting peacefully with wildlife; how to be healthier through our food choices; useful strategies on how to curb the pet overpopulation problem; and much more. Karen does not force her ideas upon her audience, but simply urges her readers to adopt those changes he or she feels comfortable with and to experience the emotional rewards for themselves. Complete with a foreword by John Robbins, an author and founder of EarthSave, who has devoted his life to the welfare of all species, All for Animals is an accessible and essential handbook for anyone who cares about animals and the environment.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 127 pages
• Publisher: Fithian Press (June 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1564743640
• ISBN-13: 978-1564743640
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.7 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,778,026 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ms. Stevens is a teacher in the best sense of the word, November 7, 2001

By 

"ellwoodbeachreader" (Goleta, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: All for Animals: Tips and Inspiration for Living a More Compassionate Life (Paperback)

This book truly has a "sleeper" effect. It comes off as unassuming and just generally pleasant, and when I finished reading it I sort of shrugged and thought, "Well, what a nice little book."

Ha! The truth is, this book is quietly but steadily reshaping my life. I guard against being strident towards others and generally despise "confrontation," but All for Animals has helped me learn that in the past I've been completely silent where this wasn't necessary. This book has suggested to me a peaceable yet strong way to express myself to others in the context of hurt toward animals. I suspect this is because it has given me a whole new way to talk to myself on the subject.

For instance: this week at work I found myself getting up and walking around my cubicle and engaging myself in a conversation with a fellow who was talking about killing chickens for research and tossing off casual remarks like "Well, if you have to kill an animal, why not a chicken?"

We had a spirited yet amicable discussion. In the end, the fact that I've been a mostly a vegetarian since I was a teenager wasn't sufficient ammunition against the fact I was wearing leather shoes. But because the discussion was kept at a friendly level, what I took away from it wasn't animosity against this other person, but self-examination about those leather shoes. Had I not read this "nice little book," I know I would have overheard my coworker and thought, momentarily, "Gosh, that's not right," but brushed it off and not got up and talked with him. And was I beating myself over the head about wearing leather? No, not at all: I was just calmly (but steadily) wondering about it.

Karen Lee Stevens has something special to offer in a world that stampedes to become polarized and politicized around animals as an "issue." The deep beauty of this book is its ability to reach out to the human species with warmth and subtle depth and say: I understand that you can't do everything all at once, just try this one little thing and see if you like it. I am eager to see Ms. Stevens continue and expand upon the gifts she has to offer, and I challenge savvy booksellers to place this title not just among the animal-related offerings but in the (human)self-improvement category as well.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Unconditional Love, July 17, 2001

By 

Dan Poynter "Author-Publisher-Speaker" (Santa Barbara, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: All for Animals: Tips and Inspiration for Living a More Compassionate Life (Paperback)

We love our animals and they love us-unconditionally. This book by Karen Lee Stevens is about those very special companions.

Do you have a special animal companion in your life? When you look into his or her eyes, what do you see? Do you consider this animal an integral part of your life--a member of the family? Most of us give our companion animals a great deal of affection and would never allow them to be hurt, abandoned, or abused. In return, they give us unconditional love and devotion.

This book allows you to explore many ways in which you can show even more love and appreciation for your own companion animals and gives you the opportunity for learning how to co-exist with all the animals who share our earth.

All for Animals doesn't describe painful animal experiments or show graphic pictures of animal suffering. Instead, the book offers quick and easy ways you can be kinder to animals and treat them with more respect. Even if you choose to do only a few things suggested in this book, you'll feel good about yourself for helping the animals.

Each chapter in All for Animals contains an uplifting, inspiring story about animals by such well-known authors as Gina Spadafori (author of Dogs for Dummies, Cats for Dummies, and Birds for Dummies) and Greg Louganis, Olympic gold-medal diving champion (For the Life of Your Dog), coauthored with Betsy Sikora Siino.

Additionally, story contributions have been made by Pets: Part of the Family, pets.com, Best Friends Animal Sanctuary, the National Humane Education Society, and many others.

Karen Lee Stevens is the founder of ALL FOR ANIMALS, a Santa Barbara, California-based pro-animal organization. Karen's love of animals began in early childhood where she spent countless hours as a volunteer at the Santa Barbara Humane Society. Through her Web site, online newsletter, and numerous magazine and newspaper articles, Karen seeks to educate consumers about cruelty-free living and respect for all animals. A graduate of San Diego State University's Business Administration and Marketing program, Karen now makes her home in Santa Barbara, California.

I enjoyed reading about Karen and Cassidy and I learned a lot about animals. As a publisher, author of 27 Books, 109 revised editions, six translations and over 500 magazine articles, I, too, love to write with a furry friend on my desk. My late cat Cricket helped me for more than 20 years. His passing resulted in a book about aging, declining, grieving and memorializing cats: The Older Cat: Recognizing Decline & Extending Life.

I recommend Karen's book to everyone who likes to read about animals. You will discover the responsibilities of animal guardians and what you can do to help our companions...

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Be a friend to the animals!, September 21, 2001

By 

"info-ddal" (Washington, D.C. United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: All for Animals: Tips and Inspiration for Living a More Compassionate Life (Paperback)

Wondering how you can help animals? The new book "All for Animals: Tips and Inspiration for Living a More Compassionate Life" by Karen Lee Stevens helps answer that question. This book is full of simple, easy ways to adopt a cruelty-free lifestyle. For example, buy household and personal care products that haven't been tested on animals, have a meat-free meal, attend an animal-free circus, voice your opinions against dissection of animals in the classroom and show your support for animal protection legislation. "All for Animals" includes interesting animal rescue stories written by people who share what they learned from these encounters and the profound emotional rewards they received. In all these instances, the animals were saved from lonely, painful lives and introduced into environments where they were loved and well cared for. "All for Animals" also includes a reading list for those interested in learning more about animal issues, a list of on-line resources, and a list of companies that don't test their products on animals. "All for Animals" isn't preachy, overly sentimental, or graphic to shock you to into living a more humane, compassionate life. It simply offers information on how to be more animal-friendly in ways that makes sense. You'll learn to love and appreciate your companion animals more deeply as well as respect the rights of all animals to a peaceful existence.