Customer Reviews

If Animals Could Talk: Creation Speaks for Itself

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I read this book with my 10-year-old daughter. We both loved it. It can work well as a devotional. The science was solid creation based. Of course if your worldview is that of evolution, this book may not be to your liking. I have a strong science background and thought that it was a great book for children

If Animals Could Talk by Dr. Werner Gitt, is an amazing little book. At just over a hundred pages, this would have been a really quick book for me to read, however I opted to read a section or two of it at a time at the lunch table. My kids, ages 4-13, all appreciated it.

The book consists of twelve chapters, most being about 8-9 pages. Those chapters we read in one sitting. Some chapters (the whales!) we had to break up over a couple of meals.

The first ten chapters are all told as though the animal in question was talking to us (except chapter 7, where a human eye is doing the talking... that chapter was a bit, well, weird). So you listen to an earthworm or a dragonfly tell about themselves. Sounds a bit strange, but it was very well done. And all these creatures -- from a bacterium to a blue whale -- tell about the miracles of their design and of their designer.

As I stated above, my children all enjoyed it. The four year old mostly found it funny that I was pretending to be all these animals. The elementary crowd (1st and 4th grade) enjoyed the fascinating facts, and particularly loved when the sparrow had to fly away from a hawk or other such encounters. They are boys. They adore predators.

My older two (6th and 8th) argued back with the critters. Seriously. They went looking up the Bible verses being quoted by the whale, for instance, to prove their point. That led to some fascinating discussion (and is probably why the whale chapter took us so long to get through!)

Overall, I'd recommend this book as a fun way to talk about some of the everyday miracles all around us in creation.

Disclaimer: I received this book for free from New Leaf Publishing Group. No other compensation was received. The fact that I received a complimentary product does not guarantee a favorable review.

"If Animals Could Talk" describes unique and technically refined design features found in field sparrows, various types of whales, the platypus, swallow, glowworm, dragonfly, human eye, earthworm, E. coli, and golden plover. Several of these features were clearly irreducibly complex (all the parts of the unique ability had to be in place at once for it to work, and if it had developed in steps, the animal wouldn't have survived).

However, this book probably won't convince evolutionists that these various animals didn't evolve. Most of the features brought up sound amazing, but it's like the author didn't finish the argument--like he thought the point was so self-obvious he didn't need to. I can see an evolutionist reading it and thinking, "Well, yeah, they're amazing features, but that just shows how well evolution works." So it's a fun and fascinating book for creationists and those who aren't sure what they think, but it'd probably just frustrate most evolutionists.

There were some black and white illustrations. Most of the information was written in common language that even children could understand. However, sometimes he used technical language. It wasn't difficult to understand, but I don't think I'd hand this book to anyone under about 9 years of age. I think tweens and teens who love animals will probably enjoy this book.

Overall, this was a fun book that I'd recommend to Christians (especially creationists) who enjoy reading fascinating facts about animals.

I received this book as a review copy from the publisher.

Reviewed by Debbie from ChristFocus Book Club

If Animals Could Talk is a collection of members from the animal kingdom that showcases their unique design by their Creator. It is not a dry list of facts, but written from the animal's point of view in a humorous conversational tone which invites the reader to think about questions posed and ponder their answers.

You'll learn more about the Field Sparrow, Whales, Platypus, Swallow, Glowworm (also called Lightning Bug), Dragonfly, Human Eye, Earthworm, E. Coli and Golden Plover. You'll also learn what makes them so unique and how God created them perfectly for their purpose and ultimately speak praise for their Creator.

Did you know:

****that certain whales have tongues so heavy that they weigh as much as two fully grown horses?

****that during the glow worms' (lightning bug) production of bioluminescence, no heat is generated at all!

****that an earthworm can produce more than 220 pounds of humus in a 24-hour period.

****that an e coli bacterium has 6 rotating electric motors and produces a voltage of 0.2 V

In showing how creation points to an Intelligent Creator and ultimately how this affects us individually, authors Gitt and Vanheiden write:

"We would like to take this opportunity to add a few comments to our book. We, an information scientist and a physics graduate both believe in the living God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. We want to show, with the aid of these stories, that it's neither boring nor antiquated to believe in God; nor is it necessary to give up your intellect or inquisitiveness. On the contrary, many things become clearer and more sensible when viewed from the Bible's perspective. It can even help to bring about positive results in scientific works.

My sons aged 9 and 12 enjoyed reading this book together. Plenty of 'oh's' and 'ah's' coming from their room while they read. Many times they brought the book to me at the discovery of something they felt was truly unique. Though not an animal enthusiast, my 7th grader did enjoy learning fascinating facts. It helped him to better understand Intelligent Design. I know we all learned quite a bit from this book!

Unlike traditional books about animals, If Animals Could Talk is presented from the viewpoint of the animals themselves. That's right, the animals are telling you, the reader, their story. The animals are presenting the characteristics that make them uniquely made. Based upon their complex make up and intricate design, the animals present that they couldn't have just happened by chance or evolved into the critters they are today. They believe that they were created by God.

The facts in this book are presented in an easy to understand format. The information is presented as a fun story told in first person by the animals. Individuals both young and old will learn a great deal about the animals in the book. Some of the animals in the book include:

* The Field Sparrow
* The Whales
* The Platypus
* The Swallow
* The Glowworm
* The Dragonfly
* The Earthworm
* The Golden Plover

There were two chapters in the book that did not fit in well with the rest of the book. Since the book is about animals and their stories, the chapters on the human eyes and the intestinal bacterium seemed completely out of place.

The book concludes with 2 Biblical stories where animals actually did talk - the serpent who talked to Even and Balaam's donkey. The final chapter in the book presents the Gospel message to readers.

Other than the 2 odd chapters, I found the book interesting and easy to read. Kids and adults who enjoy learning about animals will enjoy learning about what makes these creatures special.

Disclosure: I received a copy of this book from New Leaf Publishing/Master Books to help facilitate the writing of a frank and honest review. All opinions are my own.

The blurb about this book on this web page shows the fundamental dishonesty of creationist perspectives.

Creationist try to claim that evolution violates the 2nd law of thermodynamics. (ignoring the fact that the sun continually provides energy to the biological system)

Yet the blurb above claims, "How about that glow worms have a light output efficiency of 100%, as compared to only 4% for our incandescent bulbs?" A light output of 100% for a glowworm would itself constitute an a violation of the 2nd law of thermodynamics.

When will creationist learn, that real science is all about consistency?