Customer Reviews

Unlikely Friendships: 47 Remarkable Stories from the Animal Kingdom

5 star:		(63)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I am an animal lover, and this book made me smile. The stories are so sweet, and the photos are beautiful. There are so many wonderful stories of unexpected animal relationships. This would be a great book as a gift, or just to have around as a pick-me-up. Loved it!

This book is a little treasure! It's sweet and charming while being interesting and informative. In addition to my own copy, I'm buying more copies for friends and family members, of all ages. The reaction from people who viewed it so far is extremely enthusiastic, so I'll no doubt end up ordering even more. I am even already hoping there will be a sequel, or at least something along these lines.

Or perhaps read someone else to sleep. Not that the book is soporific or anything. It's just a nice friendly happy read. Something that will bring a smile to your face, a warm feeling to your heart and sweet dreams instead of nitemares.

Some very interesting animal combos in this book including a cat and his buddy the rat, and a leopard who lieth down with a cow. And, another "friends who are natural enemies" tale- a lap dog and a squirrel!

Penned by Jennifer Holland, a well known writer for National Geographic. Truly fabulous and "aaahhh" producing photos, too.

*****

"We need another and a wiser and perhaps a more mystical concept of animals... In a world older and more complete than ours they move finished and complete, gifted with extensions of the senses we have lost or never attained, living by voices we shall never hear. They are not brethren, they are not underlings; they are other nations, caught with ourselves in the net of life and time, fellow prisoners of the splendor and travail of the earth." --Henry Beston

Some people might think that it's impossible for animals to feel the same emotions humans have and be able to bond and nurture a colorful friendship. My own experience convinces me to believe that pets do have friendships not only with kids but their household room mates and next door the same way kids do. They play together and sleep next to each other, giving us a vivid example of how should we likewise behave towards our fellow humans; "If you have men who will exclude any of God's creatures from the shelter of compassion and pity, you will have men who will deal likewise with their fellow men." St. Francis of Assisi

The amazing book, "Unlikely Friendships," shares with its readers stories of friendship, and inter-species affection, such as the expressive cover of a little monkey gently resting his head on the back of a peaceful white dove. The conscious universe's troubadour of the uplifting volume turned to be National Geographic Magazine's senior writer Jennifer Holland. She got a great win for nature advocate, and animal friendly fellowship. The admirable author who normally writes about, "critters that are harder to love," in her own words, takes her readers to the amazing worlds of my grand children, Noah and especially three years Oliver. My grandchildren will be thrilled and their parents and grandparents could enjoy for moments the magic of the future peace in the prophecy of Isaiah, "The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid..."

This beautiful tome, which educates in love and example, by reciting heartwarming tales of the most unexpected pairs of animals who lovingly bond with each others in spite of the lack of any common grounds. The stories from the animal kingdom in "Unlikely Friendships," are most unlikely but are proven to become very real. Friends come in all different shapes, sizes, colors, backgrounds, religions and ages, drawn together because of a common interest or hobby, with some kind of a special bond that cannot be explained. Here you are exposed to true stories about the most unusual friendships that defy any logical or biological reasons, even a mutual need for companionship. These cannot be easily explained without the hard photographic documentation, they just seem far fetched to be true, and readers could not otherwise be convinced the tales were any real.

Friends: True Stories of Extraordinary Animal Friendships

I laughed, I cried. I want desperately to share! This is a great book to pick up for gifts!! What fun pictures and stories. Good stuff.

I purchased this for 2 of my granddaughters ages 13 and 9, they both loved it. They would giggle and awe at the wonderful stories. They enjoyed it so much I ordered one for myself. A wonderful happy book for young and old.

Little to add to the other enthusiastic reviews. The pictures will make you smile, or laugh out loud, and others will bring a tear to your eye.

The descriptions are very well written and fascinating also.

One mild complaint. As somebody who is vision impaired, I cannot understand why they used a brown text rather than the standard black.

Loved this and sending copies out to friends and family

"Unlikely Friendships" is a perfect gift because Holland weaves into the enormously cute animal tales a scientific sensibility and a fascination with animal behavior that make it much more than one of those novelty books. It's also a really nicely designed text with fine images, compact yet substantial. Give it as a gift to an adult or a child and watch faces light up. Or I guess you can buy it for yourself and then quick look in the mirror. I love the book, truly, but in the interest of disclosure must note I know the author personally.

While I enjoyed the stories, they seemed much too short. Only a page or two on each unlikely friendship. At the end of the book, the author wrote that she had to decide which of the hundreds of stories to use. What a shame she didn't put the extra effort into including more stories or expanded versions of the stories she used. It felt to me like this author was in a big hurry to "just put out a book". Don't think I'd recommend it for that reason. It's just a "so so" read.

This is a beautiful book, and well-written, the photographs are amazing, some are just breathtakingly beautiful. It is worth purchasing for the cover photograph alone. The stories are incredible. However, I did notice that a previous reviewer recommended this as a gift for children. I have to say that this may not be a book for sensitive children. One story is about a lioness who (unbelievably) adopts a baby Oryx, caring for it as if it were her own cub. As she is resting, weak with starvation from refusing to leave it, the Oryx wanders off, when a male lion "snatched it up". She "sniffed the blood of her baby in the grass" and helplessly watched the male "devour it". This story is a miracle, I wish it didn't have such a graphically violent description of the fate of this poor creature. I can appreciate that it is not all "fluff", but for sure this may not be appropriate for children.