Masson, Jeffrey Moussaieff and Shirley Felts. (2000). Dogs Have the Strangest Friends and Other True Stories of Animal Feelings. New York: Dutton Children's Books, 115.

Grade Range: 6-9

Genre: nonfiction

Summary and Critique

In this touching collection of fifteen stories, Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson relates real-life accounts of different species of animals expressing and acting upon various heartwarming emotions. The first tale is set in Tsavo National Park in Kenya and recounts a female elephant's efforts to save a baby rhinoceros from being trapped in the mud at a watering hole. Others include a friendship between a lion and a dog, a gorilla's gentle rescue of a human toddler after he fell over the guardrail at the zoo, and a parrot named Alex who says he is sorry after he has misbehaved. The soft watercolors by Shirley Felts provide gentle and thoughtful visual aids.

Masson clearly believes that animals have very real and complex emotions and these stories are indeed quite persuasive of that. He includes source notes that provide documentation and credibility to the accounts, yet his interpretations could occasionally be viewed as conjecture. Some may also find his beliefs in support of animal rights a bit heavy-handed for a children's b4teens_book. Nevertheless, the tales are intriguing, stimulating, and an effective plea for more compassion between the creatures of the world.

Themes/Topics

Families

Friends and Enemies

Generations

Challenges and Triumphs

Nature/Science

Animals

Author/Illustrator/Editor Information

Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson earned a Ph.D. from Harvard University in Sanskrit and graduated from the Toronto Psychoanalytic Institute. He lives in Auckland, New Zealand with his wife, two sons, three cats, a dog, two rats, a hen, a rooster, and a rabbit. His earlier books include When Elephants Weep, The Emotional Lives of Animals, and Dogs Never Lie About Love.

For more information on Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson:

http://www.jeffreymasson.com Web site offering information on Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson's career, other books by him, as well as a discussion board on animal issues.

Shirley Felts developed an appreciation for nature and animals while growing up in Southern Texas. She earned a degree in fine art from the University of Texas and now lives with her husband in London. They have three grown children.

Media Connections

Movies/Documentaries

Babe (1995) A young pig raised by Farmer Hoggett and his sheepdogs learns to do very special tasks and tricks. Babe is a touching fictional tale of animal intelligence, understanding, and feeling.

Born Free (1966) After raising a lion cub named Elsa, a couple living in Kenya must acclimate it and release her back into the wild.

A Far Off Place (1993) Xhabbo is an African bushman who helps two young children on their trek across the Kalahari Desert after poachers murder their parents.

Fly Away Home (1996) When Amy, a thirteen-year old girl from New Zealand, loses her mother to a car accident, she is sent to live with her father in Canada. After she discovers an abandoned nest of Canadian geese eggs, and they hatch, she and her father attempt the heroic task of leading the orphaned flock south for the winter using ultra-light airplanes.

The Lion King (1994) Disney's animated tale of Simba, the young African lion prince who must claim his rightful kingdom and fulfill the "Circle of Life".

My Dog Skip (2000) This touching feature is based on the life of author Willie Morris and his dog Skip in Yazoo City, Mississippi during the 1940s. Over the years Skip taught the boy, as well as his family and community, the power and wisdom of a dog's love.

Television

Animals Are People Too! – any episode (true tales of animals expressing the same emotions as humans do)

Animals Do the Funniest Things – any episode (A British TV program showing footage of animals engaged in hilarious and unexpected activities)

Music/Audio Recordings

"The Lion Sleeps Tonight." Written by George David Weiss, Hugo Peretti, and Luigi Creatore. Performed by Lebo M. The Lion King Soundtrack. 1994.

Online Resources

http://www.animalsentience.com An interesting site dedicated to accounts and evidence of animals'feelings. Guessing games appropriate for young learners, suggested resources, and recommended movies and books are included.

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals This site is home to many wonderful photographs of animals, as well as a kid's page with great activities, videos, games, and a chance to enter in a zip code and find out which animals, trees, and flowers may live in your backyard.

http://www.planetanimals.com Thirteen-year-old Griffin Logue has created a Web site on animals that includes coloring opportunities, riddles, some live action video of lions, creative writing exercises, and more.

http://www.nationalzoo.si.edu/Animals/WebCams This page of the National Zoo Web site offers almost live webcams so that students can watch many different species in their exhibits. Among others, these include the gorillas, tigers, naked mole rats, and flamingos.

http://teensforplanetearth.org/ This site is aimed primarily at fourteen to seventeen-year-olds and provides them with information and resources concerning what they can do to promote sound environmental practices and preserve the natural habitats of the world's species.

http://www.microsoft.com/games/zootycoon Kids have a chance to create and manage their own zoo using the software available from this website.

Related Texts

Datlow, Ellen, Terri Windling, and Charles Vess. (2001). The Green Man: Tales From the Mythic Forest. New York: Viking, 384pp. In this collection of fifteen stories, modern and ancient creatures from multi-cultural folktales are encountered as the reader investigates the many magical mysteries of the forest.

Funston, Sylvia and Pat Stevens. (1998). Animal Feelings. Maple Tree Press. Funston delves into the evidence of animal emotions using photographs and stories and makes a strong case as to why they deserve our kindness and regard. Some information on animal rights and advocacy is also included.

Herriot, James. (1992). All Creatures Great and Small. New York: St. Martin's Press, 442pp. Herriot is a beloved and sensitive veterinarian from the English countryside who recounts his thirty years of traveling the land and treating the remarkable animals he encountered.

King, Betty Lim, Ruben S. Cuyugan, and Grace K. Dols. (1998). Girl On A Leash: The Healing Power of Dogs, A Memoir. Lenoir, NC: Sanctuary Publishing, 224pp. King's memoir on being an Asian American woman while traveling throughout Asia, Europe, and the United States is a poignant look at how she and her various dogs are treated differently by the local population and what this says about a culture and place.

London, Jack. (2003). Call of the Wild. New York: Aladdin Paperbacks. London's classic book tells the story of Buck, a part St. Bernard, part Scotch shepherd family house dog who is shipped off to work the frozen tundra of Alaska during the gold rush of the 1890s. It is a touching tale of adventure, strength, and courage.

Sewell, Anna. (1993). Black Beauty. New York: Dover, 90pp. Sewell's nineteenth century tale of a horse's life as he is sold from owner to owner provides interesting details of life in Victorian England.

Sidman, Joyce and Doug Mindell. (2003). The World According to Dog: Poems and Teen Voices. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 71pp. This collection of poems about dogs is accompanied by black and white photographs. In addition to Sidman's pieces, teenagers have contributed poems in which they express their love and appreciation for their dogs.

White, E.B. (2002). Charlotte's Web. New York: HarperCollins, 216pp. This classic tale set on a farm about the bonding and love between a young girl, a spider, a pig, and a rat, stands up to the test of time. The intelligence and empathy which the fictional animals exhibit only further the notion that animals do indeed have feelings too.

Teaching Ideas

(1) "Personal Field Trips" To augment the learning experience in the classroom without disrupting the daily schedule, have students take a"personal field trip" related to animals during the semester. This could include a visit to a humane society, a zoo or petting zoo, a farm or ranch, stables, a veterinary clinic or hospital, etc. Each student would then give a three to five minute oral report for the class on their trip and what they noticed or learned about the animals they encountered and how the animals seemed to feel and behave. [Adapted from "Personal Field Trips" by Lloyd Chambers in Ideas Plus Book 5. Urbana, IL: National Council of Teachers of English, p.11.]

(2) "How Many Legs Does a Lobster Have?" In order to make the task of looking up new words in the dictionary less intimidating and more fun, create specific questions about different animals and require that the students find the answers in their definitions. For example, instead of asking them to define a cormorant, ask instead,"If you had a pet cormorant, what would you feed it?" The answer is surprisingly simple and straightforward—fish. For a more sophisticated exercise, create questions that involve information from two different entries. [Adapted from "How Many Legs Does a Lobster Have?" by Joel Goldstein in Ideas Plus Book 3. Urbana, IL: National Council of Teachers of English, pp.8-9.]

(3) "Sharing Common Emotions" This exercise uses journal writing to help students recognize the different feelings that animals may experience. Prior to a reading assignment, ask your students to write about a specific emotion as it has related to their own life experiences. Then, when the student reads a story involving an animal exhibiting this same emotion, it will help them to identify with the animal. A list of possible emotions could include fear, anger, alienation, power, and relief. [Adapted from "Sharing Common Emotions" by Shirley R. Chafin in Ideas Plus Book 3. Urbana, IL: National Council of Teachers of English, pp.23-24.]

(Review written by Delia Fantova and edited by Jennifer E. Moore)