Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

This book was not what I was expecting. Full disclosure-- I had no idea who Sy Montgomery was when I got this book and I was sort of expecting a more generic "these are the life lessons you can learn from these thirteen animals" and you know there would be a chapter on the perseverance of the hedgehog and the self-confidence of the lion. You know, things like that. Happily, this book is much more nuanced and interesting. It's basically a brief look into parts of "author, naturist, and adventurist" Sy Montgomery's exciting life via her interactions with thirteen animals and the life lessons she learned from them. The animals ranged from domesticated pets (4 of her dogs make the list) to tree kangaroos, emus, and a tarantula, among others. Except for the tree kangaroos and maybe the ermine, she usually has extensive interactions with the animals over a period of time and talks about how the relationship formed and what it meant/means to her. This book is pretty short--only 180 pages or so, with decent line spacing and font size and some lovely illustrations. The chapters are pretty short and through them we learn a bit about Montgomery's life, as sometimes the animals make her think of/reflect on her parents (mainly her mother), but mainly she just does a wonderful job of describing her feelings encountering these animals and the wonders they taught her. There are sad parts, like when her dogs died, but the story that affected me the most was with Octavia the octopus. I feel I learned a lot about octopi (octopusses?) and I legitimately got teared up during that chapter. I like to think that I am an animal person, I love animals, but not like Montgomery. They are truly her passion. I feel not only did I learn a lot about different types of animals (even typical ones like pigs and dogs) the book made me realize how much more there is to learn from animals. I have a three year old who is very interested in animals and this book makes me want to continue to cultivate that love and appreciation as he grows. I hope he will look to animals to learn to be a good creature.