5 comments about Hedgehogs: How to Take Care of Them and Understand Them (A Complete Pet Owner's Manual).

1. I only have one world for this book. DEADLY!



2. I cannot fault the intent of Vriends since I do not know him personally, but this book has caused me as a hedgehog rescuer no end of difficulty. This book -- and others -- recommend things that are terrible for hedgehogs. Cedar shavings, as another reviewer noted, are recommended by this book. The aromatic oils from cedar shavings can cause respiratory failure in hedgehogs and other complications. It gets worse from there.

   The novice hedgehog owner is not going to pick up on these inaccuracies or errors, and that means that because of this book, hedgehogs are going to receive poor care. If you want a better book, try Dawn Wrobel's The Hedgehog: Owner's Guide to a Happy Healthy Pet OR try doing some research on the Internet instead, where the information is frequently peer-reviewed and kept more up-to-date than in a static publication.




3. This is a good book for anyone who is planning on reading other books on hedgehogs besides this one. It provides basic information that is neccesary to know. However it stops there. There is nothing extraordinary about this book. Plus some of the information is wrong. By following the directions in this book, I almost killed my hedgehog.



4. The more I got into the book, the less it reminded me of the prickly critters I have grown to love. Much of his information is incorrect (the usage of cedar shavings, the 'nausea' sections, etc) and the rest seems to be based off of his observation of African Pygmies in the WILD. Appearantly our domesticated pets behave a little differently. An alright book in general, but you need to discern the good from the bad and that may not be too obvious for the new hedgehog afficionado.



5. This is one of the most fasanating books I have ever read.If you are considering a hedgehog or already own one you must perchis this book.It covers evrything from taming,to raising your own hedgehogs, and even letting them go in your own backyard.

5 comments about Mitz: The Marmoset of Bloomsbury.

1. MITZ compares favourably (in both skill and intent) to FLUSH, Virginia Woolf's own "biography" of Elizabeth Barrett Browning's spaniel. A small but compelling literary tradition continues.... Does Ms. Nunez have a pet?



2. No, I am not talking about Ross' monkey Marcel from Friends. This Marmoset is Mizt, adopted by the literary giants Virginia and Leonard Woolfe. Through there richness, elegence and love for one another (and Mitz) we read a book detailing the biography (life) of Mitz. Via trips, memoirs and entries of diaries detailed by the authors in the written work. This is a delightful little book where we find that Mitz has a personality and is not just a monkey.
   It is a charming, witty fun read, well worth a second or third read. Definetly a must for all.



3. I was on vacation and came upon this book the day before leaving Santa Cruz. I picked it up and something said "buy me" (had read no reviews, author interviews, been 'told to' 'she's hot' etc.). As my friend drove us back to L.A. I began reading Nunez's book aloud. I kept on doing so. I read for 4.5 hours until finishing. My throat hurt and I developed pains from talking aloud so long but... I could not stop, nor did my driving partner want me to (I read past the point where we were to switch!). MITZ is an inventive, intelligent, throuroughly researched and alive creation. Unlike Kirkus, I felt the historical positioning and the awareness of the times deepened the tale and made it, at times, an absolutely miraculous achievement of intellectual imagination. And can I say, that Nunez babe can write write write. Clean, pure, prose. I got on Amazon to write this and to order every other thing she's written. Nunez you are great! and HarperCollins put together a great looking book as well, a too often neglected part of the modern reading experience. Viva MITZ!



4. I'd read writings of Virginia Woolf and writing about Virginia Woolf but after reading MITZ I feel like I know Virginia Woolf better than ever before. To say nothing of MITZ who became so real to me....Unique and a delightful read.



5. Her prose is elegant and pleasurable, her scholarship particular, and her imagination delicate. After I read this book I wanted to rush out and read more Woolf and Nunez (and did). Please read to the end, it's so simple and resonant.

1 comments about Dino, Godzilla, and the Pigs: My Life on Our Missouri Hog Farm.

1. This straightforward book offers realistic insight into the hard work of farm life.

   Fricke's sensitive descriptions of MidMissouri countryside are reminiscent for me. A city girl, I taught a year in a one-room rural school just across the river from the setting of the book. Much later, my husband, once a farm boy from the same county, became an ag professor at the University of Missouri-Columbia. He initiated a series of Feminine Farrowing Schools. In brief sessions, ag instructors trained women to work with piglets as the author had to learn on her own -- enduring plenty of criticism from her demanding husband.

No comments about Monkey Moments.

No comments about The Training of the Wolf.

No comments about The Duck Stops Here.

2 comments about They Don't Have to Die: Home and Classroom Care for Small Animals.

1. The trend in science education today (long overdue, IMHO), is for hands-on. The closer the student can get to some form of manipulation of whatever they're studying, the better they'll learn the material. Gone or going, thankfully, are the days of the 'sage on stage' teacher who stands at the head of the class dispensing nuggets of wisdom for the students to eagerly gobble up (not that there was EVER that much eager gobbling going on...).

   Hence, in many contemporary classrooms, there is move away from the color-the-worksheet-on-the- life-cycle-of-the-tadpole technique, and an introduction OF a real-life tadpole into the classroom itself (which, arguably, has GOT to be more interesting).

   So, OUT go the pictures of worms and grasshoppers, and IN come the real insects themselves. One problem: what to do with the lil' nippers (the animals, not the students) once the science lesson is over. In the past, most classroom animals and insects have either been released on the playground or given a "burial at sea" in the staff restroom after school is done for the day.

   Not necessary now, thanks to Mr. Dunlap. Covering a VERY broad spectrum of living creatures, from ants and worms to much larger creatures like mice & turtles, Mr. Dunlap not only informs the reader how to humanely "reintroduce" the specimen into the wild, he also provides the reader with some even MORE important information: how to keep the animal/insect ALIVE while it's IN the classroom (what heating elements are best for what type of lizards, e.g., what moss is best for earthworms). THIS may, for some classrooms and students, be the major selling point of the book--how best to keep Timmy's prize salamander he found during recess alive during it's week in residence in the classroom without it getting sick or dying.

   While written primarily for teachers and classrooms, it is by no means ONLY for these environments. Families with children who are curious about the natural world (and who frequently collect little "pets" from the back yard or garden--I had a friend who's 3 year old had a pet slug for two days) will find this book not only useful, but very educational as well.




2. A much needed resource book for schools looking to add animals to their classrooms. Easy to read, but not dumbed down. I enjoy to biting satire found throughout the book. Like: You don't want to breed (this animal) you just think you do.

No comments about Keeping Ferrets (Owning the Perfect Small Pet).

No comments about GT Owning a Sugar Glider -Lib.

1 comments about The Exotic Pet Handbook.

1. The Exotic Pet Handbook introduces you to a variety of exotic pets - canaries, finches, budgerigars, snakes, lizards, tortoises, frogs, newts, goldfish, tarantulas, scorpions, and freshwater fish to name a few. Each chapter provides an introduction along with descriptions of the various species, housing, feeding, general care, health, and breeding information.
   
   If you are shopping for an exotic pet and want more detailed information than the brochure at the pet store provides this is a good place to start. Some of the information on birds (feeding/training) was inconsistent with things I believe and others have written, but techniques of owners do vary. If you purchase an exotic pet I would recommend also purchasing a more comprehensive book that focuses only on the species you acquire.