National Geographic Primary Readers is a high-interest series of beginning reading books that have been developed in consultation with education experts. The books pair magnificent National Geographic photographs with lively text by skilled children's book authors across four reading levels. Level 4: Independent readerPerfect for kids who are reading on their own with ease and are ready for more challenging vocabulary with varied sentence structures. They are ideal for readers of White and Lime books. Chocolate or vanilla? Creamy peanut butter or crunchy? Cats or dogs? On some matters in life, every kid must take a stance. Ever since the first youngster in history had a pet, cats vs. dogs has been a hotly debated issue at break times and lunch tables worldwide. Which one's better? Smarter? This reader presents the facts in fun and informative fashion. Kids will love the stimulating level 4 text as they decide the answer to this question for themselves.

Are you a cat lover? A dog person? Either way, this book is for you! Read about how your favorite companion came to be a pet and how its body works. Then, flip the book over and find out about the other kind. Once again Steve Jenkins takes children’s nonfiction to a new level. Here is an amazing book filled with great information, visual facts, and lots of animal history. The illustrations are so incredibly realistic, you’ll want to pet them!

Entertaining and informative, Pets in America is a portrait of Americans' relationships with the cats, dogs, birds, fishes, rodents, and other animals we call our own. More than 60 percent of U.S. households have pets, and America grows more pet-friendly every day. But as Katherine C. Grier demonstrates, the ways we talk about and treat our pets--as companions, as children, and as objects of beauty, status, or pleasure--have their origins long ago. Grier begins with a natural history of animals as pets, then discusses the changing role of pets in family life, new standards of animal welfare, the problems presented by borderline cases such as livestock pets, and the marketing of both animals and pet products. She focuses particularly on the period between 1840 and 1940, when the emotional, behavioral, and commercial characteristics of contemporary pet keeping were established. The story is filled with the warmth and humor of anecdotes from period diaries, letters, catalogs, and newspapers. Filled with illustrations reflecting the whimsy, the devotion, and the commerce that have shaped centuries of American pet keeping, Pets in America ultimately shows how the history of pets has evolved alongside changing ideas about human nature, child development, and community life. This book accompanies a museum exhibit, "Pets in America," which opens at the McKissick Museum in Columbia, South Carolina, in December 2005 and will travel to five other cities from May 2006 through May 2008.

Dogs are said to be man’s best friend, but this title also includes many other lovable pets that readers will learn to draw. Step-by-step instructions allow readers to transform basic shapes into some of the cutest animals around. Describes key techniques and drawing tips to allow students to be successful in their drawing.

"I love my cats," writes Sharon Gannon in this important book that promotes health and wellness for your companion animals. Yet, she says, "years after mad cow disease was linked to the cannabilistic feeding of cows to cows, rendered animals are still routinely used in some pet food and commercial feed. Cows, pigs, chickens, dogs and cats are innocently eating each other." Cats and Dogs Are People Too sheds light on the commercial pet food industry and offers healthy alternatives. It explores how you can keep your animals healthy and eating nutritiously balanced food through diet and supplements without being alarmist or emptying your wallet. Sharon also explores the complex emotional lives of our cats and dogs and argues that the love they show to us needs to be met with equal responsibility on our part.

A pet-lover and award-winning journalist traces the history of cats and dogs and the changing social attitudes that transformed these furry creatures from pests and hunting tools in the middle ages to their current status as beloved family members. 30,000 first printing.

Throughout the world, people spend much of their time with animal companions of various kinds, frequently with cats and dogs. What meanings do we make of these relationships? In the ecocritical collection Reading cats and Dogs, a diverse array of scholars considers the philosophy, literature, and film devoted to human relationships with companion species. In addition to illuminating famous animal stories by Beatrix Potter, Jack London, Italo Svevo, and Michael Ondaatje, readers are introduced to the dog poems of Shuntarō Tanikawa, a Turkish documentary on stray cats as neighborhood companions, and the representation of diverse animal companions in Cameroonian novels. Focusing on “Stray and Feral Companions,” “The Usefulness of Companion Animals,” and “Problematizing Companion Animals,” Reading Cats and Dogs aims both to confirm and topple readers’ assumptions about the fellow travelers with whom we share our lives, our streets and fields, and our planet. Fifteen contributors from various countries reveal the aesthetic, ethical, and psychological complexities of our multispecies relationships, demonstrating the richness of ecocritical animal studies.