From sheepdogs to wombats to coyotes to jellyfish, animals serve important biological roles in the world. But those who love animals know there's more. We know our connection to other creatures is more than fur, scale, or feather deep. In Saints of Feather and Fang, writer and lifelong animal lover Caryn Rivadeneira looks at the ways that animals--from the pets who share our homes to the mysterious creatures of the deep--serve as spiritual guides for our hearts, minds, and souls. Christian scripture teems with mammals, birds, and reptiles, and research on animals' sensory responses suggests that we not only care for our beloved animals but they, at times, care for us. A therapy pony who visits stroke victims, a rescued pit bull who shows restraint, hedgehogs that scurry down highways made just for them: these stories offer entrŽe to tender, whimsical, and deeply theological reflection on creaturely delight, instinct, curiosity, adaptation, fear, and awe. In them we discover and connect with the God who beckons, rescues, and shelters us with stretched-out wings.

In Saints of Feather and Fang, writer and lifelong animal lover Caryn Rivadeneira explores the ways that animals--from the pets in our homes to the mysterious creatures of the deep--serve as spiritual guides for our hearts, minds, and souls. Rivadeneira offers whimsical and theological reflections on delight, instinct, adaptation, fear, and awe.

Join penguins Edward and Annie, the famous viral sensations, as they waddle through Chicago's Shedd Aquarium in this funny and surprising adventure story that teaches kids and adults alike that life's biggest changes lead to great discoveries and new friends. When Edward and Annie wake up one day, something is different. What could it be? Join this penguin pair on an adventure through the marine world exploring the unknown parts of their aquarium home. As they meet the other wonderfully strange creatures living there, these penguin friends discover that the world is much bigger and more interesting than they ever knew. Will they learn that different is not too bad, especially when you're safe among your friends? Edward and Annie teaches 4 to 8-year-olds that the best adventures start with trying something new a community is made of individuals who are each different, beautiful, and amazing trying new things can be rewarding In this funny read-aloud picture book by Caryn Rivadeneira, children will meet the real-life rockhopper penguins, Edward and Annie, who made a big splash on social media learn about the other sea animals that live at the aquarium, including Wellington the penguin and Annik the baby beluga learn fascinating science facts during family reading time or preschool and elementary STEM lessons in marine biology laugh at the penguins' curious questions and silly antics Your family will fall in love with these sweet, energetic penguins as together you discover that the world is a wonderful and surprising place—a place that is even better when explored with a friend by your side!

For decades, his family rescued lost and forgotten donkeys in the Irish countryside. He had no idea that one day, the donkeys would rescue him. Patrick Barrett grew up on the back of a donkey. In the small village of Liscarroll, the young boy helped his family run a sanctuary for abandoned and abused donkeys. Struggling in school, Patrick only felt truly accepted in the presence of these funny, fuzzy, touching animals. It was like magic, how he and the donkeys understood each other. He became a true “donkey whisperer”—reading their body language, communicating with them in ways they could understand, and teaching himself how to “speak” in their distinctive calls. But when Patrick was of age, he shipped out with the Irish Army and encountered unimaginable wartime horrors in Lebanon and Kosovo. In the aftermath, he returned home a broken man, sinking into the depths of PTSD and addictions. He believed nothing could save him. But he hadn’t counted on the donkeys. Sanctuary is the remarkable true story of how faith turned one lost man’s life around with the help of the rescue animals who loved him. It’s an antidote to despair and a call to hope, revealing the beauty and wonder of Ireland as you’ve never seen it before.

When our children turn 18, we hope to happily launch them into the world to become the adults we’ve been preparing them to be. Their pathway seems clear: most will go to college, find a vocation and then a true love, and settle into a comfortable life while we parents keep in touch through occasional phone calls, family gatherings, and surprise trips home for Christmas. But now more than ever, these expectations fail to acknowledge the significant challenges faced by many young people, from a pandemic to racial unrest to a climate crisis that is setting the world on fire, figuratively and literally. While young people are consistently told they need to discern God’s calling, in Finding Our Way Forward, Melanie Springer Mock draws on her decades as a college professor and mom to four adult children to explore how finding our way means developing a more expansive understanding of calling for ourselves and for the young adults we love, one that moves beyond vocation and capitalistic enterprises to what God really calls us to: Seeking justice. Loving mercy. Walking with humility. Loving others. Loving God. As we do so, our relationships can be transformed as together we find our way forward.

"For decades, his family rescued lost and forgotten donkeys in the Irish countryside. He had no idea that one day, the donkeys would rescue him. Patrick Barrett grew up on the back of a donkey. In the small village of Liscarroll, he befriended the abandoned and abused donkeys his family cared for in their animal sanctuary. He became a true donkey whisperer -- communicating with them in ways they could understand and teaching himself how to speak in their distinctive calls. But Patrick's life took an unexpected turn. He shipped out with the Irish Army and encountered unimaginable wartime horrors in Lebanon and Kosovo. In the aftermath, he returned home a broken man, sinking into the depths of PTSD and addictions. He believed nothing could save him -- but he hadn't counted on God or the donkeys. Sanctuary is the remarkable true story of how faith turned one lost man's life around with the help of the rescue animals who love him"--Back cover.

Sometimes we forget, and in forgetting, remember who we are," writes the girl on the train. She becomes committed to a path through the reality of 36 hours, on a journey that encompasses years of living. Saints and Lovers tells the story of a woman going home, a story peopled with the lives of friends and demons who travel with her. As the train draws nearer to a destination, the nameless woman finds herself coming face to face with these beasts, in flesh and in memory, and the terrible secret she has been running from for so long. At the same time harsh and tender, the story of her life crosses the landscapes of space and consciousness, weaving fantasy and memory into the moment that is now, here. Poetic and compelling, Saints and Lovers paints the contours of human emotion and the heart's ability to forgive while still staying true.