One of the greatest gifts that animals give to us is the way they receive from us without judgment and without limitation. They give us the opportunity to do the one thing that most of us never get the chance to do, to totally gift everything we have without limitation or consideration. What if your animals are more conscious than you are? When you acknowledge their consciousness, they will start to behave differently with you. They can teach you how to have a more expansive reality and they'll give this to you if you will listen. Animals can help you learn to function with the Earth.

Buzz, moo, and roar! A delightful introduction to animal sounds for the very young springs to life in this vibrantly illustrated board book that features an embossed bumpy texture on the cover and throughout! Bright, bold illustrations of happy creatures are embossed to help reinforce recognition.

Talk with the animals something we can all do! Now you can communicate better with your animals. All you need is a love and understanding of them as individuals and personalities in their own right, and a willingness to listen, watch and learn. Ann Walker shares with us a lifetime of experiences and shows how the rewards of getting through' to animals can be worthwhile even spectacular. Her own affinity with donkeys, ponies, mules, cats, dogs and sheep has had some surprising results at times! This book explains why animals are valuable companions for young and old, for the sick and disabled, and as partners for the blind. Ann Walker, popular Prime Time columnist and animal breeder, will help you develop day-to-day understanding with the animals who share your life.

Before media, before the Internet...there was talk itself. Talk Talk Talk is an incisive, exhilarating collection of essays by some of the best thinkers -- and talkers -- of our time. These stellar contributors locate everyday chatter as the basis of a stunning range of artistic and cultural forms: from Antigone's speech-acts to Freud's "talking cure"; from seventeenth-century demon possession to the Marx Brothers' "immigrant talk"; literature, theatre, standup comedy, "ethnic" talk, technologized talk and much, much more. Contributors include: Homi Bhabha, Judith Butler, Stanley Cavell, Marjorie Garber, Sherry Turkle.

This text contributes to the growing field of human-animal studies by examining the human impulse evidenced inblogs, social networking sites, video games, comic books, and animal welfare literature to ventriloquize the animal voice.

Founded on the premise that zoos are ‘bilingual’—that the zoo, in the shape of its staff and exhibits, and its visitors speak distinct languages—this enlightening analysis of the informal learning that occurs in zoos examines the ‘speech’ of exhibits and staff as well as the discourse of visitors beginning in the earliest years. Using real-life conversations among visitors as a basis for discussion, the authors interrogate children’s responses to the exhibits and by doing so develop an ‘informal learning model’ and a ‘zoo knowledge model’ that prompts suggestions for activities that classroom educators can use before, during, and after a zoo visit. Their analysis of the ‘visitor voice’ informs creative suggestions for how to enhance the educational experiences of young patrons. By assessing visitors’ entry knowledge and their interpretations of the exhibits, the authors establish a baseline for zoos that helps them to refine their communication with visitors, for example in expanding knowledge of issues concerning biodiversity and biological conservation. The book includes practical advice for zoo and classroom educators about positive ways to prepare for zoo visits, engaging activities during visits, and follow-up work that maximizes the pedagogical benefits. It also reflects on the interplay between the developing role of zoos as facilitators of learning, and the ways in which zoos help visitors assimilate the knowledge on offer. In addition to being essential reading for educators in zoos and in the classroom, this volume is full of insights with much broader contextual relevance for getting the most out of museum visits and field trips in general.