Courage Reviews The Animal Family By Randall Jarrell

 Paw Rating = Five Paws out of Five

 Level = Advanced Reader

 Real Quick = A sweet, peaceful, story about a lonely hunter who adopts an unlikely family.

What Makes A Family?

Hello everyone, it is I, Courage The Reading Dog, here to do my first book report for my blog.  The book I want to tell Readers about is one called, The Animal Family by Randall Jarell.  There's a picture of it up there. See it?  You might be noticing those beautiful illustrations.  Those are done by the famous children's book illustrator, Maurice Sendak .  If you have ever seen a book called Where The Wild Things Are then you've seen some of Mister Sendak's wonderful illustration work.  

This story opens with a lonely hunter living next to the sea shore.  The hunter loves the land and the forest and all the wild beauty around him.  He is almost happy, except that he gets a bit lonely. Then one day the hunter meets a mermaid.  The hunter and the mermaid become friends.  Each enjoys the other's company, each learns new things from the other, until finally the mermaid decides to take a big step and move into the hunter's house on the hill.

At first the mermaid misses the ocean very much.  It's hard for her to get around on land.  Things like beds, and tables, and chairs seem so strange to her, all she can do is laugh at them.  Gradually, the mermaid learns how to live in her new, dry environment.  She and the hunter come to care for each other very deeply.  Then one day the hunter brings home a baby bear...

As the story progresses the hunter adds more unusual animals to his family.  The new family members bring great happiness to the hunter and the mermaid, even though it means extra work, and sometimes extra messes and misadventures.  

Morgan, (my person) and I, both love this story.  We like the way it keeps us entertained without ever having any violence, or even any really serious peril or danger in it.  It is a quiet story about how good it feels to have a family.  It's about how a family can be anyone, even if they are not always related, or even if they aren't a human.   This book makes great bedtime reading.  It is warm, and comforting, and makes this dog, at least, really appreciate his own family.  Yes, even his sister, Craaaaazzzy Zoe.

This is Zoe.  Morgan says she is, "Chocolate with nuts."

What is your favorite book?  Would you like to write a book review for my blog? You can send your book review to Courage2Read@gmail.com  and I will publish it in this blog.  You will be famous!  Would you like me to review a book for you?  Just leave a comment in the comment section under this blog post, and I will try to review your book for you.  Want to read more of my book reviews?  Please stay tuned to this blog, More book reviews from Courage The Reading Dog are on the way!