True Animal

When the nurturing nature of women meets the loyalty and unguarded affection of dogs, remarkable connections ensue. You'll be entertained, inspired, and moved by this anthology of true stories from women around the world.

From the moment Sarvey Wildlife Care Center volunteer Jeff Guidry saw the emaciated baby eagle with broken wings, his life was changed. For weeks he and the center's staff tended to the grievously injured bird. Miraculously, she recovered, and Jeff became her devoted caretaker. Though Freedom would never fly, she had Jeff as her wings.

On October 23, 2012, with Superstorm Sandy fast approaching, Captain Robin Walbridge made the fateful decision to sail the HMS Bounty from New London, Connecticut, to St. Petersburg, Florida, believing the wooden ship, a replica of the original, famous Bounty, would fare better at sea than at port. He told the crew that anyone who did not want to come on the voyage could leave the ship and there would be no hard feelings. No one took the captain up on his offer, and this decision would have fatal consequences.

Cheryl loves horses. She’s been studying thoroughbreds at her family’s horse racing stables since she was old enough to ride on the shoulders of her father, a famous horse trainer. Cheryl wants to be a jockey. One problem—she is a girl, and there has never been a Black female jockey in history! Jetolara is a young thoroughbred finding his place in the herd. When Cheryl literally falls onto his back, and Jeto sprints off across the pasture, Cheryl discovers that she doesn’t just want to be a jockey, she is a jockey—and she and Jeto were born to race.

Sometimes we throw things away when we no longer want or need them. But what if they’re still good? A man named Nelson Molina wondered about this and did something about it. As a sanitation worker in New York City, Nelson saved more than forty-five thousand items from his garbage truck, including toys, musical instruments, and thingamajigs. He gave them new life and shared them with others at the Treasures in the Trash Museum.

Bailey’s parents enter him into a Halloween costume competition just for dogs. Bailey can sense something exciting is coming soon, but he’s not sure what that will be. But what should Bailey dress as in the costume competition? Daddy isn’t sure, so to get inspiration for the costume, Daddy and Bailey have a wonderful time exploring the city. But will Daddy find a costume in time for the costume competition? And will Bailey win the competition for best costume?

When Kristen Balouch was ten years old, her parents made a surprising announcement: their whole family was going on a trip to plant trees! Kristen, her sisters, and her mom and dad—and their pet, Wonder Dog—flew from their California home to a logging site in British Columbia. There, they joined a crew working to replant the trees that had been cut down. In this story, Kristen reflects on the forty days they spent living in a tent, covered in mud and bug bites, working hard every day to plant a new forest.

Inside every loggerhead turtle is genius: the ability to find their first home, no matter how far away. Follow one, from her birth on a beach in Australia...to her trip across an ocean filled with sharks and seahorses and much more...to her rescue from a net by a fisherman, who names her Yoshi...to her rehabilitation at an aquarium...to her record-breaking swim across the Indian Ocean to the beach on which she hatched, to lay her eggs.

Meet Eddy, the curious Bobcat who falls in love with a traveling family, at a little motel, and in the middle of a snow storm. As the family is on their way to spend Christmas holiday with Grandpa in Ontario, Canada, Eddy will find his way into their laps and into their hearts - as he sends people screaming into the crowds of the town's annual Christmas parade. This wonderful and loving Christmas adventure brings true holiday fun, laughter, and happiness to all of the listeners that travel through the sounds of Eddy the Bobcat and his new family of friends!

Poor Lenore! None of the other animals at Bedlam Farm welcome her. Even Rose the border collie is too busy to play. But Lenore refuses to give up, and when she licks a grumpy ram named Brutus - right on the nose! - an unexpected friendship begins.

Growing up in Germany as a single child, Inge Koch-Williams always had a very close bond with her dogs. She has been involved with rescuing dogs since she was 16 years old. After losing her chihuahua, Lilly, Koch-Williams was heartbroken, but she found the best medicine in Violet’s Rescue. They needed each other. Violet’s Star reminds us that all dogs have a story and they all deserve a chance.

Travel to Mongolia, Georgia, Poland, South Africa, and more as you embark on countless adventures in the saddle. In this audiobook, you will find what your truly made of as you tackle countless obstacles and overcome hardships while abroad on horseback. You’ll encounter wolves in the wilds of Georgia. You’ll discover the true kindness of people after facing an injury that will change the course of your life, forever.

Courtney thinks she might finally be able to give the Curly Bay Pet Hotel and Rescue the true makeover it deserves when she hears about a community development project that’s holding a contest, but when a body turns up, she can’t help but get to the bottom of it one more time! A community development project fills Courtney with visions of expansion. If she can just find the time to put together a good presentation, she’ll be able to help many more cats and dogs in Curly Bay. But she also has some stiff competition with the proposed new community center in town.

True stories of our various dogs, cats, lambs, horses, and birds that added so much to our lives.

TRIXIE, the sweetest little kitten, was born into the simplicity and innocence of a loving rural feral family, under an abandoned pickup truck ~ from where she would too soon be pushed-out into a harsh world of uncertainty. From here, now being homeless and motherless, Trixie tells us her story as she stumbles upon the most unlikely of comrades and is given shelter, along with the guidance that will help as she is swept from encounter to encounter.

After Bailey’s mommy and daddy meet a surfing dog in Costa Rica, they get a good idea: Why not try to teach Bailey how to surf too? Back home in Canada, Mommy organizes a visit to a friend who lives by a wavy lake, and Daddy plans out how he is going to teach Bailey how to surf. Starting by sniffing Daddy’s surfboard, to eating treats off of it, Bailey eventually learns how to balance on the surfboard in the water. When Bailey gets nervous about the moving water and big waves, Daddy and Mommy fear Bailey might not enjoy surfing.

Rachel the Most Radiant Rabbit and Bella the Most Beautiful Bee have the adventure of a lifetime as they strive to bring home a jar of honey for Clementine's supper. Will Rachel and Bella manage to outwit Queen Beatrice and navigate the honeycomb-colored ladder and fill their baskets with the World's Most Delicious Honey? Or will Queen Beatrice scream the hive down?

American Animals is a coming-of-age crime memoir centered around three childhood friends: Warren, Spencer, and Eric. Disillusioned with freshman year of college, and determined to escape from their mundane Middle-American existences, the three hatch a plan to steal millions of dollars' worth of artwork and rare manuscripts from a university museum. The story that unfolds is a gripping adventure of teenage rebellion, from meetings with black-market art dealers in Amsterdam, to the opulent galleries of Christie's auction house in Rockefeller Center.

Hasty Lady’s seven wins in a row to ultimately become the 2021 Winningest Horse of the Randall-Cranwood Meet at Thistledown, proved all but a miracle for her 98-year-old owner Harry Burns. It was an impossible dream come true, a reason to look forward to each new day.

When a worldwide pandemic starts to change life for Bailey and his Daddy and Mommy, the happy family is forced to get used to living life a different way. When Bailey is not allowed to play with other dogs and people, and rather spends his days inside, Bailey struggles to understand why his life is changing. After he learns how to talk to Mommy and Daddy about how he is feeling, Bailey learns that there are always new adventures to be had.