October is World Animal Month. This month is a wonderful opportunity for us animal lovers to celebrate our animals. Animals always surprise me with their ingenuity and noble traits. They are not able to communicate in my language I would love to see inside their heads. Do they feel as I feel and what would they tell me if they could? I believe that animals face many of the same life challenges that we face, and I read three fictional classic books that tell wonderful stories of these challenges. I had the opportunity to know what these animal characters thought whether they actually talked, or if the story revealed their inner thoughts. The animals in the following stories face many trials, such as having to leave their comfort zones, surviving in harsh and dangerous circumstances, and fighting sinister leadership. Celebrate World Animal Month by following these amazing animals' life stories in these three classic stories: Watership Down by Richard Adams, Call of the Wild by Jack London, and Animal Farm by George Orwell.
Watership Down tells the story of an especially brave rabbit by the name of Hazel. Hazel and his rabbit friends happily live in their connecting rabbit burrows that they call warrens. Hazel’s little brother Fiver suddenly has an unexplained dread about the future of their warren. He tells Hazel that they must flee immediately. Fiver’s fear manifests its reality as they notice moving tractors on their flight from human intrusion. Follow this exciting adventure as these valiant rabbits face threats from unsympathetic humans, other animal predators, and a mafia-style rabbit group called the Efrafa. Will Hazel and his followers survive these obstacles to build another warren? Learn what happens in this suspenseful and absorbing story.
Call of the Wild chronicles the adventures of a memorable dog named Buck, who is part Saint Bernard and part Scotch Shepherd. Buck is the pampered dog of wealthy owners, but his comfortable existence abruptly changes. Buck is placed into the hands of brutal men by the greedy family gardener. Buck is kidnapped and forced to be a sled dog during the Klondike Gold Rush in Alaska. Buck faces one brutal overseer after another and suffers in the harsh Alaskan climate. Strangely enough, he does not miss his owners but adapts to being a sled dog. Will Buck ever encounter a human who shows him kindness.? Why is this story called Call of the Wild? Read Buck’s story to learn the answers to these questions.
Animal Farm takes us into the life of a group of farm animals who have an abusive owner by the name of Mr. Jones. They become weary of Mr. Jones' unfair treatment and decide to take matters into their own hands. These animals have a meeting about ways to overthrow Mr. Jones and run the farm on their own. The coup is successful. The animals seem to effectively run the operations of Manor Farm. The new leader of this farm is the magnetic boar by the name of Napoleon. Will Napoleon be the leader that the animals want, or will he be even worse than Mr. Jones? If you are curious about the outcome, read this compelling story of the new leadership of Manor Farm.
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