Between the Covers at Covered Treasures Bookstore – Our animal Companions

• The Guest Cat
• The Elephant Whisperer
• Running with Sherman
• H is for Hawk
• Alfie and Me; What Owls Know, What Humans Believe
• Raising Hare; A Memoir
• Winterdance
• Calvin and Hobbes
• Dog Show; Poems

By the staff at Covered Treasures

“Happiness is a warm puppy.”
— Charles M. Schulz

For decades, research has found that people who own pets tend to be healthier than people who don’t. Pet ownership is associated with lower blood pressure, a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease, and lower rates of death after a heart attack or stroke.

This month’s review features books in which animals play a significant role.

The Guest Cat

By Takashi Hiraide; translated by Eric Selland (New Directions Publishing) $14.95

A couple in their 30s live in a small, rented cottage in a quiet part of Tokyo; they work at home, freelance copy-editing; they no longer have very much to say to one another. But one day, a cat invites itself into their small kitchen. It leaves, but the next day comes again, and then again and again. Soon they are buying treats for the cat and enjoying talks about the animal and all its little ways. Life suddenly seems to have more promise for the husband and wife—the days have more light, more color. The novel brims with instances of new small joys, but then something happens….

The Elephant Whisperer

By Lawrence Anthony, with Graham Spence (Thomas Dunne Books) $20

When Lawrence Anthony was asked to accept a herd of “rogue” wild elephants on his reserve in Zululand, his common sense told him to refuse. But he was the herd’s last chance of survival, and to save their lives, he took them in. This is a heartwarming, exciting, funny, and sometimes sad book about Anthony’s experiences with these huge African creatures.

Running with Sherman

By Christopher McDougall (Vintage Books) $19

When Chris McDougall agreed to take in a donkey from an animal hoarder, he thought it would be no harder than the rest of the adjustments he had made over the years. But Sherman was in such bad shape he could barely move, and his hair was coming out in clumps. Chris decided to undertake a radical rehabilitation program designed not only to heal Sherman’s body, but to heal his mind as well. It turns out, the best way to soothe a donkey is to give it a job, and so Chris decided to teach Sherman how to run. He’d heard about burro racing—a unique type of race where humans and donkeys run together in a call-back to mining days—and decided he and Sherman would enter the World Championship in Fairplay, Colo. In the course of Sherman’s training, Chris would have to recruit several other runners, both human and equine. Along the way, he shows us the life-changing power of animals, nature, and community.

H is for Hawk

By Helen MacDonald (Grove Press) $18

This memoir chronicles MacDonald’s journey through intense grief. Following her father’s sudden death, she copes by isolating herself and training a fierce goshawk named Mabel, exploring the bond between humans and wild animals. Made into an award-winning movie in 2025, this book is celebrated for its vivid descriptions of the British countryside and the intense, almost magical connection between the falconer and her bird.

Alfie and Me; What Owls Know, What Humans Believe

By Carl Safina (W.W. Norton) $19.99

When Safina, an ecologist, and his wife rescue a baby screech owl that is near death, they think that just like the other animals they’ve rescued in the past, their relationship with it will be temporary. As Alfie grew and gained strength, she became a part of the family, joining a menagerie of dogs and chickens and making a home for herself in the backyard. Carl and Patricia began to realize that the healing was mutual. Alfie had been braided into their world and was now pulling them into hers.

Raising Hare; A Memoir

By Chloe Dalton (Vintage Books) $21

Imagine you could hold a baby hare and bottle-feed it. Imagine that it lived under your roof and bounded around your bedroom at night, drumming on the duvet cover when it wanted your attention. Imagine that, more than two years after you found it, cowering along a hiking trail, cold and shivering after having been chased by a dog, it still ran in from the fields when you called it and slept in your house for hours on end. For author Chloe Dalton, this became her unexpected reality.

Winterdance

By Gary Paulsen (Harper Collins) $17.99

For 17 days, Gary Paulsen and his team of dogs endured blinding wind, snowstorms, frostbite, dog fights, moose attacks, sleeplessness, hallucinations—and the relentless push to go on. This classic book for young readers is a breathtaking, heart-stopping, roller coaster ride that depicts the brutal reality of the Iditarod and the magnificent beauty of Alaska.

Calvin and Hobbes

By Bill Watterson (Andrews McMeel Publishing) $16.99-$24.99

The mishaps, adventures, and philosophical musings of young Calvin and his stuffed tiger, Hobbes, are available in collections in paperback books, and are as popular with today’s kids (especially boys) as they were with their parents when they were a daily comic strip in newspapers. Beginning in 1985, the comics evoked a feeling of nostalgia, and through their misadventures, they capture life in the American Midwest. Calvin and Hobbes is ultimately about finding magic in the world, the necessity of play, and the value of a deeply felt, imaginative life, ending with a message of hope and exploration.

Dog Show; Poems

By Billy Collins (Random House) $20

Dog Show celebrates the joy of our canine best friends, honoring the love we feel for these animals who play vital roles in so many of our lives. In 25 poems, Collins distills the many emotions dogs bring us, from the happiness we feel as we watch a dog trot out the door unencumbered by human burdens, to the silliness of holding a dog in our arms as we step on the scale together. With his usual insight, wit, and poetic voice, Collins ponders what we learn from our dogs—about ourselves.

Until next month, happy reading!

The staff at Covered Treasures can be reached at books@ocn.me.

Other Book Review articles

• Between the Covers at Covered Treasures Bookstore – Books for young readers (3/4/2026)
• Between the Covers at Covered Treasures Bookstore – February is Heart Month (2/4/2026)
• Between the Covers at Covered Treasures Bookstore – Resolve to take care of yourself in 2026 (12/31/2025)
• Between the Covers at Covered Treasures Bookstore – Consider the gift of reading (12/4/2025)
• Between the Covers at Covered Treasures Bookstore – Remembering to be thankful (10/30/2025)
• Between the Covers at Covered Treasures Bookstore – Reading is still fundamental (10/2/2025)
• Between the Covers at Covered Treasures Bookstore – Get lost in a new book (9/3/2025)
• Between the Covers at Covered Treasures Bookstore – Settle in for some Romance (7/31/2025)
• Between the Covers at Covered Treasures Bookstore – Summer fun has begun (7/3/2025)
• Between the Covers at Covered Treasures Bookstore – Let’s get cooking! (6/7/2025)