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Chicken Soup for the Soul: What I Learned from the Cat: 101 Stories about Life, Love, and Lessons

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Lessons come in all shapes and sizes, like our feline friends. Cat lovers, both lifelong and reluctant, share their stories about life, love, and lessons learned from their furry companions.

400 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 22, 2009

45 people are currently reading
375 people want to read

About the author

Jack Canfield

1,286 books1,749 followers
Jack Canfield is an American motivational speaker and author. He is best known as the co-creator of the "Chicken Soup for the Soul" book series, which currently has over 124 titles and 100 million copies in print in over 47 languages. According to USA Today, Canfield and his writing partner, Mark Victor Hansen, were the top-selling authors in the United States in 1997.

Canfield received a BA in Chinese History from Harvard University and a Masters from University of Massachusetts. He has worked as a teacher, a workshop facilitator, and a psychotherapist.

Canfield is the founder of "Self Esteem Seminars" in Santa Barbara, and "The Foundation for Self Esteem" in Culver City, California. The stated mission of Self Esteem Seminars is to train entrepreneurs, educators, corporate leaders and employees to achieve their personal and professional goals. The focus of The Foundation for Self Esteem is to train social workers, welfare recipients and human resource professionals.

In 1990,he shared with author Mark Victor Hansen his idea for the Chicken Soup for the Soul series. After three years, the two had compiled sixty-eight stories.

Canfield has appeared on numerous television shows, including Good Morning America, 20/20, Eye to Eye, CNN's Talk Back Live, PBS, The Oprah Winfrey Show, The Montel Williams Show, Larry King Live and the BBC.

Canfield's most recent book, The Success Principles (2005), shares 64 principles that he claims can make people more successful. In 2006, he appeared in the DVD, "The Secret," and shared his insights on the Law of Attraction and tips for achieving success in personal and professional life.

Jack Canfield was born on August 19, 1944, in Fort Worth, TX. He is the son of Elmer and Ellen (a homemaker; maiden name, Taylor). He attended high school at Linsly Military Institute, Wheeling, WV, 1962. He went to college at Harvard University, B.A., 1966; University of Massachusetts at Amherst, M.Ed., 1973. Canfield married Judith Ohlbaum in 1971 (divorced, November 1976); he married Georgia Lee Noble on September 9, 1978 (divorced, December 1999); he married Inga Marie Mahoney on July 4, 2001; children: (first marriage) Oran, David, Kyle, Dania; (second marriage) Christopher Noble. He is a Democrat and a Christian, and his hobbies include tennis, travel, skiing, running, billiards, reading, and guitar.

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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
Profile Image for Julia.
175 reviews1 follower
July 10, 2024
Not really what I had hoped for. Most of these stories are about cats dying. I get it: pets, like humans, are temporary. After the first few deaths, I thought, "Okay, they are closing off the tale by concluding how this moment contributed to the cats' full life." But the stories stopped speaking to me when so many of them ended with the cats' death. Not to mention the last chapter, which was all about euthanasia and losing loved ones. I was just looking for cheerful cat tales, but this wasn't the book for that.
Profile Image for Hilary.
2,311 reviews50 followers
November 28, 2018
Gift your favorite cat-lover with this collection of feline-themed short stories...along with a box of tissues! "The more I learn about people, the better I like my cat..."
Author 3 books10 followers
August 13, 2020
I am a cat person and this book had me laughing and crying and laughing again. Such relatable stories!! I saw a lot of my late Murphy in these cats and even more of new baby, Tealicious.
Profile Image for chee wai.
6 reviews
March 2, 2017
The stories were so touching and inspiring. It's one of the best book that I have come across.This book lifted my spirit.
Profile Image for Siti.
64 reviews29 followers
January 10, 2017
Most of the stories shared were inspiring to say the least and shreds the light on how intuitive our cats are. Some of the stories were just downright boring but still, I learned a lot about cats from the owners' sharing. It's really refreshing to see cats as a therapy cat which trumps most of the mainstream label on these felines as aloof, unsociable and somewhat not worth it compared to dogs. They might be all three but those who haven't love felines are because none of the cats spend effort on them.

Challenge #1 completed: A book with a cat on the cover
Profile Image for Kirby.
229 reviews
June 13, 2010
I love the Chicken Soup for the Soul books about animals that I love. They make me feel good. Best of all these feel-good books can be read at my own leisure....finishing them in one day or one month from now.
626 reviews4 followers
October 1, 2012
A good selection of cat stories, the only issue I had was that the dual narrators didn't really work. Because they had a male narrator for the male submitted stories and there were so few of them, it was jarring whenever the voices changed. Other than that I enjoyed this heart warming audio book.
Profile Image for Raissa Sati.
1 review
August 7, 2013
those 101 stories about love,life,instinct of the cats make us to love our cats more and more than we used to be,then we could get to know more deeply about our cat's trait,what they feel,what they like and dislike.so touching stories,and really good for cats lover.amazing book
1 review
February 7, 2015
This book is perfect for any cat lover. I honestly loved each story. This book made me laugh and cry. I loved this book simply because there is a lot that we can learn from cats. And this book is simply awesome
900 reviews
September 8, 2011
Some really good stories. Some really intriguing stories as well about cats who mysteriously appeared or reappeared after they had gone missing.
Profile Image for Donna Maroulis.
187 reviews3 followers
June 10, 2013
Like all the " Chicken Soup " books, heart warming , moving, humorous and inspiring. But , being a crazy cat lady, I especially enjoyed this one !
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews

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