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Beyond Words (Young Readers Adaptations)

Beyond Words: What Wolves and Dogs Think and Feel

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Eye-opening, wise, and filled with triumphant and heartbreaking stories about the wolf population at Yellowstone (as well as some personal anecdotes about dogs), Carl Safina's Beyond Words: What Wolves and Dogs Think and Feel accessibly explores the mysteries of animal thought and behavior for young readers.

Weaving decades of field research with exciting new discoveries about the brain, and complete with astonishing photos, Beyond Words offers an extraordinary look at what makes these animals different from us, but more importantly, what makes them similar, namely, their feelings of joy, grief, anger, and love.

These similarities between human and nonhuman consciousness and empathy allow the reader to reexamine how we interact with animals as well as how we see our own place in the world.

176 pages, Hardcover

First published April 21, 2020

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About the author

Carl Safina

46 books587 followers
Carl Safina’s work has been recognized with MacArthur, Pew, and Guggenheim Fellowships, and his writing has won Orion, Lannan, and National Academies literary awards and the John Burroughs, James Beard, and George Rabb medals. He has a PhD in ecology from Rutgers University. Safina is the inaugural holder of the endowed chair for nature and humanity at Stony Brook University, where he co-chairs the steering committee of the Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science and is founding president of the not-for-profit organization, The Safina Center. He hosted the 10-part PBS series Saving the Ocean with Carl Safina. His writing appears in The New York Times, Audubon, Orion, and other periodicals and on the Web at National Geographic News and Views, Huffington Post, and CNN.com.

He lives on Long Island, New York with his wife Patricia, the two best beach-running dogs in the world, some chickens, a couple of parrots, and Frankie the kingsnake.

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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
Profile Image for Shilo Quetchenbach.
1,793 reviews65 followers
September 25, 2023
Kiddo loves the author's other books for young readers, and we've read them several times, so of course we had to read this one. He was very interested in it, but it was more violent than the others and was a little harder for him to handle. He never lost interest though and has been talking about wanting to visit Yellowstone next time he visits his grandparents in Montana.
Profile Image for Kristine .
1,005 reviews333 followers
March 17, 2021
This was such an interesting book. The Wolves observation takes place at Yellowstone National Park. I’ve been to Yellowstone, but has never seen a beautiful wolf. Learned that Wolves are 1) tough 2) they must kill 3) they travel and 4) they are very social. The Alpha can be female or male, but doesn’t mean you need to be aggressive or kill another wolf. Cooperation is also very much part of being a leader. Best was the author makes you feel empathy for the wolf.

The part about dogs I knew I would enjoy. I worship my Havenese Dog, Jasper and was so glad to hear he really loves me, truly understands what I say, craves my love and attention, and has his own needs and feelings. The domesticated dog came about by b/c the less aggressive, more friendly wolves got attention. Over time, these wolves were favored. It was also found in a study that less aggressive foxes, also had cuter features. This was not expected. So, for dogs rounder head, floppy ears, wagging tail, became dominant. Author has two dogs, part of the family, and loved that he is from Long Island, where I spent most of my life. Says all evidence leads to conclusion not only humans are conscious, feeling beings who can enjoy living.

Excellent, we need to understand the world’s ‘beings’ better, stop interfering and harming the natural process, and thinking we have the right to behave however we wish. ♥️
Profile Image for Carol Farrington.
462 reviews7 followers
August 29, 2020
I didn’t realize when I put this on hold at the library that it was a juvenile book however that just made it quick and easy to read and understand. I Was actually more fascinated by the first part of the book that was about the wolves. I learned so much about them that I never knew before and I could apply it to the four dogs that we have at our house.
Profile Image for Lynda.
55 reviews
September 20, 2023
I am disappointed. I read this book thinking I might buy it for my granddaughters. I am thrilled about the reintroduction of wolves into Yellowstone and my granddaughters are in love with their dogs so I thought this book would bring it all together for them. The first 100 pages or so were about the wolf packs in Yellowstone that I’ve read a lot about. The next fifty pages were about humans and dog connections. I was looking for a more integrated story to tell children. I would have at least preferred the dog section first as a way to hook kids and then introduce the wolves. Anyway, I’m glad I checked it out from the library rather than buying it.
Profile Image for Yvonne Lacy.
435 reviews
October 11, 2020
Very interesting on the whole, though I found his conclusions less scientific than emotional. Perhaps I was looking for a more scientific approach. The wolf stories were fascinating.
24 reviews
July 24, 2021
Very technical

Too much detail for me. Interesting but not what I thought when purchased. I enjoyed the first half but not the 2nd half.
Profile Image for Laura Gardner.
1,842 reviews125 followers
August 27, 2020
Happy day after #nationaldogday! (it's always #dogday around here, though!! Have you met my #doglove yet? This is Frankie.)
If you haven't read any #CarlSafina yet, and you're a dog lover, this is the one for you.
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Safina, MacArthur genius and ecologist, writes beautifully about wolf behavior in the wild, the domestication of wolves, and our deep genetic connection to wolves and dogs. Safina spends time with researchers in Yellowstone who follow and observe collared wolves daily. These wolves have names, personalities, I've never read a NF author who does a better job inviting curiosity about animal behavior and emotions. I found myself reading long parts of this aloud to my family in astonishment.
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"What I had not imagined was the politics involved, the personalities, the paybacks and coalitions, the family turmoil following tragedy, the loyalties and disloyalties. It seems all too human."
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Safina also posits that humans and wolves/dogs co-evolved over centuries and that "no species are more alike than wolves and humans." Pack living is part of it, but even more so, Safina points to the unique behavior of male wolves sticking around and protecting their families, something no other animal species does. "Wolves and dogs and us: It's not surprising that we found each other. We deserve one another. We were made for one another."
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This is the second book in the Beyond Words young readers books by Carl Safina. I loved the first one about orcas and elephants, too! I'll post it in my stories. You could also read the adult version, which I'm sure is wonderful, too!
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Profile Image for Annarella.
14.2k reviews167 followers
June 11, 2020
An excellent and informative book that is well written and engrossing.
It's a fascinating read and I learned a lot
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Edelweiss for this ARC, all opinions are mine
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews

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