7 Books About Humans and Animals Connecting if You Loved Remarkably Bright Creatures

Raising Hare by Chloe Dalton shares mystery, grace, and heartache. Dalton happens across a baby hare, and has to decide whether to leave it or try to help it. 

Hares are fragile creatures, and don’t usually respond well to human interaction. With the greatest of care, Dalton brings the tiny creature home and works to keep it alive. 

What grows from this decision is a wondrous invitation to observe the wild right within her own home. By deciding to leave the hare uncaged, eventually allowing it to come and go through the garden, a mutual respect and bond develop. 

It’s easy to be enchanted as Dalton shares about the history of hares, the impact of environmental change and human hunting on them, and their curious habits. Pick up this read immediately and feel your heart melt. 

Biologist Catherine Raven likes being alone and finds a way to do so in a cabin in the middle of nowhere. To her surprise, a fox begins to visit her outside the cabin. 

Raven is very curious about this. She’s a practical scientist and doesn’t believe she could become friends with a fox. As time goes on, however, she warms up to her companion. 

Together they read The Little Prince, and their relationship grows. Raven is forced to grapple with caring for such a wild part of nature, even knowing it is ultimately temporary. She discovers that taking a chance on a fox is worth it. 

Julie Zickefoose had a fair share of experience with birds, but nothing prepared her for Jemima. A painter and naturalist, Zickefoose must grapple with caring for this wild bird, who is wholly dependent on her. 

Jemima grows into a plucky blue jay who enjoys time at the family home until it’s time to be released back into the wild. Jemima faces illness, leaving Zickefoose to try to help. 

She and Jemima do their best to navigate the strange but heartwarming connection they share. This story is one of beauty that can be found in the wildest of souls. 

What happens when a neuroscientist and his family decide to buy a farm and live more sustainably? Well, a lot of things, and this book is certainly one of them. 

Cowpuppy is such a loving story. It begins with Berns and his wife working to get a newborn calf to feed. Mind you, this is a calf born from one of their new cows, which they didn’t know was pregnant. 

From there, Berns shares how they ended up relocating to farm life, and begins to explore what it means to live rurally. His connection with the cows is strong from the beginning, and soon he is studying them and their undeniable personalities. 

He is a scientist after all. This book is the perfect blend of memoir mixed with cow facts and anecdotes.

We don’t think much of the creatures living super close to the ground, to the dirt. We bring plants into our home and try our best to keep them alive. Little do we know what we may have invited inside. 

The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating by Elisabeth Tova Bailey is the story of what happens when we allow ourselves to find awe in even the tiniest creatures. Bailey spends an extended period in bed, and begins to observe the behaviors of the snail who’s living in a planter in her room. 

She falls into the total wonder that arises when we experience nature up close. The readers are lucky to be taken along on the journey of learning about Bailey’s curious visitor. 

Irene M. Pepperberg shares the incredible thirty-year journey shared with her colleague and parrot in the book Alex & Me. Alex, the parrot, completely defies what was understood at the time about animal intelligence. 

Alex was being studied by Pepperberg to further understand his inner workings. What she learned from Alex is how complex every animal truly is. 

A small celebrity in his own right, Alex showed Pepperberg and the world how smart and funny he truly was. He left a lasting impact on both the scientific community and Pepperberg herself. 

Photographer Nick Jans is surprised to have a recurring visitor on the outskirts of Juneau, Alaska: a black wolf. 

Jans, also a naturalist, had seen plenty of wolves in the field, but this one was different. It begins by approaching dogs and proceeds to dance with them. The connection continues from there. 

Jans and his wife, along with other locals, find themselves enchanted by this wolf, who seems to be part of the community, even if on its own terms. 

The story Jans shares is one of respect, awe, and how close to the wild we can be, if only it lets us in.