Last updated: 2:53 am
July 6, 2008
Posted: 2:00 am
July 6, 2008
It's summertime and the reading is easy, thanks to a litter of great new animal books.
This year's Broadway Barks, the annual star-studded pet-adoption event in Shubert Alley co-hosted by Mary Tyler Moore and Bernadette Peters, is Saturday (for info, see broadwaybarks.com). To celebrate its 10th anniversary, Peters has authored a children's book called (what else?) "Broadway Barks" (Blue Apple Books, $17.95). It even comes with a CD of Peters singing a tune she composed herself.
Broadway wouldn't bark at all without the efforts of animal trainer William Berloni. He dedicated his career to pulling hard-luck dogs from animal shelters and rehearsing them for star turns on the Great White Way.
Now the man behind Sandy, the mutt of "Annie" fame, and Chico, the "Legally Blonde" Chihuahua, has authored "Broadway Tails" (Lyons Press, $16.95). It's a must-read for theater lovers.
Joe Camp, director-producer of "Benji," the shaggy shelter mutt who could, helped film audiences appreciate the beauty and brilliance of rescued dogs. Now he aims to raise awareness of the plight of horses with his moving new book "The Soul of a Horse" (Harmony, $24.95).
Animal activist Karen Dawn has a Web site called DawnWatch.com. Dawn's new book, "Thanking the Monkey" (Harper, $19.95), is a hipster's primer on why we all should care about animals, whether or not we have pets. It's got great graphics and A-list fans, including Anthony Kiedis, Alicia Silverstone, David Duchovny and Gloria Steinem.
If epic poems had been about dogs, high school teachers would've had no problem getting students to read them over the summer. That wrong has been righted with "Sharp Teeth" (Harper, $22.95), Toby Barlow's haunting, book-length poem about a pack of vampire dogs in contemporary Los Angeles. It's righteous required reading - for adults.
js@pet-reporter.com
