One Big Happy Family: Heartwarming Stories of Animals Caring for One Another

This collection of tender stories and photos describes surprising interspecies relationships, many involving an adult predator suppressing its instinct to kill and taking on a parental role when exposed to an orphaned or abandoned baby animal that would ordinarily be its prey. The anecdotes amply support Rogak’s contention that the “instinct to love and nurture is real,” although the book is not intended to be a rigorous study of the issue. Much of the parenting is done by dogs, which Rogak (The Dogs of War) attributes to their breeding and training. Most memorable are the truly oddball combinations, such as the cat that adopts a baby squirrel, the goat mothering a baby wolf, and the rabbit rearing kittens as her own. Rogak’s prose is buttressed by adorable pictures of the animals from different species snuggling or cuddling with each other. Impressively, the animals actively sought out the younger creatures in need. The stories exemplify the maxim that truth is stranger than fiction, and even if these incidents mark the exception rather than the rule, animal lovers of all ages will enjoy the book. 69 color photos. Agent: Scott Mendel, Mendel Media Group. (Oct.)