A well-organized, helpful reference manual.
Practical guidance for identifying and treating canine emergencies from an experienced emergency veterinarian.
The wonderful world of dogs is, obviously, made up of a vast number of breeds, sizes, and temperaments. Importantly, some breeds are more susceptible to certain injuries or medical problems. For example, pups with slim, long legs are at higher risk for leg trauma; short-snouted dogs, such as pugs, are more likely to experience breathing problems. The better you understand your pooch’s potential vulnerabilities, the better prepared you will be in an emergency. Chivvis’ key point in the first chapter is the importance of anticipating contingencies before health issues occur. The author recommends preparing a dedicated canine first-aid kit (“A well-equipped first-aid kit is a lifesaver in emergencies”), which should include, among other items, sterile gauze pads, self-adhesive bandages (i.e., “vetwrap”), wound cleaners, cold/hot packs, tweezers, and disposable gloves. Additionally, Chivvis suggests readers keep at hand critical phone numbers and addresses for their pets’ regular vets and local emergency vets. Chapter 2 discusses the treatment and prevention of the 10 most common emergencies, which are spinal pain, trauma, heatstroke, seizures, bloat, allergic reactions, hemoabdomen, congestive heart failure, vomiting, and bite wounds. Subsequent chapters cover such topics as toxic substances (human foods and assorted poisons), distinguishing minor from major emergencies, standard preventatives (like leashing and fenced enclosures), and a general review of all the previous material. Chivvis presents the information in lucid, easily accessible prose, and she fills many of these pages with highly useful charts, diagrams, and line-drawing illustrations. (The textbook-style format would be enlivened by including some taken-from-experience anecdotes.) Though some of the material will be familiar to many pet parents, every now and then even seasoned dog people will find an intriguing explanatory gem; for example, in her discussion of heatstroke, the author cautions that, while it is good to give your pup small amounts of cool water and wrap them in a cool wet towel, it is critical not to use ice water or a frigid wrap—excessive cold will shrink and tighten the skin cells, thereby trapping the heat inside.
A well-organized, helpful reference manual.Pub Date: Feb. 28, 2025
ISBN: 9798992048384
Page Count: 171
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: April 29, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
An ebullient nature lover’s paean to birds.
A charming bird journey with the bestselling author.
In his introduction to Tan’s “nature journal,” David Allen Sibley, the acclaimed ornithologist, nails the spirit of this book: a “collection of delightfully quirky, thoughtful, and personal observations of birds in sketches and words.” For years, Tan has looked out on her California backyard “paradise”—oaks, periwinkle vines, birch, Japanese maple, fuchsia shrubs—observing more than 60 species of birds, and she fashions her findings into delightful and approachable journal excerpts, accompanied by her gorgeous color sketches. As the entries—“a record of my life”—move along, the author becomes more adept at identifying and capturing them with words and pencils. Her first entry is September 16, 2017: Shortly after putting up hummingbird feeders, one of the tiny, delicate creatures landed on her hand and fed. “We have a relationship,” she writes. “I am in love.” By August 2018, her backyard “has become a menagerie of fledglings…all learning to fly.” Day by day, she has continued to learn more about the birds, their activities, and how she should relate to them; she also admits mistakes when they occur. In December 2018, she was excited to observe a Townsend’s Warbler—“Omigod! It’s looking at me. Displeased expression.” Battling pesky squirrels, Tan deployed Hot Pepper Suet to keep them away, and she deterred crows by hanging a fake one upside down. The author also declared war on outdoor cats when she learned they kill more than 1 billion birds per year. In May 2019, she notes that she spends $250 per month on beetle larvae. In June 2019, she confesses “spending more hours a day staring at birds than writing. How can I not?” Her last entry, on December 15, 2022, celebrates when an eating bird pauses, “looks and acknowledges I am there.”
An ebullient nature lover’s paean to birds.Pub Date: April 23, 2024
ISBN: 9780593536131
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: Jan. 19, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
A virtuoso performance and an ode to an undervalued medium created by two talented artists.
The veteran actor, comedian, and banjo player teams up with the acclaimed illustrator to create a unique book of cartoons that communicates their personalities.
Martin, also a prolific author, has always been intrigued by the cartoons strewn throughout the pages of the New Yorker. So when he was presented with the opportunity to work with Bliss, who has been a staff cartoonist at the magazine since 1997, he seized the moment. “The idea of a one-panel image with or without a caption mystified me,” he writes. “I felt like, yeah, sometimes I’m funny, but there are these other weird freaks who are actually funny.” Once the duo agreed to work together, they established their creative process, which consisted of working forward and backward: “Forwards was me conceiving of several cartoon images and captions, and Harry would select his favorites; backwards was Harry sending me sketched or fully drawn cartoons for dialogue or banners.” Sometimes, he writes, “the perfect joke occurs two seconds before deadline.” There are several cartoons depicting this method, including a humorous multipanel piece highlighting their first meeting called “They Meet,” in which Martin thinks to himself, “He’ll never be able to translate my delicate and finely honed droll notions.” In the next panel, Bliss thinks, “I’m sure he won’t understand that the comic art form is way more subtle than his blunt-force humor.” The team collaborated for a year and created 150 cartoons featuring an array of topics, “from dogs and cats to outer space and art museums.” A witty creation of a bovine family sitting down to a gourmet meal and one of Dumbo getting his comeuppance highlight the duo’s comedic talent. What also makes this project successful is the team’s keen understanding of human behavior as viewed through their unconventional comedic minds.
A virtuoso performance and an ode to an undervalued medium created by two talented artists.Pub Date: Nov. 17, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-250-26289-9
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Celadon Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 30, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2020
PERSPECTIVES
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
