Animals in Translation: Using the Mysteries of Autism to Decode Animal Behavior

Book Description

I don't know if people will ever be able to talk to animals the way Doctor Doolittle could, or whether animals will be able to talk back. Maybe science will have something to say about that. But I do know people can learn to "talk" to animals, and to hear what animals have to say, better than they do now. --From Animals in Translation

Why would a cow lick a tractor? Why are collies getting dumber? Why do dolphins sometimes kill for fun? How can a parrot learn to spell? How did wolves teach man to evolve? Temple Grandin draws upon a long, distinguished career as an animal scientist and her own experiences with autism to deliver an extraordinary message about how animals act, think, and feel. She has a perspective like that of no other expert in the field, which allows her to offer unparalleled observations and groundbreaking ideas.

People with autism can often think the way animals think, putting them in the perfect position to translate "animal talk." Grandin is a faithful guide into their world, exploring animal pain, fear, aggression, love, friendship, communication, learning, and, yes, even animal genius. The sweep of Animals in Translation is immense and will forever change the way we think about animals.

*includes a Behavior and Training Troubleshooting Guide

Among its provocative ideas, the book:

argues that language is not a requirement for consciousness--and that animals do have consciousness applies the autism theory of "hyper-specificity" to animals, showing that animals and autistic people are so sensitive to detail that they "can't see the forest for the trees"--a talent as well as a "deficit" explores the "interpreter" in the normal human brain that filters out detail, leaving people blind to much of the reality that surrounds them--a reality animals and autistic people see, sometimes all too clearlyexplains how animals have "superhuman" skills: animals have animal geniuscompares animals to autistic savants, declaring that animals may in fact be autistic savants, with special forms of genius that normal people do not possess and sometimes cannot even see examines how humans and animals use their emotions to think, to decide, and even to predict the future reveals the remarkable abilities of handicapped people and animals maintains that the single worst thing you can do to an animal is to make it feel afraid

Customer Reviews:

Amazing!.......2007-10-14

okay i havent read the book yet, but i just wanted to say i just listened to the author lecture at my university and she is brilliant! im buying this book right now...

Fascinating and practical........2007-08-24

I am a one-to-one teacher for a teenager with Aspergers and my husband and I are also farmers. I have learned more about how it must feel to live with Aspergers from this book than any text book I have previously read. This book has had a profound impact on my understanding and empathy as a teacher and friend.

I have also been fascinated with the reasoning behind animal behaviors within their own environment. This book has given me concrete information that I can use and helped to explain why my gut feeling in certain instances with animals actually has a factual basis.

The "light-bulb" moments in this book have been continual from cover to cover. This book will stay in my personal library permanently.

Excellent Book for Pet Owners.......2007-08-14

I started reading this book out of curiosity, but it turned out to be serendipitous. Our older dog had recently died at 14, and we didn't realize that our younger dog had concluded that she was now the alpha dog until I started seeing her newly problematic behaviors (including lots of growling at people, which she never did before) on the pages of this book. I used the theories I read about to demonstrate to her that I was the dominant one, and within a few weeks, the problem was gone.

Aside from this practical use, I found the book extremely interesting and often funny.

Animals in Translation.......2007-07-16

Animals in Translation is an amazing book. This book states that by looking at human autism, we can better under animals, the way they think, the way they behave, and how they see the world. The author is an animal scientist who works primarily with slaughter houses. She is also autistic.

Before reading this book, I had very little comprehension about the way that autistic people see the world. I simply had no idea that seeing the world in a visual way was that much different than the way that I think. I now see that this different way of thinking has a lot of really interesting benefits, particularly when it comes to understanding other visual thinkers like the animals around us. As I read this book, I started to comprehend how much detail in life we normally ignore. So much of what we need to understand animals is simply looking at life from their perspective, both literally and figuratively speaking.

Informative and intuitive.......2007-07-03

I picked up this book for two reasons: I am a health care professional who deals extensively with children on the autistic spectrum, and at the same time a boggled owner of a very fearful pekingese mix whom I had adopted from a rescue shelter. Who would've known there was a great overlap in understanding both populations? This was a wonderful, enlightening book that I couldn't put down once I started reading. It was thoroughly engrossing, understanding animals and sensory-processing challenged children from the view who has intimate knowledge of their plight. This is an informative, intuitive book that analyzes behaviors in animals and people with autism, gives meaning to them, and makes them understandable to us.

This is a great read for people who deal with persons with autism behaviors, for people who love animals, and for all who would like to delve deeper in to our human - and animal, and autistic-like - natures.

A Medieval Book of Beasts: The Second-Family Bestiary. Commentary, Art, Text and Translation.

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A Medieval Book of Beasts: The Second-Family Bestiary. Commentary, Art, Text and Translation.
Willene B. Clark
Manufacturer: Boydell Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0851156827

Book Description

The bestiary - a book of animals, both real and mythical - is one of the most interesting and appealing medieval artefacts. The `Second-family' bestiary is the most important and frequently produced version (some 49 known manuscripts exist). Of English origin and predominantly English production, it boasts a spiritual text `modernized' to meet the needs of its time, and features exceptional illustrations. This study addresses the work's purpose and audience, challenging previous assumptions with direct evidence in the manuscripts themselves, linking their use to teachers at the elementary-school level, and exploring the art, the text, and the cultural context for the bestiary. It includes a critical edition and new English translation, and a catalogue raisonnÃ© of the manuscripts. Fully illustrated. WILLENE B. CLARK is Professor of Art History Emerita at Marlboro College, Vermont.

Prayers from the Ark and The Creatures' Choir

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Prayers From The Ark/The Creatures' Choir
-"The voices of animals raised to God in song"-
Prayers from the Ark
Lovely and gentle
God's Other Creatures

Prayers from the Ark and The Creatures' Choir
translated by Rumer Godden , and Carmen Bernos De Gasztold
Manufacturer: Penguin (Non-Classics)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0140586776

Customer Reviews:

Prayers From The Ark/The Creatures' Choir.......2004-10-01

This book is funny and heart breaking. It captures something in nature that most of us never take the time to notice. Do creatures comune with God? Why not? Who are we humans to think that only we can speak to our Maker. Even if you are not an "animal lover" this book has something for you.

-"The voices of animals raised to God in song"-.......2002-05-22

PRAYERS FROM THE ARK was written and published first, and the poems are in the form of prayers. THE CREATURES' CHOIR was written quite a few years later and these last poems are more like letters to God, where the animals refer to their daily problems. The author did not write sentimental verse. The poems of the animals seem to radiate with truth.

I was first introduced to PRAYERS FROM THE ARK in 1977 by my sister, Susan who lent me her book. Since that time, I've purchased two copies myself, and have given several as gifts. The original book was written in French by Carmen Bernos De Gasztold, and published in 1947. The famous author, Rumer Godden discovered the work and was so impressed with the poems that she translated them into English.

There are over fifty beautiful poems in this book where each animal speaks to God in his or her own voice revealing their individual traits and personalities.

The Dove--"The Ark waits, Lord; it has endured. Let me carry it a sprig of hope and joy."

The Dog--"No one but You and I understands what faithfulness is."

The Ladybird-- "Thank You for having made me so that no one is afraid of me."

This is a charming book for an adult to read and a wonderful way for a child to learn that every creatures' life has dignity and purpose.

Prayers from the Ark.......2001-04-30

This is a whimsical book - as much for adults as for children - great to read aloud to children - and wonderfully illustrated.

Lovely and gentle.......2000-11-23

I found this in a used book store's remainder bin, and I was so touched that I nearly cried on the bus.

Bernos de Gasztold, who lives in a French abbey, has written some very simple prayers by animals. Rumer Godden is an inpired translator.

PRAYER OF THE (ROOSTER) Do not forget, Lord, it is I who make the sun rise. I am Your servant but, with the dignity of my calling, I need some glitter and ostentation. Noblesse oblige... All the same, I am Your servant, only...do not forget, Lord, I make the sun rise. Amen.

PRAYER OF THE CAT Lord, I am the cat. It is not, exactly, that I have something to ask of You! No -- I ask nothing of anyone -- but, if You have by some chance, in some celestial barn, a little white mouse, or a saucer of milk, I know someone who would relish them. Wouldn't You like someday to put a curse on the whole race of dogs? If so I should say Amen.

THE PRAYER OF THE MOUSE I am so little and grey, dear God, how can You keep me in mind? Always spied upon, always chased. Nobody ever gives me anything, and I nibble meagrely at life. Why do they reproach me with being a mouse? Who made me but You? I only ask to stay hidden. Give me my hunger's pittance safe from the claws of that devil with green eyes. Amen

THE PRAYER OF THE OLD HORSE See, Lord, My coat hangs in tatters, like homespun, old, threadbare. All that I had of zest, all my strength, I have given in hard work and kept nothing back for myself. Now my poor head swings to offer up all the loneliness of my heart. Dear God, stiff on my thickened legs I stand here before You: Your uprofitable servant. Oh! of Your goodness, give me a gentle death. Amen.

God's Other Creatures.......2000-03-17

If they could talk, what would God's "other creatures" say? Read this book and find out. The author's imagined, unspoken expressions of as yet unrecognized intelligence in the animal and insect world will instill new sensitivity in those who previously took these fellow beings all too much for granted. Read this and realize that the earth belongs to them as much as to us. Hear their voices and understand their world. A must for every child - for every adult.

A Haiku Menagerie: Living Creatures in Poems and Prints

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A Superb and Thoughtful Gift
An Excellent Haiku Poetry Book
A Superb and Thoughtful Gift

A Haiku Menagerie: Living Creatures in Poems and Prints
Stephen Addiss
Manufacturer: Weatherhill
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0834805693
Release Date: 2006-03-14

Book Description

A furry, feathery, and scaly menagerie of creatures large and small captured in over forty-eight paintings and one hundered twenty haiku—with the delicacy, charm, and wisdom of the best of Japanese literature and art.

Customer Reviews:

A Superb and Thoughtful Gift.......2007-04-24

A wonderful juxtaposition of woodblock prints paired with haiku poems.The book divides the creatures into categories based on their actions so we have "walkers" and "fliers" and "crawlers" and "swimmers".

Issa, of course, is well-represented since he dealt with creatures in so many of his haiku. However, the inclusion of lesser-known haijin is certainly welcome. Has anyone not related to the following:

There's nothing
he doesn't know --
the cat on the stove

Fusei

Lovingly crafted and published, this book makes a thoughtful and classy gift.
I have recommended this volume to many friends and I recommend
it to you.

An Excellent Haiku Poetry Book.......2006-12-31

This is an excellent book of haiku poetry to read from the master of the craft. The book is arranged into four major sections and addresses nature in the following fashions: walkers, flyers, crawlers, and swimmers. The haiku poems are written about animals, fowl, insects, creatures and the like in four major classifications. The connection between nature, mankind and the elements is blended together in this masterpiece. The next section of the book gives a biographical sketch of the artists who contributed their wonderful illustrations. Their artistic abilities cover animals and creatures, fowl, and insects from the four major areas of walkers, flyers, crawlers and swimmers. The final section is about the poets who are the featured writers in the book. Haikus from the masters, such as Basho, Issa and Buson will touch your soul. The book also gives a biographical sketch of some of the major female haiku poets who are discussed. The illustrators are listed by page as well. This is an excellent haiku book to read and enjoy. It is easy relaxing reading, not complicated, and is soothing to the mind, body and soul.

Also recommended: I recommend reading, the Trilogy Poetic Literature series of A Trilogy of Poetry, Prose and Thoughts for the Mind, Body and Soul and Trilogy Moments for the Mind, Body and Soul, which entails a series of haiku, senryu, and epulaeryu poems.

A Superb and Thoughtful Gift.......2003-05-26

Issa, of course, is well-represented since he dealt with creatures in so many of his haiku. However, the inclusion of lesser-known haijin is certainly welcome. Has anyone not related to the following:

There's nothing
he doesn't know --
the cat on the stove

Fusei

Book Description

Wonderful catalog of real and fanciful beasts, including manticore, griffin, phoenix, amphivius, jaculus, many more. White’s witty erudite commentary on scientific, historical aspects enhances this fascinating glimpse into the medieval mind. 128 black-and-white illustrations.

Customer Reviews:

12th Century Biology.......2000-10-07

This is indeed an excellent book for those interested in history and biology. ~The Book of Beasts~ is a translation from Latin of a Twelfth century bestiary. It was written as a serious scientific study of zoology, despite giving equal precedence to dogs, horses, lions, dragons, and unicorns. This was the world of wildlife as the people of the 1100's saw it. It includes such beliefs as "when a lioness gives birth to her cubs, she brings them forth dead and lays them up lifeless for three days - until thier father, coming on the third day, breathes in thier faces, and makes them alive." (direct quote) The book also has an extensive appendix, detailing the history of the original manuscript of this bestiary, and information on ancient bestiaries as a whole. Further, the author tells us "No Latin prose bestiary has ever before been printed, even in Latin. This is the first and only English translation in print. . ." This is an invaluable reference to any students of historical sciences, especially biological/zoological sciences, or to any simply interested in the subjects. Very highly recommended.

Ysengrimus: Text With Translation, Commentary, and Introduction (Mittellateinische Studien Und Texte Bd 12)

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To take is the law, to give the exception.

Ysengrimus: Text With Translation, Commentary, and Introduction (Mittellateinische Studien Und Texte Bd 12)
J. Mann , and 12th Cent Nivardus
Manufacturer: Brill Academic Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Library Binding

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ASIN: 9004081038

Book Description

The Ysengrimus is the first fully-fledged medieval beast-epic, and the poem in which Reynard the Fox makes his first appearance on the stage of world literature. It thus occupies a key position in the long and fertile tradition of medieval beast-literature, but it also claims attention as a masterpiece in its own right, the work of one of the most daring and original satirists of the Middle Ages. Despite its importance, the Ysengrimus has been comparatively neglected because of its linguistic difficulties. Jill Mann eases these difficulties by presenting an English translation alongside the Latin text, and accompanying it with a detailed commentary. A full- length introduction offers an original account of the poem which shows how literary structure and historical dimensions are fused into an original satiric vision of compelling power. This book will not only interest medieval Latin specialists, but will make this major text accessible to those working on the related vernacular traditions. Its analysis of the poem's allusions to contemporary persons and events will also be of considerable interest to historians of twelfth-century Flanders.

Customer Reviews:

To take is the law, to give the exception........2002-12-03

This epic is one of the most cynical and grim satires ever written.
Ysengrimus is the prototype of the monk disguised as a wolf. Christ was a shepherd for his sheep, the monks are wolves.
With a strong and blasphemous vocabulary, Nivardus insults relentlessly the Church and her representatives: 'They sell human beings for money, and even God'.
'You may commit what sins you want, you will be absolved if you can pay'.
What only counts for the monk Ysengrimus is power and money. If you have them you stay above the law; if you don't, you are lost.
But Nivardus takes revenge on the corrupt and wicked Ysengrimus through the hands of his nephew, Reinaert, the fox, who exploits in a gruesome manner the craving for power and money of his uncle. Ultimately, the Monk's skin is stripped off and his corps is thrown to the swine.

Apparently, this is the first time that the character of Reinaert, the fox, appears in the medieval literature. Here he is the avenger of the righteous, the poor, the real Christians.

In the latter works, Reinaert is portrayed as a cunning and cynical exploiter of human weaknesses. The social criticism of the Church disappeared. In this way, one could say that the author of the second Reinaert (Van den Vos Reinaerde) took revenge on the Ysengrimus by painting the fox as a not reliable and immoral character.

Book Description

Kittens and sea slugs, ducklings and frogs, fawns and mud snails-- all sorts of animals from the familiar to the unusual can be found in this beautiful and engaging collection of Japanese poetry.

Customer Reviews:

Truly Poetry for All Seasons.......2000-04-20

This is one of the most beautiful books of poetry I've ever read, and I've read a lot of poetry collections working in an elementary school library. Children of all ages appreciate these poems, many of them haiku, by Japanese masters of the art of brief imagery. If your kids think poetry isn't really poetry unless it rhymes, share this book with them. Demi's incredibly lovely paintings enhance the beauty and idea of each poem. This sweet book inspires kids to try writing their own poetry.

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Animals in Translation
Temple Grandin
Manufacturer: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0747566682

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