Dream Affimals

What if a puma could spring from the grass and motivate you to “Get more pounce to the ounce?” Or what if an electric eel could somehow zap you with the mindset to “Be positive”? Such is the concept behind “Dream Affimals”-that animals can uplift your spirits, simply by doing what comes naturally. Forty animals share their wisdom in this book, from the snow leopard to the honeybee to the frillfin goby (a small jumping fish). And their affirmations come alive through beautiful illustrations and heartening, well-researched tales of the wild, like the loggerhead sea turtle, which hatches in a cramped pit dug into a Florida beach, then scampers by moonlight into the surf. The sea brings possibilities and the hope of reaching deep water, the Atlantic’s hiding place for tiny reptiles starting life with a journey covering thousands of miles. Intrepid little turtles and all the animals in this book make us feel good about our wildest dreams, as reachable, perhaps, as the nearest ocean. ELAINE MILLER BOND is the author and illustrator of “Affimals: Affirmations + Animals,” her earlier book celebrating the wild kingdom, and “The Utah Prairie Dog,” featuring more than 150 photographs she took on her adventure, with scientists, in the prairie dog’s native more-barking-the better habitat. She took her master’s degree from Cambridge University, England and began her career as senior writer for the University of California Natural Reserve System. Her writing and photography have appeared on the Discovery Channel and in “The Washington Post,” “BBC Earth News,” and other popular media.