This was a beautiful collection of poems about our deep and intimate connection with animals. If you love Mary Oliver’s poetry definitely give this collection a try.
Thanks to NetGalley and the Publisher for the E-ARC.

*I received an ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thanks for the free poetry collection.*

A nice poetry collection with a wide range of poems about animals. I especially enjoyed the inclusion of Indigenous voices in this collection. The illustrations were not really my cup of tea and I found a lot of the poems boring, but reading them one after another is also not the right approach. Overall nice.

What a beautiful collection of poetry and illustrations! The intros to each section are wonderful, and it's easy to read one section at a time. I thought it would be weird to read Gerard Manley Hopkins and then Joy Harjo a few pages later, but Deming has done an excellent job editing this collection to flow smoothly.

I requested this specifically for Aimee Nezhukumatathil, but I got so much more than I expected.

Thanks to NetGalley and Storey for the digital ARC!

Thank you NetGalley, and the author for providing me with an ARC of this book.

Ce livre est graphiquement très beau, les illustrations sont sublimes. Pour les amateurs de poésie moderne, vous trouverez certainement votre bonheur dans ce recueil aux poèmes variés, parfois durs, parfois doux où la beauté comme la réalité - dans toutes ses facettes - du monde d'animal est relatée.
A titre personnel, si le contenu est intéressant et souvent très touchant, la forme de poésie ne m'a pas correspond mais cela reste un état de fait très personnel. Je vous recommande complètement ce recueil si vous aimez l'écriture poétique, les poèmes longs et que le règne animal vous passionne.

i don't typically rate poetry anthologies under 3 stars because while some poems aren't to my taste you can still see the thought and meaning put into thw language--but the gift of the animals felt shallow at times even though its overall message was rlly sweet and appreciative! some of them felt not so well-thought out but enjoyable nonetheless, definitely good if you're just getting into reading poetry or anything like that :)

Este libro tiene una premisa bastante amplia con una variedad de autores y estilos representados. Muchos de los poemas eran apreciaciones de animales salvajes o de la naturaleza en un sentido más amplio, algunos eran estudios cercanos de animales de compañía queridos. Algunos de los poemas eran simplemente hermosos, otros inquietantes, algunos tristes. Las historias que cuentan son tanto sombrías como esperanzadoras. También disfruté las ilustraciones y las introducciones a cada agrupación de poemas.

In The Gift of Animals, editor Alison Hawthorne Deming curates a selection of poems that highlight our deep and enduring connection with animals. Deming shares poems from a range of poetic voices, old and new. She organizes the collection into sections with themes ranging from animal companionship, to praise of animals, and more. At the beginning of each section, Deming introduces and reflects on the theme, then offers an ancient poem from a different world tradition, showing how central animals have been, not just to this culture or that, but to all of humankind.

The Gift of Animals is a gem and would make a wonderful gift, either for a poetry lover or an animal lover looking for a friendly entry into poetry. It's also the poetry class I wish I could have taken in college. What an engaging concept to focus on an appealing universal theme and look at how a broad range of poetic voices and traditions approach it. I found something to love in almost every poem in the collection, but there were some definite standouts for me. I especially loved Linda Pastan's playful "The Art of the Dog," which considers how often dogs appear as peripheral subjects in paintings. Mark Doty's "Little Mammoth" had me on the verge of tears for a baby animal that died forty thousand years ago. And RK Fauth's "Playing With Bees" indirectly paints a stark environmental picture by cataloging all the metaphorical possibilities that would disappear without bees. I'm also looking forward to reading more from poets I discovered through this collection, including sam sax, Aimee Nezhukumatathil, and Deming herself.

My thanks to NetGalley and Storey Publishing for providing me with a review copy of The Gift of Animals, which is scheduled for release in April 2025.

A beautiful collection of poems celebrating the Earth's most amazing creatures—animals. The poems are grouped into seven sections: Praise, Lament, Companionship, Fear and Vulnerability, the Least Among Us, and the Sacred, which really enhances the overall reading experience.

Some of my favorites include:
♥ Elephants by Indran Amirthanayagam
♥ The Last Safe Habitat by Craig Santos Perez
♥ from Nightsong by Ever Jones
♥ A Sonnet at the Edge of the Reef by Craig Santos Perez
♥ Characteristics of Life by Camille Dungy
♥ Playing with Bees by RK Fauth

I was especially happy to discover Craig Santos Perez through this collection—definitely planning to read more of his work! The illustrations were also lovely and comforting, like a warm hug. I'd love to have a physical copy and highly recommend this to any animal lover!

I absolutely loved the cover of this book. However, for me, the contents did not match the serenity of the cover. I found some poems much too wordy, some were just sad without much feeling, some just left me wondering why. It was just work to continue to read this book. I found none of the beauty and grace that I saw on the cover within the book. I give it two stars for the cover. I thank NetGalley and Storey Publishing for the advance read.

This collection, The Gift of Animals, is a beautiful meditation on the relationship between humans and animals, featuring poems by well-known (mostly) contemporary poets such as Rita Dove, Joy Harjo, Ada Limón, and many others. The book explores how these relationships shape our lives and how human lives and ways of living have shaped the natural world around us. It's a poignant and thought-provoking collection that will resonate with animal lovers and poetry enthusiasts. I found it to be a truly grounding and thought-provoking read--of course, there are some poems I would have expected to see here that weren't included--but it leans very much toward the contemporary. I wasn't the biggest fan of the illustration style, to be honest, but the poetry choices had alot of variety and meaning and even introduced me to a few new voices.
4.5/5

This book has a somewhat far reaching premise with a variety of authors and styles represented. Many of the poems were appreciations of wild animals or nature in a broader sense, some were close studies of beloved companion animals. Some of the poems were just beautiful, some chilling, some sad. The stories they tell are both grim and hopeful. I also enjoyed the illustrations and lead-ins to each grouping of poems.

I mean it's nice, but the majority of the poems did nothing for me. They felt appreciative, but there was no further deeper emotion or meaning behind most of them, a surprising lack of metaphors or symbolism

Luscious, lovely and lyrically beautiful collection of poems. This book felt a lot like a warm hug for a word lover like me. Full of relatable poetry and prose which comes from different authors who are different from one another resulting in portraying a distinct kind of world between humans and animals which is articulated in an enchanted way.

It will take some time to process these collections : this work somehow feel important, revealing, and yet beyond comprehension. I sense that their footnotes will be rich with discovery once I take a moment to delve deeper.

The illustrations are one of the best ones I’ve seen in recent times as sing the words written in the book.

Many thanks to NetGalley, Storey Publishing as well as the author for providing me with an ARC of this book.

A cute collection of poems and images. I wanted something more but I'm not sure what it is. Still it's worth picking up.

This is a truly stunning collection of poems on animals. Both the poems and illustration are stunning. The book offers a much needed feeling of serenity to lonely city dwellers like me.

Thank you NetGalley, Storey Publishing as well as the author for providing me with an ARC of this book.

When I saw the cover of “The Gift of Animals” I was enchanted immediately. The premise of being able to discover poems on the relationship between animals and humans is a topic incredibly close to my heart as I am of the opinion that there is so much to learn from our furry and not-furry companions.

…and the collection did not disappoint. Not only are the illustrations, the layout, the editing and the color choices stunning, the foreword as well as the poems themselves are beautiful. The concept of an “antidote to species loneliness” is so enthralling. The topics included in this book are so apropos in our dying world marked by climate change and species extinction. Connecting with animals and the natural world is something that this civilization needs to come to recognize as highly important as this connection with also connect us to each other. This anthology is a great resource to learn about this connection as well as about commonly not very regularly mentioned animals like the octopus or a scene like the death of an elk.

Another great element present in this anthropology is the connection of the present and the past by for instance including poems/pieces of literature passed on from generation to generation. The tenderness with which the animals are regarded, with which they are described touched me deeply. This is an inspired book of which I will definitely be buying a hard copy once it has been released.

This is a stunning collection of poetry, beautifully illustrated throughout and a must have for lovers of poetry.

I love that this anthology exists and that animals are paid the respect they deserve.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for the ARC