The Good Animal Book Series
Book 1 - The Good Horse
The three stories in this book cover the life of a thoroughbred race horse after he was retired from racing.
The stories show how he saves the lives of five people in a severe flood, a tourist family lost and desperately fearing for their lives, and meets his best friend – a fearless city boy with lots to learn and lots to give.
The Good Horse
"Blackie pawed at the ground with his white left foot and reared his body high in the air, threatening the kidnappers.
They tried to ignore the efforts of the horse and drive around Blackie to gain their escape, but Blackie did not back down and crashed his hooves onto the front of the van, causing the driver to lose control."
Book 2 - The Good Snake
This book traces some of the life of an Australian carpet python and his relationship with people who have helped him, especially Imogen. He is able to repay what he sees as debts to his friends, in an exciting mental combat with some low-life crooks who attempt to steal valuable and personal possessions from their farm.
The Good Snake
"A moment before the first vehicle reached the bridge, Slithers emerged from beneath the driver’s seat and made his way up the steering column. He softly raised his head on his very long neck above the steering wheel and looked Rob straight in the eye from a distance of only twelve inches. Talk about panic!"
Book 3 - The Good Lion
This book traces the lives of a lion and an antelope, with the lion learning the hard way that life is not meant to be easy.
The antelope also learns about the unforeseen values of friendship resulting from his saving of the lion‛s life.
The Good Lion
"He dozed off and when he awoke had a crystal-clear memory of a time way back in his life where he had come face to face with a very young antelope.
He suddenly remembered, in perfect detail, being saved from perishing in the muddy pond by an equally young antelope whose name was Marty."
Book 4 - The Good Crocodile
In this book a foolish boy makes some very bad decisions, leading to a face-to-face meeting with crocodiles, in their territory.
By good fortune, the largest crocodile in the creek saves the boy.
The Good Crocodile
"The ranger, unaware of the presence of the dangerous buffalo, started to walk down the bank but slipped and slid towards the water’s edge where he was stopped when he bumped into the buffalo’s shoulder.
The buffalo got to its feet very quickly before it realized that a natural enemy had awakened it from his snooze."
Book 5 - The Good Clam
This story tells how a giant clam accidentally traps a deep-sea diver last century before the invention of scuba diving equipment. The diver is unable to escape from the vice-like grip of the clam while all the time his air supply is getting very low.
Will help arrive on time?
The Good Clam
"And, of course, be sure to carry a crowbar when walking on the seabed, just in case you stand in the open shell of a giant clam or come across a rusty treasure chest while searching for gold and diamonds on a long–sunken Spanish galleon.
And remember too that it was because the good clam, Kathy, did her job as well as she was able, that this story could be told."
Book 6 - The Good Elephant
This book introduces the author to you, the reader, and tells of the wonderful relationship between the author and an elephant and the search by the author to learn about the elephant‛s history.
There are several stories in this book about this very big and very brave elephant, some of his friends, and people he helped at great danger to himself.
The Good Elephant
"Suddenly, the air was full of noise, and I could almost feel the ground move. I turned in the direction of the noise and saw two things.
The first was a lion, his huge mouth full of white teeth and wide open ready to have lunch: ME! It was only a few feet away!!
The second was …"
Book 7 - The Good Polar Bear
In hand to hand combat a geologist finds himself saving the life of a polar bear from hunters, and later saving one of her cubs trapped in a crevasse. His bravery was repaid some years later, when he finds himself injured and grave danger of freezing to death.
The Good Polar Bear
"He opened his eyes and looked right into the mouth of the LARGEST POLAR BEAR IN THE ENTIRE UNIVERSE!! Her teeth were enormous, as long as a Texas Longhorn’s horn and paws as big as the wheels on his four-wheel drive parked safely at home thousands of miles away."
Book 8 - The Good Gorilla
The four stories in this book trace the lives of a gorilla and a ranger over several years after the ranger saves a baby gorilla trapped at the bottom of a cliff.
Friendship, loyalty and gratitude keep the pair safe through some very dangerous situations.
The Good Gorilla
"Suddenly from out of nowhere a giant black hairy arm with a giant black hairy hand grabbed Magoo’s shoulder and with the greatest of ease plucked both him and Dan from the water."
Book 9 - The Good Dolphin
The five stories in this book cover some of a dolphin‛s life from shortly after he was born and had his life saved by a brave girl who placed her own life in extreme danger when confronting a huge great white shark to protect the dolphin.
His intelligence is highlighted when he is able to be involved with search and rescue operations using skills not yet understood by any human handler.
The Good Dolphin
"I was drowning then a sharp bump on my back made me open my eyes. I was looking into the eyes of a dolphin!
The dolphin gently grabbed my arm near my wrist that was covered by the cuff of my jacket and pulled me up to the surface."
Book 10 - The Good Hippopotamus
The three stories in this book tell of a female hippo taking on the job as leader of a hippo school, usually a job for a male. She successfully fights back hunters, poachers, lions, crocodiles and other hippos, and along the way she befriends two children who place their own lives in peril when rescuing her young calf.
The Good Hippopotamus
"At the last moment, the hippos swerved around the trembling and frightened pair and ran on to the vehicle which they easily rolled onto its roof, crushing its empty cage as well as the vehicle cabin and trapping its three passengers inside.
Three of the hippos stayed with the traffickers, circling the vehicle, whilst Queenie and the other two chased after the Harry and Frankie, who could not outrun them."
Book 11 - The Good Dog
This mostly true book is about a golden retriever named Montmorency. He was raised by a loving rural family in Australia after being rejected by others because of his color.
His outstanding loyalty is shown in the six stories contained here.
The Good Dog
"His nose bumped into something soft and he grabbed it with his teeth, pulling both himself and the owner of the hand towards the edge of the dam. He took a second deep breath and pulled “Mister whoever it was” towards the edge. He changed his grip on the person’s collar and kept pulling until the limp body was free of the water. "
Book 12 - The Good Wolf
A girl saves a baby wolf from a cruel trap and she and the wolf form a deep attachment with the bond of friendship, proving loyalty, love and heroism against great odds, especially a dangerous wolf pack to be known far and wide as Triple Scar and the Six Pack.
The Good Wolf
"The fire, the quiet conversation, and the odor of horses attracted a small pack of seven wolves. Their appearance panicked the horses, which broke free and ran off in the general direction of home. The pack closed in and surrounded them, their yellow eyes looking menacing in the campfire light."
Book 13 - The Good Rhinoceros
This book tells the story of a rhinoceros and his friendship with an elephant following the rhino saving the elephant from a muddy death.
It highlights that physical disabilities should not deter one from attempting to achieve goals and to be accepted by others as you are.
The Good Rhinoceros
"As chance would have it, Blanco, now also two years old, had been wandering around the area near the stream for a day or two. He too, had been separated from his family and he found himself at the side of the waterhole where Mammoth was submerged and stuck. Blanco did not know that Mammoth was in deep trouble in the pond. In fact, he did not know Mammoth or anyone else was in the pond at all."
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About Louie
Louie’s father loved telling bedtime stories that were made up as he went along, but also incorporated some interesting facts and news about funny or interesting stories that related somehow to his own tales! The common theme to his dad’s nightly narrative was always a great life lesson – to help others, including animals, to always be inclusive and help others find their own peace, to do the right thing and be true to yourself. Sometimes your good deeds are rewarded – but that shouldn’t be the point. Helping others is it’s own reward! Now a grandfather himself, Louie is attempting to emulate his own father using in his stories that same wonderful blend of fact and fiction.
Read More About Louie
In his Good Animal series, Louie focuses on people’s interactions with wildlife, as his own experience has shown him that so many important life lessons and personal safety lessons come from how we engage with and how we respect the animals we share the world with. The stories are set in natural environments so as to place your child right in the middle of an interesting scene right from the start, and the drama unfolds from there.
He has in mind that you, as the parent, will be reading the books with your child – as the stories are written in such a way so as to replicate the actual telling of a story, to help you encourage your child to really imagine the situation – because the way it is written enables emotion to be read into the story and capture the drama.
And like any good story, he goes on tangents! The stories have danger and excitement, lots of interesting tid-bits of information and fascinating side-stories that you can tell your kids about as well – all with the goal of becoming more interactive and engaging than a typical bedtime story. But they’re also the kind of stories that enable your child to then go to sleep afterwards, with a mind in a very happy, peaceful and contented state. It worked for him!