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and may not be used in any way without my written permission please ask if you are interested in purchasing one as a print or to use in a print or internet publication share this share on facebook opens in new window facebook share on x opens in new window x share on pinterest opens in new window pinterest share on linkedin opens in new window linkedin share on reddit opens in new window reddit share on tumblr opens in new window tumblr email a link to a friend opens in new window email print opens in new window print like loading book review and giveaway cat truths and dog confessions posted march 10 2012 author bernadette filed under authors book review books books about cats dogs and animals cat writers association cats dog jelly bean tags animal authors animal books book review books about pets cat books cats dogs dogs books gift books gift books about cats gift books about dogs pets 47 comments jelly bean and i had our work cut out for us so which one would you rather be a cat or a dog you d think we d rather be the cats we are but jelly bean was very curious about these dog things we found that indeed we would rather be cats because we are already superior but that some things dogs do sound pretty fun and a cat might use an electric toothbrush to clean his tongue author allia zobel nolan has done it again twice with a pair of brand new gift books in her usual quick and witty style and colorful whimsical design dog confessions shocking tales straight from the doghouse and i d rather be a cat the official better than dogs cat book two new gift books by author allia zobel nolan both pocket sized books easily carried for quick reference in discussions of dog and cat habits and virtues feature delightfully detailed photos of cats and kittens and dogs and puppies in action often in close up so you can see the sincerity in their eyes so we know these words came directly from them to allia samples page from i d rather be a cat from author s website and for the pure visual enjoyment of we human readers each two page spread is in a rich and bold color scheme to complement the animal depicted so that turning each page leads to another to pause and enjoy the view as well as what the cats and dogs have to say as a designer and artist i reveled in the design and visual pleasure of these two books as much as what the cats and dogs had to say jelly bean is paws free while easily turning pages with his nose jelly bean found the pages very easy to flip through using only his nose very convenient for our animal friends who don t have thumbs if more books were this size other animals would be able to read much easier and while jb might have seemed more interested in looking at the cats and dogs and reading their statements he is an art cat and paused for extra study on certain pages he especially liked the clear faces on all the animals as he could read their feelings much easier though i noticed he paused longer on the pages that included food all in all he found both the size and design to be very pleasing for a cat of his abilities and sensibilities dog confessions shocking tales straight from the doghouse from author s website first the dogs following the similarly designed and eye catching cat confessions a kitty come clean tell all book allia was asked to diligently research and write a similar book about dogs what was a dyed in the fur cat person to do after all the tweets texts e mails and snail mail from dogs all over the world begging which they do so well me to let them to shake off the guilt of their secret indiscretions allia agreed to let them confess and go on to live new lives as good dogs happy to finally confess their sins in public the 30 dogs in dog confessions freely tell of intentional misbehaviors such as knowingly eating things they should not have trading money for treats and using mommy s lipstick but they also confess to sins of vanity such as harley boy who gets a regular mani pedi to keep in touch with his feminine side and of maurice the french spaniel who bleaches his moustache but they also confess to not indulging in things we all thought were typical dog behavior i ve never told a soul this but i don t chase my tail can you believe that i really hate begging it s so bourgeois no it s not entirely what you think and you might actually find a few confessions that are well cat like i d rather be a cat the official better than dogs cat book from author s website now for the cats in cat confessions we discovered that even the things cats unapologetically confess to are clever and show superior intelligence and ability i d rather be a cat confirms that cats are still unapologetic about anything they choose to do and they really are the quieter more introspective species and much purrrr furrrrrr it that way it s true that when something s considered unattractive what do humans call it you got it a dog yes feline abilities are often used as analogies for speed agility cunning and dignity while dogs well you don t see many new car models or national sports teams named after dogs one could argue that the cats in question are usually big cats not domestic felines but a cat is a cat and that s that right and anyone knows that dogs are known for their annoying trait barking cats are recognized for the sweetest sound on earth purring really i ve never heard that barking can help heal anything but purring cats have been proved to purr at a frequency that actually facilitates healing some of the things cats have to say are truly profound as well cats are intuitive thinkers we weigh our options before we pounce if in fact we pounce at all the consensus cat or dog perhaps the dog would share if he lived with jelly bean while we confirmed what we knew that cats and dogs are clearly different we also found endearing similarities such as an attraction to human food and a propensity for simply being endearingly manipulative and while jelly bean agreed with the feline sentiments he found the dogs very interesting since he s never met one in the fur and paid close attention to what they had to say especially the pages where food was mentioned about allia and where to find the books allia zobel nolan is an internationally published award winning author of over 170 children s and adult trade titles with close to three million books in print and a long career in publishing as well as a fellow member of the cat writers association for more information about allia visit her website or her blog these books and others by allia are available in print at bookstores and also on amazon com barnes noble and directly from the publisher jelly bean would also like you to know that he is indeed a child star in one of allia s books the afore mentioned cat confessions read about that in an earlier book review the choice is surprisingly difficult so what is your vote i have a copy of each of these books only reviewed by myself and jelly bean as you see in the photos that i d love to give away to one of my readers please comment on this post with your vote cat or dog to be entered in the drawing and feel free to vote for both books you have from today march 10 to next saturday march 17 to cast your vote i ll write your name on a scrap of paper toss them all in the air and let them land and whichever one jelly bean sits on is the winner no probably i ll be a little more scientific than that but the drawing will no doubt involve little scraps of paper and jelly bean and even a few other members of my feline household i was provided review copies of these two books by the publisher and know the author personally though jelly bean has never met her all images and text used on this site are copyrighted to bernadette e kazmarski unless otherwise noted and may not be used in any way without my written permission please ask if you are interested in purchasing one as a print or to use in a print or internet publication share this share on facebook opens in new window facebook share on x opens in new window x share on pinterest opens in new window pinterest share on linkedin opens in new window linkedin share on reddit opens in new window reddit share on tumblr opens in new window tumblr email a link to a friend opens in new window email print opens in new window print like loading creating with cats author and artist christine davis posted february 25 2012 author bernadette filed under animal artists and illustrators animal artwork book review books books about cats dogs and animals cats creating with cats dog pet loss tags animal art book review cats christine davis dogs forever paws illustrated book pet loss pet loss book pets 6 comments when you read an illustrated book do you ever study the illustrations and wonder about decisions the artist makes about medium technique style and even subject and what about the book s physical size and shape the whole little visual package in addition to the story that s in it often some or all of these decisions are assigned by an editor or art director working for a publisher who may have chosen an illustrator for their particular style or familiarity with the book s subject matter but when you are the writer illustrator editor art director publisher and marketing department shipping department receptionist and all else that goes into making a book all those decisions are made or at least begun with one person and so it is with chris davis who began with a story and a vision and ended up with a small publishing company to create print and distribute her stories just the way she wanted them while many people self publish today chris began her venture in 1997 and while chris said she d written and managed many and various things while in corporate america she d never attempted artwork of any sort but now she has to her credit five illustrated books featuring cats dogs and other animals author and illustrator christine davis a little background chris describes herself as a stubborn new yorker who is used to doing things her way as a fellow artist i understand this to mean that she has a clear vision of what she wants and of the best way to accomplish that in this case to tell her story and she will achieve that vision by whatever method it takes she actually began her working career while still in new york and bounced back and forth between gigs as a singer either solo with her piano or with a band and working temp jobs that required a very organized and detail oriented problem solver chris s studio with molly while christine grew up in new york she has lived in portland or for the past 35 years after following her muse across the country to such varied places as tucson az and denver co to see where to best to live out her dream of living in and working with nature and all the creatures there since 1991 in a house built on a quarter acre wooded hillside her studio is in her dining room and her cats enjoy a unique and attractive outdoor enclosure built just for them and while i associate her with cats after having initially read about the four sibling cats she lived with chris actually lived most of her life with dogs and began her career as a storyteller through a story inspired by her dog martha for every dog an angel by christine davis gifts from her animal companions and then some of course her entire career as a published author and artist was inspired by her animal companions and chris reached for spiritual guidance as well chris relates that her forever dog martha who d traveled out to portland with her suddenly had what appeared to be a stroke living two weeks in confusion and decline chris was determined to heal her but did not succeed she d been working with a native american healer and drumming regularly and turned to her drumming for solace she was given the title for every dog an angel in this way and told that people were looking for this book though she was not given the story that had to come from within her once she d published this book people asked her for a feline oriented book in the same theme but chris didn t have cats then or know them very well at all however the universe provided them for her to learn about that was when jake discovered the four abandoned neo natal kittens under the deck who they rescued and raised and after getting to know them chris could write for every cat an angel with confidence after sharing stories with chris in e mails and seeing her books i e mailed her telling her that i d like to write about her experience and about the technicalities of how she creates her art and her books to which she agreed i sent her my list of typical questions including what medium s she used how she determined what images would illustrate her story and how she actually painted them and we planned to talk in just a few days though chris had written up her answers to these questions as an essay and sent it back to me an example of her quick and organized methods forever paws by christine davis while i ve been writing all my life i ve never studied art and never knew i d be illustrating my books the closest i d come to creating art was doing the company picnic posters back when i worked in corporate america it was a big day when i added a red magic marker to my usual black marker and really jazzed up the poster sample of chris s illustration style when i wrote the first edition of for every dog an angel in 1997 i met with some local artists wondering if i could hire someone to paint the illustrations for me everything i saw seemed too majestic and felt like it would overpower the simple words so i grabbed a makeup brush and a 99 tray of watercolors and did some quick drawings hoping to show others what i had in mind this unexpectedly led to my doing the artwork for all my books my beloved dog jake was the inspiration for my books old dog the christmas wish and the shelter dog the christmas book is very special to me because it was the last book i wrote with jake still by my side there are several sketches of jake that were used in the book until i wrote forever paws my main medium was always watercolor i m deeply connected to water so when i paint with watercolor i use a lot of water which helps to get the flowy effect in the art i d been playing around with acrylic and began to see the fun of using that medium so forever paws was painted with watercolor and acrylic plus a liberal sprinkling of fur just can t seem to get that out of the artwork it was the loss of my dear sibling kitties dickens and pippen that led to the writing of forever paws losing them to cancer within a few months of each other left me brokenhearted i knew that dickens pippen and jake were together again but i missed them terribly then i began getting these colorful images of the fabulous time they were having up in the stars i saw flying dogs and cats glowing paws a river of tears even a dragon the message from pippen was clear there was another book to be written at the river from forever paws i wrote the sto...