72 books like When Elephants Weep

By Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson, Susan McCarthy,

Here are 72 books that When Elephants Weep fans have personally recommended if you like When Elephants Weep. Shepherd is a community of 11,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

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Book cover of The Soul of an Octopus: A Surprising Exploration Into the Wonder of Consciousness

Mary Batten Author Of Life in Hot Water: Wildlife at the Bottom of the Ocean

From my list on capture the excitement of ocean exploration for all.

Why am I passionate about this?

I love the ocean—the awesome power of the waves, the shifting of tides, the beauty of life below the surface, and the infinite freedom of the boundless horizon. I feel free when I walk along the ocean, at one with wild nature of which human nature is a part. I respect the life-giving force of the water that covers most of Earth’s surface, water that made life possible billions of years ago and that sustains life today. As a science writer, I feel it is my responsibility to convey my passion for the ocean and the importance of protecting it for the health of our planet and future generations.

Mary's book list on capture the excitement of ocean exploration for all

Mary Batten Why did Mary love this book?

Octopuses are amazing creatures: eight legs, 3 hearts, and thousands of chromatophores in their skin that enable them to change color and patterns in a fraction of a second. But intelligence?

Years ago, when on a film assignment at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute on Barro Colorado Island, Panama, I met a renowned scientist of animal behavior, the late Dr. Martin Moynihan, who said that cephalopods, the group of ocean animals that includes octopuses and squid, have a complex communication system.

He compared their repertoire of signals to a language with grammar and syntax. I filed that information away in my brain until I discovered Sy Montgomery’s book. During her research, Montgomery actually interacted with several octopuses. They got to know each other, with the animal showing as much curiosity as the author. This is a new view of octopuses for me.

By Sy Montgomery,

Why should I read it?

8 authors picked The Soul of an Octopus as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

'Sy Montgomery's The Soul of an Octopus does for the creature what Helen Macdonald's H Is for Hawk did for raptors' New Statesman
'Charming and moving...with extraordinary scientific research' Guardian
'An engaging work of natural science... There is clearly something about the octopus's weird beauty that fires the imaginations of explorers, scientists, writers' Daily Mail

In 2011 Sy Montgomery wrote a feature for Orion magazine entitled 'Deep Intellect' about her friendship with a sensitive, sweet-natured octopus named Athena and the grief she felt at her death. It went viral, indicating the widespread fascination with these mysterious, almost alien-like creatures. Since…


Book cover of Fuzz: When Nature Breaks the Law

Ginjer L. Clarke Author Of Animal Allies: Creatures Working Together

From my list on nonfiction about fascinating animal behavior.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m secretly eight years old inside. I love fascinating animal and science stuff, especially cool, weird, and gross facts. Readers of my children’s books see this passion in action. My best-selling and award-winning nonfiction animal books have sold more than 3 million copies worldwide since 2000. I focus particularly on reaching reluctant, struggling, and English-language-learning readers by packing my books with lots of action and high-interest topics to keep them turning pages. I’m recommending these top-five narrative nonfiction animal books for adults because these authors have influenced my research and thinking—and because they’re terrific stories!

Ginjer's book list on nonfiction about fascinating animal behavior

Ginjer L. Clarke Why did Ginjer love this book?

After hearing Mary Roach describe research for this book during an NPR interview, I couldn’t wait to hear more of her bizarre, funny, sometimes unbelievable stories about animals “breaking the law.”

These are human laws, of course, that animals are heedless of and not bound by; however, human-animal conflicts are on the rise, and we must be aware of how to lessen negative interactions as we continue to move into territory where animals previously roamed freely. Humans are more often the problem in these encounters, but we can provide solutions too.

A must-read for all who love wildlife and spend time in nature!

By Mary Roach,

Why should I read it?

7 authors picked Fuzz as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

What's to be done about a jaywalking moose? A bear caught breaking and entering? A murderous tree? Three hundred years ago, animals that broke the law would be assigned legal representation and put on trial. These days, as New York Times best-selling author Mary Roach discovers, the answers are best found not in jurisprudence but in science: the curious science of human-wildlife conflict, a discipline at the crossroads of human behavior and wildlife biology.

Roach tags along with animal-attack forensics investigators, human-elephant conflict specialists, bear managers, and "danger tree" faller blasters. Intrepid as ever, she travels from leopard-terrorized hamlets in…


Book cover of Spineless: The Science of Jellyfish and the Art of Growing a Backbone

Erin Zimmerman Author Of Unrooted: Botany, Motherhood, and the Fight to Save An Old Science

From my list on memoirs by women talking biology.

Why am I passionate about this?

As an evolutionary biologist and an advocate for women, and in particular, mothers in the sciences, I love to read about the stories of other female scientists talking about their work and the challenges they’ve faced. We need more accounts of what it’s like to grapple with both the idea and the actuality of becoming a mother in a competitive, male-dominated field that requires so much of its scholars.

Erin's book list on memoirs by women talking biology

Erin Zimmerman Why did Erin love this book?

There’s a line near the beginning of Berwald’s book where she mentions that jellyfish came into her life “when the haze of sleepless nights” brought on by early parenthood had begun to lift, and she was beginning to once again have an existence beyond parenting. What follows is a chronicle of Berwald’s deep dive into all the fascinating aspects of her new passion and the people and places she experienced because of it.

I read this book while I was living in that very haze, and enjoyed both following Berwald’s adventures and imagining those that I’d have once my haze had lifted.

By Juli Berwald,

Why should I read it?

4 authors picked Spineless as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

"A book full of wonders" —Helen Macdonald, author of H Is for Hawk

"Witty, insightful. . . .The story of jellyfish. . . is a significant part of the environmental story. Berwald's engaging account of these delicate, often ignored creatures shows how much they matter to our oceans' future." —New York Times Book Review 

Jellyfish have been swimming in our oceans for well over half a billion years, longer than any other animal that lives on the planet. They make a venom so toxic it can kill a human in three minutes. Their sting—microscopic spears that pierce with five million…


Book cover of The Inner Life of Animals

Ginjer L. Clarke Author Of Animal Allies: Creatures Working Together

From my list on nonfiction about fascinating animal behavior.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m secretly eight years old inside. I love fascinating animal and science stuff, especially cool, weird, and gross facts. Readers of my children’s books see this passion in action. My best-selling and award-winning nonfiction animal books have sold more than 3 million copies worldwide since 2000. I focus particularly on reaching reluctant, struggling, and English-language-learning readers by packing my books with lots of action and high-interest topics to keep them turning pages. I’m recommending these top-five narrative nonfiction animal books for adults because these authors have influenced my research and thinking—and because they’re terrific stories!

Ginjer's book list on nonfiction about fascinating animal behavior

Ginjer L. Clarke Why did Ginjer love this book?

Are you ready to change the way you see the world forever? Reading Peter Wohlleben’s three-book Mysteries of Nature series will do just that.

This second volume focuses on animal emotions and making connections with human behavior. Until fairly recently, most serious scientists focused only on observable behavior and didn’t try to imagine or determine what animals’ actions tell us about their feelings.

However, all animal lovers can benefit, as I did, from questioning our assumptions, better understanding our similarities, and becoming more aware of how much there is to learn about the inner life of animals. Get ready for some surprises!

By Peter Wohlleben, Jane Billinghurst (translator),

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Inner Life of Animals as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Can horses feel shame? Do deer grieve? Why do roosters deceive hens?

We tend to assume that we are the only living things able to experience feelings but have you ever wondered what's going on in an animal's head? From the leafy forest floor to the inside of a bee hive, The Inner Life of Animals opens up the animal kingdom like never before. We hear the stories of a grateful humpback whale, of a hedgehog who has nightmares, and of a magpie who commits adultery; we meet bees that plan for the future, pigs who learn their own names…


Book cover of The Nine Emotional Lives of Cats: A Journey Into the Feline Heart

Belinda Alexandra Author Of The Divine Feline: A Chic Cat Lady's Guide to Woman's Best Friend

From my list on for cat lovers.

Why am I passionate about this?

Belinda Alexandra is the author of nine bestselling novels and a non-fiction book on the relationship between women and cats, The Divine Feline: A chic cat lady’s guide to woman’s best friend. An ardent cat-lover and rescuer, she is a patron of the World League for the Protection of Animals in Australia and lives in Sydney with her three black cats – Valentino, Versace, and Gucci.

Belinda's book list on for cat lovers

Belinda Alexandra Why did Belinda love this book?

This is a favorite of mine. Masson’s keen observations into what we emotionally need from cats and what they need from us are not only heart-warming but insightful: ‘We need cats to need us,’ he writes. ‘It unnerves us that they do not. However, if they do not need us, they nonetheless seem to love us.’ Beautifully written and drawing from both literature and scientific research, the book brings to life the delights and mysteries of the feline heart.

By Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Nine Emotional Lives of Cats as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Many people believe that cats do not have an emotional life, that they are cold and indifferent. Jeffrey Masson, author of several bestselling books about animal emotions, including When Elephants Weep and Dogs Never Lie About Love, is convinced that, on the contrary, cats are almost pure emotion. Masson lives by the sea in New Zealand with five cats, and in this fascinating, immensely readable book he reports on his close observations of their emotional lives. These he divides into nine categories - Narcissism, Love, Contentment, Attachment, Jealousy, Fear, Anger, Curiosity and Playfulness - and to each of which he…


Book cover of Merle's Door: Lessons from a Freethinking Dog

Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson Author Of The Pig Who Sang to the Moon: The Emotional World of Farm Animals

From my list on animal emotions.

Why am I passionate about this?

I was once a psychoanalyst, but I found that it was almost impossible to understand another human being. Animals were easier: they could not be hypocritical, they could not lie, they could not deceive. Whoever heard of an animal with an unconscious anger problem? If they were angry they showed it, if they loved they showed it. After I got fired from the Freud Archives (that’s a whole other story) I decided I wanted to read ten good books about animal emotions. This was in 1981. But it turns out there were no books on this topic I could read, except Darwin, 1872! So I decided to write my own. 

Jeffrey's book list on animal emotions

Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson Why did Jeffrey love this book?

This was one of the first of many thousands of books extolling the power of the dog (Note: Nothing to do with Jane Campion's film of the same title). It also happens to be the best, or at least one of the best, and nobody can come away from reading it without recognizing that we are living with the friendliest aliens in the universe, and they, for mysterious reasons, love us!

There are so many good books about dogs that it is hard to pick just one. Pack of Two is another terrific book. But note that it is fairly recently that we have come to believe that we humans have an enormous amount to learn about our own species by observing dogs. I pass dogs every day on my walks here in Bondi Beach, and each time I think: No human has half the joie de vivre of every…

By Ted Kerasote,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Merle's Door as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A moving, insightful love story about the vast possiblities of the relationship between humans and dogs.

While on a camping trip, Ted Kerasote meets a Labrador mix living on his own in the wild. They become attached to each other, and Kerasote decides to bring the dog, who he names Merle, home. There, after realizing that Merle's native intelligence would be diminished by living exclusively in the human world, he installs a dog door in his house, allowing Merle to live both outside and in.

Merle shows Kerasote how dogs might live if they were allowed to make more of…


Book cover of Enter the Animal: Cross-species Perspectives on Grief and Spirituality

Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson Author Of The Pig Who Sang to the Moon: The Emotional World of Farm Animals

From my list on animal emotions.

Why am I passionate about this?

I was once a psychoanalyst, but I found that it was almost impossible to understand another human being. Animals were easier: they could not be hypocritical, they could not lie, they could not deceive. Whoever heard of an animal with an unconscious anger problem? If they were angry they showed it, if they loved they showed it. After I got fired from the Freud Archives (that’s a whole other story) I decided I wanted to read ten good books about animal emotions. This was in 1981. But it turns out there were no books on this topic I could read, except Darwin, 1872! So I decided to write my own. 

Jeffrey's book list on animal emotions

Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson Why did Jeffrey love this book?

Normally the word "spirituality" in a book title would have me running for the door. Dr. Pribac is so smart, so insightful, and so different in her way of approaching everything, that I was struck with wonder. Warning: A full-throated endorsement of veganism (to my delight).

Normally I do not like academic books about animals. But this book is an exception. The author is different than ordinary academics. For one thing, she really adores her subject. For another, she writes with heart. She is also whip-smart, so just about every sentence is worth reading twice or even three times. I truly believe she will revolutionize the field with her next books. Anyone interested in animals should keep an eye on for this author.  

By Teya Brooks Pribac,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Enter the Animal as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In Enter the Animal, Teya Brooks Pribac examines academic and popular discourse on animals' experiences of grief and spirituality, which are rooted in our intrinsic capacity and propensity for connections and relations, and highlights important ethical implications of humans' treatment of other species.Praise for Enter the Animal'This path-breaking book engages a surprising range of sources to shed extraordinary clarity on aspects of animal subjectivity that make other species every bit our equal. I could not stop reading.'- Cynthia Willett, author of Interspecies Ethics'Enter the Animal is a fascinating journey into the hearts and minds of nonhuman animals and our shared…


Book cover of Pipsqueaks, Slowpokes, and Stinkers: Celebrating Animal Underdogs

Jessica Fries-Gaither Author Of Nature's Rule Breakers: Creatures That Don't Fit in

From my list on teaching you something new about animals.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve been fascinated with the natural world for as long as I can remember, spending many happy hours in my childhood exploring forests, splashing in creeks, and hiking in parks with my family. Devouring books from the local library and participating in workshops at our local science center fed my interest and built a strong foundation in science. As I’ve grown older, I’ve become more and more fascinated by the tension between science’s goal to neatly classify and nature’s riotous complexity. It’s the exceptions, the grey, that keep me interested and draw in my students. I am an experienced science teacher and award-winning author of books for teachers and kids.

Jessica's book list on teaching you something new about animals

Jessica Fries-Gaither Why did Jessica love this book?

Every living thing deserves to be celebrated. I’ve read a lot of children’s books about superlative animals: the fastest, the biggest, the most deadly. But where’s the love for the others? The oddballs, weirdos, eccentrics?

I love to root for an underdog, and reading about how these unusual animals survive was both informative and inspiring. 

By Melissa Stewart, Stephanie Laberis (illustrator),

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Pipsqueaks, Slowpokes, and Stinkers as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 4, 5, 6, and 7.


Book cover of King Solomon's Ring

Gary Kowalski Author Of Goodbye, Friend: Healing Wisdom for Anyone Who Has Ever Lost a Pet

From my list on love, loss and our kinship with animals.

Why am I passionate about this?

I called my dog Chinook my spiritual guide. He makes friends easily and doesn’t hold a grudge. He enjoys simple pleasures, taking each day as it comes. On his own canine level, he shows me that it might be possible to live without inner conflicts or neuroses: uncomplicated, genuine and glad to be alive.”  Chinook inspired my first book, The Souls of Animals, which explored the capacities for love, creativity, and compassion we humans share with other species. As an ordained minister (Harvard Divinity School), I believe we desperately need to rediscover our spiritual affinity with other living creatures if we are to save our small planet.

Gary's book list on love, loss and our kinship with animals

Gary Kowalski Why did Gary love this book?

This German zoologist discovered “imprinting” in birds and was often photographed waddling in his backyard, followed by a gaggle of goslings who mistook him for their mother. Lorenz was convinced that avian species experience emotions like love and grief, describing the mating rituals of jackdaws in terms touchingly evocative of human sweethearts. “Remarkable and exceedingly comical is the difference in eloquence between the eye-play of the wooing male and that of the courted female: the male jackdaw casts glowing glances straight into his loved one’s eyes, while she apparently turns her eyes in all directions other than that of her ardent suitor. In reality, of course, she is watching him all the time!”

By Konrad Lorenz,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked King Solomon's Ring as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Solomon, the legend goes, had a magic ring which enabled him to speak to the animals in their own language. Konrad Lorenz was gifted with a similar power of understanding the animal world. He was that rare beast, a brilliant scientist who could write (and indeed draw) beautifully. He did more than any other person to establish and popularize the study of how animals behave, receiving a Nobel Prize for his work. King Solomon's Ring, the book which brought him worldwide recognition, is a delightful treasury of observations and insights into the lives of all sorts of creatures, from jackdaws…


Book cover of Animals Make Us Human: Creating the Best Life for Animals

Deborah Taylor-French Author Of Red Sky at Night: Dog Leader Mysteries

From my list on dogs and canine behavior.

Why am I passionate about this?

When I’m not out rescuing lost dogs or walking our dog, Beau, in the hills of Sonoma County, I’m reading, writing, blogging, or offering writers' support. Our family started when we took in a baby for foster care, then a year later, after great effort, prayer, and help, we completed her adoption. As for canines, we’ve adopted four dogs, all from dogs returned to their breeders or an animal shelter. Three of our dogs happened to be only one year old when we took them in. I continue to research and edit my Dog Leader Mysteries blog. Twelve years blogging about saving dogs.

Deborah's book list on dogs and canine behavior

Deborah Taylor-French Why did Deborah love this book?

I love this book, and I want to buy one for every animal lover I know. Chapters feature Temple Grandin’s unique observations of dogs, cats, horses, pigs, chickens, and cattle. Temple Grandin pushes back on popular methods of dog management. Grandin thinks like a scientist and states observable facts.

Most Americans keep one dog. A single dog living in a family compares to a child living with parents. Dogs see their roles as puppies, wanting to please. Dogs watch people’s faces for clues on how they should behave. Dogs’ wild ancestors, wolves, live in small families, never in massive packs. Neither wolves nor dogs display a need for fights over dominance.

By Temple Grandin, Catherine Johnson,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Animals Make Us Human as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

How can we give animals the best life—for them? What does an animal need to be happy? In her groundbreaking, best-selling book Animals in Translation, Temple Grandin drew on her own experience with autism as well as her experience as an animal scientist to deliver extraordinary insights into how animals think, act, and feel. Now she builds on those insights to show us how to give our animals the best and happiest life—on their terms, not ours. Knowing what causes animals physical pain is usually easy, but pinpointing emotional distress is much harder. Drawing on the latest research and her…


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Interested in Ethology, chimpanzees, and giraffes?

Ethology 35 books
Chimpanzees 19 books
Giraffes 15 books