Jana created Spell the Month in Books on her blog Reviews from the Stacks! This fun game begins on the first Saturday of each month, but you can play anytime during the month. It is simple: just spell the current month with books. 

This month’s theme is: Animal on the Cover or in the Title

Clicking on the cover will take you to the Goodreads page of the book.

A-ll Creatures Great and Small by James Herriot

Synopsis:

The warm and joyful memoirs of the world’s most beloved animal doctor.

Delve into the magical, unforgettable world of James Herriot, the world’s most beloved veterinarian, and his menagerie of heartwarming, funny, and tragic animal patients.

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For over forty years, generations of readers have thrilled to Herriot’s marvelous tales, deep love of life, and extraordinary storytelling abilities. For decades, Herriot roamed the remote, beautiful Yorkshire Dales, treating every patient that came his way from smallest to largest, and observing animals and humans alike with his keen, loving eye.

In All Creatures Great and Small, we meet the young Herriot as he takes up his calling and discovers that the realities of veterinary practice in rural Yorkshire are very different from the sterile setting of veterinary school. Some visits are heart-wrenchingly difficult, such as one to an old man in the village whose very ill dog is his only friend and companion, some are lighthearted and fun, such as Herriot’s periodic visits to the overfed and pampered Pekinese Tricki Woo who throws parties and has his own stationery, and yet others are inspirational and enlightening, such as Herriot’s recollections of poor farmers who will scrape their meager earnings together to be able to get proper care for their working animals. From seeing to his patients in the depths of winter on the remotest homesteads to dealing with uncooperative owners and critically ill animals, Herriot discovers the wondrous variety and never-ending challenges of veterinary practice as his humor, compassion, and love of the animal world shine forth.

James Herriot’s memoirs have sold 80 million copies worldwide, and continue to delight and entertain readers of all ages.

PAX BY SARA PENNYPACKER (clicking on the title will take you to my review)

Synopsis:

Goodreads Choice Award

Nominee for Readers’ Favorite Middle Grade & Children’s (2016)

Pax was only a kit when his family was killed, and “his boy” Peter rescued him from abandonment and certain death. Now the war front approaches, and when Peter’s father enlists, Peter has to move in with his grandpa.

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Far worse than being forced to leave home is the fact that Pax can’t go. Peter listens to his stern father—as he usually does—and throws Pax’s favorite toy soldier into the woods. When the fox runs to retrieve it, Peter and his dad get back in the car and leave him there—alone. But before Peter makes it through even one night under his grandfather’s roof, regret and duty spur him to action; he packs for a trek to get his best friend back and sneaks into the night. This is the story of Peter, Pax, and their independent struggles to return to one another against all odds. Told from the alternating viewpoints of Peter and Pax.

R-aising Hare: A Memoir by Chloe Dalton

Synopsis:

A moving and fascinating meditation on freedom, trust, loss, and our relationship with the natural world, explored through the story of one woman’s unlikely friendship with a wild hare.

Imagine you could hold a baby hare and bottle-feed it. Imagine that it lived under your roof and lolloped around your bedroom at night, drumming on the duvet cover when it wanted your attention.

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Imagine that, over two years later, it still ran in from the fields when you called it and slept in your house for hours on end and gave birth to leverets in your study. For political advisor and speechwriter Chloe Dalton, who spent lockdown deep in the English countryside, far away from her usual busy London life, this became her unexpected reality.

In February 2021, Dalton stumbles upon a newborn hare—a leveret—that had been chased by a dog. Fearing for its life, she brings it home, only to discover how impossible it is to rear a wild hare, most of whom perish in captivity from either shock or starvation. Through trial and error, she learns to feed and care for the leveret with every intention of returning it to the wilderness. Instead, it becomes her constant companion, wandering the fields and woods at night and returning to Dalton’s house by day. Though Dalton feared that the hare would be preyed upon by foxes, stoats, feral cats, raptors, and even people, she never tried to restrict it to the house. Each time the hare leaves, Chloe knows she may never see it again. Yet she also understands that to confine it would be its own kind of death.

Raising Hare chronicles their journey together, while also taking a deep dive into the lives and nature of hares, and the way they have been viewed historically in art, literature, and folklore. We witness first-hand the joy at this extraordinary relationship between human and animal, which serves as a reminder that the best things, and most beautiful experiences, arise when we least expect them.

I-THE Incredible Journey by Sheila Burnford

Synopsis:

The Hunter children must go abroad for the summer, so they reluctantly leave their three pets in the care of a friend. But the faithful animals only know they must get home again, somehow. So the labrador, the old bull terrier and the dainty Siamese cat set off on a perilous journey through the wilderness. But how will domestic animals fare against river rapids, hunger, icy temperatures and ferocious wild beasts? And if they make it home, will their owners be waiting for them?

L-ittle Foxes by Michael Morpurgo

Synopsis:

Bullied at school, nagged at home, there’s only one place Billy feels really alive and happy—in the wilderness by the canal. There he watches over a family of fox cubs as they grow toward maturity. Then his secret is discovered, and the fox family is decimated. Unwanted, unloved, Billy and the one surviving fox cub run for their lives. Michael Morpurgo’s compassionate story finds hope—and finally happiness—in the life of a vulnerable child, with beautifully detailed observations of wildlife.

I had fun searching for the titles and discovered these that I would love to read! Have you read any? Happy reading 🙂

4 responses to “SPELL THE MONTH IN BOOKS: APRIL”

  1. I still have Pax on my TBR after years and I’m not quite sure why I haven’t read it yet because it sounds like something I’d really enjoy. After reading your review, it also sounds like one of those emotional books that will hit me where it hurts (in a good way obvi) so maybe I should prioritise it this year! 🤭

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Omg please do read it when you feel like it. It is emotional but I think it is one of those books one should definitely read! Let me know if you do 🙂

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  2. These are all such lovely covers! Thanks for sharing them!
    My contribution to Spell the Month in books is here
    http://www.theintrepidreader.com/2025/04/spell-month-in-books-april.html

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Thank you! Would like to read them one day hah 🙂

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