Reviews

Animals Make Us Human by Catherine Johnson, Temple Grandin

sarahlopod's review against another edition

4.0

I started Animals Make Us Human a few days ago and just finished it up! I enjoyed it a lot. It's always nice to gain some insight into what animals are thinking and how they work. The focus of this book specifically was to talk about the emotional welfare of various animals. There was a good mix of animals to learn about, from pets to animals in the slaughter industry to zoos. Grandin's point of view is unique and offers a lot to think about. She makes it clear that things aren't always as black-and-white as we think they may be. I felt like I learned a lot in reading this and would absolutely recommend it to others

hagbard_celine's review against another edition

2.0

Eh, it was ok. The author has obviously done extraordinary work for the welfare of farm animals. Lotta street cred.

But I'm, um, *skeptical* of her insistence on equating autistic minds with animal minds.

madlymadly's review

5.0

I loved this book. It wasn't focused on the abuse of animals, rather it unveils their emotions and behavior—which we so often we misinterpret. This leads to improper handling and inadequate provisions for well-being. Had I read Temple Grandin's work years ago, I'd have chosen a career involving animals.

wearethedepinets's review against another edition

4.0

This is a wonderfully written book. Temple Grandin makes you revaluate the way you think about animals....and not just cats and dogs!

heyitserin's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

4.5

language_loving_amateur's review against another edition

informative inspiring medium-paced

4.0

rynisreading's review against another edition

2.0

Pretty disappointed in this book. The first few chapters (cat & dog) were really interesting. Once into cows & pigs, this book is basically a manual on how to keep "farm animals" less stressed while they're in factory farms. Kind of disgusting, actually. Really not what I had expected from this book.

If you're into the whole "happy meat" BS you might buy into this book... but it just wasn't what I was expecting. I really just wanted to read about animal behaviour, not how to use animal behaviour to farm animals.

bookgardendc's review against another edition

4.0

Leaving aside the inelegant writing style, I think this is really two books: one about animals that live in our homes with us (primarily dogs and cats), which could be stand-alone with a lot more behavioral information that gets into the nuance of living with another species; and one about making the lives of farm animals better. Of course, the book assumes the status quo in terms of current practices of raising animals explicitly for slaughter/eggs/milk...I see value in proposing ways of making their lives much better as they live only for these purposes, since it's not likely that we will all suddenly and forever turn vegetarian, but some consideration of the ethics of this would have ben interesting. Regardless I'm really tempted to go back to veg, and maybe even vegan, after reading about the lives of these animals, even in the best of circumstances...But overall there is a lot of interest here, especially for animal lovers. And the connections between animal welfare and welfare of people with autism are also very insightful.

lilacwhisker's review against another edition

informative inspiring sad

4.25

A very interesting read! I’ve never read much about farm animals and agriculture industry stuff so I learned a ton from this. There were also many parts that kind of blew my mind (mainly stuff about evolution of emotions over time and the systems of the brain). Really good book overall and made me love Temple Grandin even more!!

smemmott's review against another edition

4.0

Straightforward and clear with specific, useful examples. I was very interested in her insight into the emotions of particular species, and also animals overall. The book helped me understand, in general terms, why different animals may react differently to stresses in their environment.