101 Humorous Animals by Carly van Heerden

Carly van Heerden is the author of ‘101 Humorous Animals – The Lighter Side Of Anthropomorphism’. Her new book is out and available on Kindle & Amazon.com and is filled not only with high quality pictures of some of the world’s most beautiful creatures, but beneath each picture you will find a few interesting facts relating to the creatures in the pictures, making this book the ultimate combination of humor and fact, emphasized by superior images… which for many is the perfect recipe for enjoyable entertainment.

Here is a little more on Carly and her awesome book…

I have spoken on behalf of animals for most of my life now – not only as an activist; I have the tendency to imagine what animals are thinking, and I know I’m not the only one! When I started studying animal behaviorism, one of the first points we are made aware of is that when it comes to training animals, we as humans make the mistake of likening our animals to people; we think we know what they are thinking when they look at us ‘that way’.

This is known as anthropomorphism (explained in detail in the book). Anthropomorphism becomes an obstacle when we presume what our animals are thinking, even though we know full well they can’t speak English (or any other human language), and they do not think in a spoken language we can understand either. This can lead to our misunderstanding our animals’ needs on occasion; for example, when your dog chews your shoes and looks at you ‘that way’, you think they are saying ‘sorry’ or ‘I didn’t do it’, or ‘please don’t be mad’, when in actual fact they are just looking at you, wondering why your facial expression and body language is changing shape… so suddenly.

There’s a lot to it, but at the end of the day we only ‘speech bubble’ our animals because we love them, and to us they are human – so if the shoe fits…

Facebook often provides the perfect daily dose of comedy when it comes to pictures of animals, which have been ‘captioned’. Sometimes I’m left in tears and stitches by the captions I read, and they are usually so appropriate. So, where did I get my inspiration from? I’d have to say… captioned pictures on Facebook.

To make the book that much more interesting, I spent my time researching the animals in the pictures, hoping to make this book into something more than ‘just a picture book’. To me, one of the best forms of entertainment is a well-structured combination of non-fiction and humor, which allows me to smile and learn something new at the same time. For me, that’s getting what I need and like for the money I spend.

Watershed Animal Rescue and Rehabilitation Fund came into the picture toward the end. My ‘Mushroom’ (SPCA rescue Greyhound) was flown to me in Sedgefield from Gauteng, and Steph from Watershed organized the flight through ‘Bidair’. Because I was in Sedgefield, Margot from Greyhound Rescue Group SA organized absolutely everything for ‘Mushroom’ in Gauteng; having a crate made especially for her, driving for hours from here to there to make sure all was perfect for Mushroom’s first (and only) flight. Another one of my books (Animal Stories for Children Everywhere) therefore has 10 % of its sales dedicated GRGSA, and 10% of all sales of this book will be given to Watershed for their tremendous efforts, not just where Mushroom was concerned, but for anyone needing their assistance.

To me if there is ever an opportunity to promote the good work of animal shelters and rescue organizations, I will make good use of it; hence the decision to add the pages for ‘organizations needing assistance’.

Seeing the excellent effort that ARK puts towards rescuing and rehabilitating mums and pups, I asked if I could make mention of them in this book, and they agreed to let me. The great thing about this being done on Kindle is that folks from all around the world, who purchase the book, can make donations directly to Ark, Barking Mad, and Tico’s Pawket (USA – with focus on providing rehabilitation wheels to paralyzed dogs) from their computers, even while they read the book. I hope the donations are made and that Ark, Barking Mad and Tico’s Pawket can continue to do all they do for our four legged companions who can’t speak for themselves.

Thank you Candice and all at ARK – may all your needs be met and your premises protected. Thank you for dedicating your lives to the animals, and for having the courage to face adversity in the tough times; never giving up.

– Carly van Heerden