The Smile of a Dolphin: Remarkable Accounts of Animal Emotions

This book is a great collection of one- to two-page essays on animal behavior. The authors share their personal stories with animals that they studied throughout their science careers. Do animals show love, fear, anger, joy, or grief? The stories convince us that they do. A dolphin mother who lost her calf refuses food and leaves her group to grieve; a young dolphin invents a game and plays it for hours with her mother; a sea lion tosses a duck decoy in frustration at a trainer when it failed a task; a dolphin ducks a floating gull under water just for the fun of it. The book also covers land animals and birds, and each story is accompanied by wonderful photographs.

As a vegetarian, I have felt especially vindicated by evidence of animals' emotions. If an elephant can feel grief, a chimp baby can carry around a stick "doll," and wolves can bond to one another, then of course they can also feel pain. However, I believe that absolutely anyone could and should enjoy this charming book edited by Marc Bekoff. It is separated into sections, and each chapter is then only a few pages long, so it is easy to read cover to cover, or simply to flip through. I also think that this book would be a great way for children to learn respect for their fellow earth-dwellers. Many readers will be surprised by these anecdotes... I highly recommend (although the title is a strange choice, since a big "grin" on a dolphin can indicate aggression).

Marc Bekoff has brought together an outstanding collection of experts to share their experience with the broad and deep range of animal emotions. To me it shows that animals are more open and honest with their emotions than humans. The pictures alone can help us grow even more. This book brings Darwin's "The Expression of Emotions in Man and Animal" and The Animal Welfare Institute's "Animal Expressions" to a whole new audience. This book will please those humans who already enjoy animal emotions and will help those who need a push to grow.