New Book on Communicating With Animals!

My friend and fellow author Dawn Baumann Brunke has just released her newest book, Animal Voices, Animal Guides. I saw it on the show floor at Book Expo America last weekend, and was excited to see she's doing so well.

I've known Dawn since we worked together at NorthWord Press in 1991 (Dawn, could it be almost 20 years now!!!???). There, we collaborated on a series of four coloring books for older children, titled Who Lives Here? Dawn wrote and I illustrated the books, which detail four different natural habitats and the animals who live in them. The concept was a really neat one, and I'm working on reviving the now out-of-print books under our imprint.

Anyway, Dawn's new book is actually a newly revised edition of her earlier work, Awakening to Animal Voices, which was originally marketed to young adults.

The new version has been streamlined, given a new title and cover and design format, and also includes additional conversations with several animal groups (such as honey bees and polar bears). It is suitable for all ages. (One of the reasons the publisher decided to re-issue the book as a general title was because the material was not just aimed at teens, but to anyone--and everyone.)

The book not only looks at how we may open ourselves to communication with animals, but also explores how we may deepen in connection with animals, nature and ourselves in so many other ways: through animal teachers; through unexpected meetings with animals; through healing and the death experience; through dreams, shapeshifting and merging of consciousness.

Of course, for those of us with an almost inseparable connection to our pets, it's no surprise that Dawn and others like her have discovered many ways to communicate and connect on deeper levels with these personal "mystics" we all have, if we'd just realize it.

Want to learn more? You can read several excerpts at Dawn's website (here's the direct link to Table of Contents and chapter excerpts.)

It's always a happy day when any author sees their new book finally appear, and I'm just tickled pink for Dawn. And yes, that is Dawn -- along with her pal Zak -- on the front cover. So go check it out, won't you?

A Deeper Connection With Animals

My friend and colleague, Dawn Baumann Brunke, is an accomplished writer and soul seeker. We've collaborated on a series of middle grade coloring books called Who Lives Here?, which I'm looking into having re-published. Meanwhile. Dawn's been exploring how humans can connect on a deeper level with animals through her "Animal Voices" book series. Some of the material delves into dealing with animals' pain and how they deal with it themselves, which is something many people wonder about, whether their pets are "almost perfect" or not.

She recently lost her old pal, Zak, to old age. Though it was of course sad, because of what she knows about animals' lives, Dawn is able to take a philosophical view. She knows they'll meet again.

You might want to learn a bit more about Dawn and her work. I think you'll be fascinated.