The Inner Life of Animals - (The Mysteries of Nature) by Peter Wohlleben (Paperback)

About the Book

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Hidden Life of Trees, an eye-opening exploration of the extraordinary range of emotions animals experience.

Book Synopsis

From the New York Times-bestselling author of The Hidden Life of Trees.

"The Inner Life of Animals will rock your world. This book shows us that animals think, feel and know in much the same way as we do."--Sy Montgomery, bestselling author of The Soul of an Octopus

Through vivid stories of devoted pigs, two-timing magpies, and scheming roosters, The Inner Life of Animals weaves the latest scientific research into how animals interact with the world with Peter Wohlleben's personal experiences in forests and fields. We learn that horses feel shame, deer grieve, and goats discipline their kids. Ravens call their friends by name, rats regret bad choices, and butterflies choose the very best places for their children to grow up.

In this captivating book, Peter Wohlleben follows the hugely successful The Hidden Life of Trees with insightful stories into the emotions, feelings, and intelligence of animals around us. Animals are different from us in ways that amaze us--and they are also much closer to us than we ever would have thought.

"Wry, avuncular, careful and kind. . . Each story adds to a widening vision of intelligence, emotion and relationship."--The Guardian

Published in Partnership with the David Suzuki Institute

Review Quotes

"A treat for animal lovers of all stripes."
--Kirkus starred review

"With the same charm and clarity that drew so many readers to The Hidden Life of Trees, Peter Wohlleben has produced another gem. I found delight on every page, thanks to the author's rare skill at blending scientific discoveries with his own wealth of insightful personal experiences. Read this book, and never again doubt that we share the Earth with other beings living rich and colorful lives."
--Jonathan Balcombe, author of What a Fish Knows

"Peter Wohlleben's convincing, highly readable stories about free-living and domestic animals show there's much overlap between how humans and other animals experience bonding, loss, and the great, shared themes of life."
--Carl Safina, author of Beyond Words, What Animals Think and Feel

"Wry, avuncular, careful and kind, Wohlleben guides us from one creature to the next. ...Each story adds to a widening vision of intelligence, emotion and relationship."
--The Guardian

"Like The Hidden Life of Trees, Peter Wohlleben's The Inner Life of Animals will rock your world. Surprising, humbling, and filled with delight, this book shows us that animals think, feel and know in much the same way as we do--and that their lives are, to them, as precious as ours are to us."
--Sy Montgomery, author of The Soul of an Octopus

"Wohlleben offers an insightful consideration of the emotional and cognitive lives of animals."
--Booklist

"Animal lovers everywhere will be enthralled by The Inner Life of Animals. Find out what squirrels, deer, and other animals really do out in the woods."
--Temple Grandin

"Animals is a natural follow-on to 'Trees' and just as beautifully questions human assumptions about nature. ...Wohlleben's words are bound to touch even the animal-emotion skeptic."
--Washington Post, Jennifer S. Holland, author of Unlikely Friendships

"The Inner Life of Animals is an important reminder that while we surely are different from other animals, the similarities in our cognitive, emotional, and moral lives are not only surprising and daunting, but very real. And, we must use this information on their behalf in an increasingly human-dominated world."
--Marc Bekoff, author of The Emotional Lives of Animals and The Animals' Agenda

About the Author

Peter Wohlleben is the author of the New York Times bestseller The Hidden Life of Trees. and its follow-ups, The Inner Lives of Animals and The Secret Wisdom of Nature. His books for children include the middle-grade nonfiction book, Can You Hear the Trees Talking? and the picture book, Peter and the Tree Children. He is a natural storyteller who writes on ecological themes, and manages a municipally owned, environmentally friendly woodland in Germany.

Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson is the author of numerous books, including the New York Times bestsellers When Elephants Weep and Dogs Never Lie about Love. He is fascinated by the richness of the emotional world of animals and by what animals can teach us about ourselves.

Jane Billinghurst's career has been in book publishing in the UK, the US, and Canada, as an editor, publisher, writer, and translator. She is the translator of the international bestseller The Hidden Life of Trees by German forester Peter Wohlleben.