Snips and Snails and Puppy Dog Tales

Darkwing (Silverwing 1), by Kenneth Oppel.

A prequel to a series about bats, Darkwing was perfectly fine to read if you hadn't read the other books.

Set in the very very last moments of dinosaurs, mammals are just starting to have room to expand and spread across the land. Dusk, a young "chiropter" (name author made up for a species right before modern bats), is more evolved towards being a bat than the rest of his race, and it sets him apart.

Carnassial, a felid (made up name for the species of proto-felines), is one of the first mammals in the area to eat meat.

Each of the two have to make their way in the brand new world and to try to survive being outcasts of their species.

I really enjoyed this talking animal book, other than one issue: The author would put multiple characters' dialogue into the same paragraph, so it would get hard to follow and keep track of who was saying what. Like:

"Want to go get dinner?" Bob asked. "Sure, let's get pizza."

All in all though, this was a great read.

Secondhand Dogs, by Carolyn Crimi.

A middle grade book, but a really nice story for adults, too. All the dogs could talk, but it was explained in a sentence early on. Something like:

"Yeah, let's go talk to him!" Gus said in the dog language of barks, whines, tail wags, and ear shifts.

All the dogs talked like people from that point on, but that one sentence made it work fine for me.

The story followed a group of dogs adopted/rescued by an old woman (Miss Lottie). One day she brings home a Bad Dog (as in he wants to destroy the pack, not that he piddled on a rug), and the pack has to figure out how to deal with him.

While that was going on, there was a subplot about Quinn, a boy who helps Miss Lottie. He was dealing with a lot of stuff at home, as well as being bullied badly at school.

Though this was a simple, short book, the author really understood both dogs and kids. I really love that in the story each dog is born with a "Dog Gift" -- one thing in life they're especially good at doing. Anything from following scents, begging, or loving other dogs.