The Book of Saints and Friendly Beasts

At the turn of the twentieth century, Abbie Farwell Brown gathered legends of saints who spoke to animals, tamed wolves, and shared their tables with creatures deemed dangerous or wild. This collection retells these tales with the gentle conviction that kindness knows no species boundary. Saint Bridget trades a wild wolf for a tame one to save a countryman's life; Saint Gerasimus finds redemption among lions. These are not grim hagiographies but warm fables, written for children yet rich enough to reward adult readers drawn to forgotten folklore. The stories pulse with an old faith: that compassion can bridge the divide between human and animal, that gentleness is its own form of courage. For anyone who believes animals have souls, or wishes they did.