Review: It's a Wild Life: How My Life Became a Zoo by by Bud DeYoung, Cindy Martinusen Coloma

Summary-

Pursuing your passion includes a whole lot of crap. For Bud DeYoung, that’s about two hundred pounds a day!
Since childhood, Bud had a passion for animals. As an adult, that passion led to the rescue of a bear who lived in his family’s house, then more animals crowding for space, until Bud eventually built an entire private zoo around his home in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.
Along the way, a regular visitor named Carrie joined her passion for animals with Bud’s. Together they now educate the public about animal conservation, battle the harsh winters and blazing summers, and daily dole out love to the hundreds of rescued animals in their care. Meanwhile, they teach by example how to make the world a better place while pursuing their passion.
Welcome to the fascinating, heartwarming journey of one man, one woman, and an amazing cast of critters, whose stories will warm your soul. Welcome to the wild life of the DeYoung Family Zoo.

 

Review-

It's A Wild Life is one of the best animal-based biographies that I've ever read for one simple reason: Bud DeYoung is a wonderful down-to-Earth man who writes what he feels. This book tells Bud's true feelings about his insecurities at not going to college, his sadness when people get angry about his zoo, his guilt over his divorces. But what also shines through is his gentleness, love for animals and people, and the fact that Bud has a HUGE HEART. At the end of the book are letters from some of his visitors telling Bud and his fiancee Carrie how wonderfully they treated this young animal-crazy boy or that young handicapped girl. There is no bragging or pictures of Bud or Carrie with celebrities. There are just stories of special animals and people who have come into their lives and pictures of the same. Bud makes sure to thank everyone who helped him with the zoo and the reader can feel Bud's genuine affection for his friends and family in every written word. The story of Bud and his zoo also talks about hard work and finding hobbies as a youth that are excellent messages for the young reader. With many funny anecdotes about the animals and interesting facts about animal behavior, this was an awesome story!!!

 

Publisher-Medallion Press (

Reviewer Rating: 4 Stars

Reviewed by~Cindi

Thank you to the author for the donation of this book to the Read for your Future book program in exchange for a honest review!