Although the ending was sad, I enjoyed the book. I liked how it told the story of how
our country was founded, the ideals that formed the basis of our past government, and how we
as a country have moved away from those ideals. The book discussed some of the major
problems our country faces that I did not know about or had heard of but not really
understood. One of the most prominent issues Americans face is the harmful mindsets of
those who rely on the government to provide for their every need instead of working to earn a
living. People don’t realize that the government has conditioned them to think that they
deserve to have everything handed to them. The many programs our leaders have
implemented over the years meant to improve the nation only led to improved benefits for
government officials and to higher poverty rates. I made me want to warn people about how
we have allowed ourselves to become slaves of sorts to our government and have abandoned
the principles of hard-work and sacrifice.
I would definitely recommend this book to all high-schoolers. They need to be made
aware of the issues their country faces because they will be the ones to grow up and deal with
these issues. The book show what happens when people work hard to earn a living (prosperity)
and what happens when people rely too heavily on their government to take care of their every
need (depravity). Animal Colony warns that the only people who truly benefit from these
welfare programs are those running the programs. It urges people to wake up and realize that
their country is not what it once was. People have forgotten their heritage and what it took for
their ancestors to gain the freedom they enjoy today. They have forgotten the morals and
principles their country was founded on. Animal Colony does an excellent job of presenting these
problems and inspiring its readers to participate in their government to try to remedy the
problems their country faces.
Aundriana P., 17
Honestly think this book is very real, not in the sense that animals are going to rebel
from their masters but the story is equivalent to the American people who do nothing to
change the way the government has been treating them. They believe that the government is
doing so good and is going to help them, they have not learned a work ethic of any kind. They
know that they will be taken care of no matter how little they do. That doesn’t mean I don’t
believe in helping the less fortunate, but I don’t believe in helping those that are just milking
the system for all that it is worth. I believe this because I don’t think that people with more
money should have to be paying for those who are doing nothing to help themselves. The
wealthy people worked hard and learned to be smart with their money, they learned the value
of money. People do not do that when it is just handed to them. These people have pretty
much become just like the animals in Animal Colony, constantly waiting for the master to bring
them the next little bit of food.
I would definitely recommend this book. I think it should be a requirement that all high
school seniors read this book. It taught me about the direction that America is heading down,
and it is a scary path. I know lots of people that think all these handouts are such a great idea,
but I would encourage them to read this book. It puts what is going on today in a much simpler
way, it makes it easy to understand and learn the real dangers of not being independent
anymore. Freedom has always been our number one right in America and I can see it slowly
being taken away with all the promises of “free and better.”
Emily R., 18
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the book and I think that the animals made it a more
interesting read than if the authors would have used people. There were parts where I could
relate to myself or to the government in America today. This book gave me a different
perspective on government. Animal Colony was very detailed in writing and it was easy to
visualize the scenarios.
High schoolers who are taking a U.S. Government class should read this book because it
gives one a different perspective on how the former government began and how it evolved
today. I believe that it is also important to discuss the questions that are provided with this
book because it is nice to have different opinions on how others view government. Also it is
nice to discuss the questions because there are some people who only have limited knowledge
of the governmental system and they can learn more about it. It is important to have this
knowledge because high schoolers are beginning to approach the age to which they can vote for
presidential candidates. Voting is one of the strongest powers of the U.S. citizen. This book
shows someone how one person/animal can affect the way a “colony” functions. It can either
be peaceful or chaotic. Voting can affect the way that we live as U.S. citizens because choosing
the right leader is crucial.
Jaden R., 16
My opinion of the book is that it was a good book. It was easy to read, it kept me
interested, it is educational, and I was able to understand it. I like how it brings history into it
and even though the names were changed and the circumstances were slightly different I was
able to recognize them and relate them to real life people and circumstances. I was not
expecting the book to end the way it did. The ending wasn’t bad; it just wasn’t what I was
expecting. I expected a happy ending where Hoss lives and the colony goes back to the way it
should be. I think the ending the authors gave it was good for the points they were trying to
make and that is that the situation our country is now in and what we can do about it.
I strongly recommend this book. It was a good educational book that I think all schools
should make their students read. It’s important for everybody to know what is happening in
our government and what we can do to change it for the better. If people don’t know they
can’t do anything to help make change happen. They might just do what everybody else does
because that seems easier. They need to be informed, so that they don’t conform to the bad
pattern our country is going. God wants us (Christians) to be involved in our government so we
can help make a difference in our country.
Leah Rae P., 18
I was pretty skeptical about the book at first and thought it was a little lame. After I got
into it though, I really enjoyed it. There were many parallels to the United States and how our
government works. The book also brings up issues about America, such a losing certain
freedoms that should be our rights. In the book, the foundational truths that were established
for the colony were being disregarded and changed. For me, this relates to the constitution,
and someday it may be changed if we chose the wrong path.
I would recommend this book to high school students and adults. It makes some really
good points about what we need to do and what to avoid to keep our homeland great. Many
teens and even adults don’t know the basic history of the U.S. which can be very dangerous. If
Americans don’t know the history of the U.S., then they don’t know the mistakes that have
been made. If we don’t know what mistakes were made, they are bound to happen again.
Addie H., 17
My American Government class has just completed reading and discussing Animal
Colony, overall the students enjoyed the book. Animal Colony was easy to read, the
students were able to identify with the characters, glean historical references and
discuss many of the issues facing our nation today. We were able to discuss much of
the material/questions provided in the study guide, which was very helpful. This book
provided an “enjoyable” way to discuss the dangerous issues eroding away our
American freedoms.
I will continue to use Animal Colony in my American Government classes in the future
as well. (Our school offers Government to junior and senior students every other year.)
Deb S.
Secondary Teacher