melissapalmer404's review
4.0
Book #50 Read in 2018
Happily Ever Esther by Steve Jenkins
This is a sequel about Esther the Wonder Pig. In this book Esther's daddies have opened an animal sanctuary and are getting other pigs, goats, cows, donkeys and horses a life of happiness. I could have done with more Esther and less advocacy for becoming a vegan, but overall this was an enjoyable read. I borrowed this book from the public library.
Happily Ever Esther by Steve Jenkins
This is a sequel about Esther the Wonder Pig. In this book Esther's daddies have opened an animal sanctuary and are getting other pigs, goats, cows, donkeys and horses a life of happiness. I could have done with more Esther and less advocacy for becoming a vegan, but overall this was an enjoyable read. I borrowed this book from the public library.
indydriven's review
3.0
This book is a sequel to Esther The Wonder Pig. Esther really is a wonder pig in that she has captured hearts around the world with her Instagram account, Facebook page and books (a children's book has also been published).
Recently Esther had some health issues and vets were not able to perform a scan due to her size. There was no large animal scanner in Canada and Esther would have had to be shipped to the United States if her owners wanted to proceed. Esther started to improve so they didn't have to subject her to the stress of the travel and the worry about how they were going to pay for it. What Steve and Derek did do, however, is start a gofundme fundraiser to raise enough funds to purchase a large animal scanner for use in Canada (located in Ontario). Due to Esther, we now have a large animal scanner in Canada in which many animals will benefit. That is why I agree that she is a wonder pig - who would have thought that a daily diary of a pig's life would change the lives of so many animals?
I was very excited when I heard that there was going to be another book and I purchased it as soon as it was available. I have to say, however, that I am disappointed. One of things that they said that the book would cover was the back story of all the animals they have received on their sanctuary farm. One of the animals that is consistently in Esther's Instagram account is a 30 pound turkey called Cornelius that spends a lot of time with Esther. I really wanted to know how they ended up with a turkey on their farm, however, he was not even mentioned until the last page of the book and then it was only to say that the writer had to wrap up because he had a turkey that wanted some attention.
I give these two men credit that they have changed their lives completely due to Esther and have become devout vegans. I'm glad that it works for them and good for them! However, I did find that there were some sections that were a little "preachy" when it came to this topic and I felt that I was being a bit nagged about it.
I am disappointed that I did not enjoy the book more. I thought that I would.
Recently Esther had some health issues and vets were not able to perform a scan due to her size. There was no large animal scanner in Canada and Esther would have had to be shipped to the United States if her owners wanted to proceed. Esther started to improve so they didn't have to subject her to the stress of the travel and the worry about how they were going to pay for it. What Steve and Derek did do, however, is start a gofundme fundraiser to raise enough funds to purchase a large animal scanner for use in Canada (located in Ontario). Due to Esther, we now have a large animal scanner in Canada in which many animals will benefit. That is why I agree that she is a wonder pig - who would have thought that a daily diary of a pig's life would change the lives of so many animals?
I was very excited when I heard that there was going to be another book and I purchased it as soon as it was available. I have to say, however, that I am disappointed. One of things that they said that the book would cover was the back story of all the animals they have received on their sanctuary farm. One of the animals that is consistently in Esther's Instagram account is a 30 pound turkey called Cornelius that spends a lot of time with Esther. I really wanted to know how they ended up with a turkey on their farm, however, he was not even mentioned until the last page of the book and then it was only to say that the writer had to wrap up because he had a turkey that wanted some attention.
I give these two men credit that they have changed their lives completely due to Esther and have become devout vegans. I'm glad that it works for them and good for them! However, I did find that there were some sections that were a little "preachy" when it came to this topic and I felt that I was being a bit nagged about it.
I am disappointed that I did not enjoy the book more. I thought that I would.
skillwithaquill's review against another edition
1.0
Review coming soon. I obviously have a lot of unexpected feelings about this book, and it's going to take some time to process them.
rainbowbookworm's review against another edition
3.0
Jenkins picks up right where [b:Esther the Wonder Pig|30334928|Esther the Wonder Pig|Steve Jenkins|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1464839939s/30334928.jpg|47465126] leaves off. While I loved the first book, this one feels a bit more disjointed. The only saving grace is that the Jenkins continues to see the humor in his predicaments.
bookedinsideout's review
3.0
The oversharing while naming names disappointed me and I think this book would be quite confusing/incomplete if you hadn’t just read the first book or aren’t familiar with their story, but overall it was like an enjoyable collection of essays about starting an animal sanctuary.
meledits's review
1.0
This book was a big disappointment. I thought it would be a lovely light-hearted book about animals, which is just what I need now during the pandemic. Unfortunately, I realized too late that this is a sequel and that the writers assume you've read the first book and know their story. There's no attempt to explain who they are, how they met, how they came to move from DC to a farm in Canada. I think one of them might be Scottish, and there's a brief mention that the other guy was a magician (What?!). I have no sense of their prior lives or their personalities. And the writing is more like "and this happened and then this happened," rather than telling engaging stories about Esther and the other animals. I only read half the book, and it was mostly about their very grumpy pig Esther misbehaving constantly and how one of their sets of parents didn't seem to understand what was so lovely about having a grumpy, 650-pound pig as an indoor pet. Enough.
adventure_in_books's review against another edition
4.0
I enjoy following esther the pig. This book is easy to read and you want to keep going. I look fwd to another book
severina2001's review against another edition
5.0
In this sequel to Esther the Wonder Pig, follow Esther and her two dads as they move to a farm and start a sanctuary for farmed animals.
I love Esther, who I've been following on social media for quite a few years now. She was taken in by a couple who were told she was a "mini-pig". Nope. Esther grew to be a 600+ lb farm pig, and her influence on her two dads, Steve and Derek, has been immense. They turned vegan, sold their small home, crowdfunded to purchase an old farm, and moved there to begin a sanctuary. What started with Esther (who lives in their house, as she should) has now grown to close to 100 animals. This book shares the first two years or so of their move to the country as they learn how to take care of their growing brood. There are laughs, breakouts, worries and triumphs, and they face them all with kindness. Steve is a master storyteller who peppers his anecdotes with little humorous asides.
I have both Esther's books on Kindle, but I actually listened to this one. On Esther's YouTube channel, there are videos of Steve reading both books aloud while lounging against Esther, as Cornelius the turkey and Phil the dog wander about as well. Sometimes there is even a glimpse of Dolores the cat. It was a wonderful way to re-experience the story.
For more information:
Esther's YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/user/estherthewonderpig/videos
Esther's website: https://www.estherthewonderpig.com/
Happily Ever Esther Farm Sanctuary: https://www.happilyeveresther.ca/
I love Esther, who I've been following on social media for quite a few years now. She was taken in by a couple who were told she was a "mini-pig". Nope. Esther grew to be a 600+ lb farm pig, and her influence on her two dads, Steve and Derek, has been immense. They turned vegan, sold their small home, crowdfunded to purchase an old farm, and moved there to begin a sanctuary. What started with Esther (who lives in their house, as she should) has now grown to close to 100 animals. This book shares the first two years or so of their move to the country as they learn how to take care of their growing brood. There are laughs, breakouts, worries and triumphs, and they face them all with kindness. Steve is a master storyteller who peppers his anecdotes with little humorous asides.
I have both Esther's books on Kindle, but I actually listened to this one. On Esther's YouTube channel, there are videos of Steve reading both books aloud while lounging against Esther, as Cornelius the turkey and Phil the dog wander about as well. Sometimes there is even a glimpse of Dolores the cat. It was a wonderful way to re-experience the story.
For more information:
Esther's YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/user/estherthewonderpig/videos
Esther's website: https://www.estherthewonderpig.com/
Happily Ever Esther Farm Sanctuary: https://www.happilyeveresther.ca/
wannabemensch's review
3.0
I love Esther. I love her family. And I love the message they send. I just didn’t love this book.