The Animal Parables

A dog who gets hold of the wrong end of the stick; a horse who beats the odds; a wasp who discovers a sting in the tail. This is the stuff of ‘The Animal Parables’. Each tale features an animal who finds that things turn out to be quite different from how it imagined and profound life lessons are learned along the way. These seven, life affirming, tales will delight young minds and leave adults moved to reflection. In this collection Martin Day has re-discovered the power of the parable to layer deeper meanings under the skin of a simple narrative. In doing so he has created a collection of stories that sound at multiple levels. It’s like the delight of finding that second tray under the first in a box of chocolates!

Three more recent parables, ‘The Frog‘, ‘The Chick‘ and ‘The Hamster‘ are not included in the published book, but are available on this site to read in their entireties.

Consider an Author visit

Martin Day is happy to receive invitations to schools, writer’s groups, book clubs, etc to tell the story and thinking behind ‘The Animal Parables’.

I am passionate about both writing and personal development. Working as a life coach I have gained insight into issues like identity, confidence, forgiveness and I believe in the unique value of each person. These concepts are what I have invested into the stories that comprise ‘The Animal Parables’.

I am especially keen to encourage the academically challenged. Being dyslexic myself, I firmly believe that dyslexia is not a disability, but a superpower that can be harnessed!

If you would like to discuss a visit, please contact me by email or phone.

So why Parables?

This collection of stories started in 2006 when I took 10 weeks out of life for some reflection and reappraisal of life. This was in the context of an Advanced Exchanged Life Training course with Grace Ministries International (GMI) in Atlanta, GA. During this time I was privileged to sit in on some intensely personal counselling sessions and also met a whole load of other people who were digging much deeper into their problems, emotions, beliefs and relationship (or lack of it) with God. I too was moved by what I found when I allowed myself the time to look.

As my last task I was asked to write a final paper that would encapsulate what I had learned on the course and also from the months and years that had proceeded it. I chose to clothe my experiences in a parable. I have always thought in simile and metaphor. To me it is instinctive to explain one thing with a picture of another. I had previously written some notes on the idea of laws and rules as being like a sheepdog trained to snap, nip and harry a flock of sheep. When I decided on ‘the Dog’ as my metaphor for my final assignment much more than I anticipated rolled out onto the paper and I found that I could discover many parallels in the experience of this simple creature.

I was so taken with the power of parable to teach a thing without preaching, to address an issue that the reader or listener can personalise and relate to their own experience, that I embarked on another. ‘The Mynah Bird‘ came next and then to my surprise I found that as one finished I already had ideas for another, and another.

So ten parables later most of these stories have been told in small groups, presented to larger groups or have been passed to people struggling with particular issues. There are now PowerPoint images and even a DVD interpretation to help with the telling. All are available from online shops and extracts are available here. The latest parables, The Frog, The Chick, and The Hamster are published in full on this site.

The Animal Parables is available on Kindle and Audible, both individually and as a collection, as well as in paperback.
Use the links to buy from Amazon.