Discussion Questions
We'll add publisher questions if and when they're available; in the meantime, use our LitLovers talking points to help start a discussion for RUNNING WITH SHERMAN … then take off on your own:
1. So let's get personal here. Did you cry? When? On first meeting Sherman in his broken-down condition? Or by the end, rehabilitated by loving care.
2. Okay, if you didn't actually well up, which episodes in the book at least moved your or delighted you? How about, say, the moment when Sherman raced uphill to the farm, "touching noses with the two big warhorses" behind the fence?
3. Talk about some of the human characters that populate the book. Zeke, for instance, suffering with depression. Perhaps you might do some online research to find out what psychologists have learned about how bonding with animals can alleviate depression. Who are other characters in this book whose lives were touched by Sherman?
4. (Follow-up to Question 3) Consider other ways in which animals aid humans. Therapy dogs in hospitals, for instance? Equine therapy?
5. What is your own experience bonding with animals, healthy or not? Have you even volunteered, say, to work with animals in a humane society's kennel?
6. As humans, what do we owe animals?
(Questions by LitLovers. Please feel free to use them, online and off, with attribution. Thanks.)
Running with Sherman (McDougall) - Discussion Questions
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