Nala’s World by Dean Nicholson
Written by Ashley Kelmore, Posted in Reviews
Four Stars
Best for:
Animal lovers. People who like to travel. People who care about the world.
In a nutshell:
Scottish wanderer Nicholson set out to ride his bike throughout Europe and beyond. He found an abandoned kitten and their lives changed.
Worth quoting:
N/A
Why I chose it:
I follow Dean and Nala on Instagram so was aware of the book and happy to support them in their travels.
Review:
Like many of Dean and Nala’s social media followers (@1bike1world on Instagram), I discovered them when a video of them was put out by The Dodo. (You can watch it here https://www.thedodo.com/videos/our-shows/guy-biking-across-the-world-picks-up-a-stray-kitten) I am a cat lover (I have two ginger tabbies of my own who we brought with us when we moved from the US to the UK) and a sucker for sweet stories.
This book details Dean and Nala’s journey so far, spreading awareness of and support for animal and environmental issues. They’ve sold calendars (and now a book!) to raise money to support animal rescue groups in the countries they visit. It’s also a travelogue, full of tales of their adventures across Europe. It ends right around the start of the pandemic, and there is some legitimate drama in there.
I don’t know what I was expecting from this – a bit of fluff and some sweet pictures, I guess. But this is a legitimately entertaining, sweet, and inspirational book. It’s 250 pages, so while it’s capitalizing on their fame a bit, there’s substance here. There are discussions about animal welfare, explorations of what to do with one’s life, thoughts on what matters. And it’s also really, really hopeful. It’s simple and sweet and frankly so welcome at this moment. It brought me joy and I’ll get more joy out of it in the future, looking over the pictures of this adorable kitten and her Scottish human.
Keep it / Pass to a Friend / Donate it / Toss it:
Keep it
