A spirited, gracefully polemical introduction and the final story, ``She Unnames Them,'' frame this collection of fiction and poetry, placing it in a natural but unsentimental light. These are not really ``talking animal'' stories: they are about human apprehension of natural creation (including rocks and plants) and the relations this apprehension governs; or, how communication makes communities. Seven of ten stories and seven of 19 poems having already been published, while a couple of pieces read like working drafts. Among the best pieces is the title story; like many of the others, it works its effect through a reversal of the usual (human) point of view. Patricia Dooley, formerly with Drexel Univ., Philadelphia (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.