Favourite Animal Books: Part 4

When it comes to animal books, there can be no doubt where it all begins. I received 31 recommendations for childhood reading covering a wide range from early books such as Eric Carle’s The Very Hungry Catterpillar and Beatrix Potter’s Tale of Peter Rabbit to those that can be enjoyed by all ages like Michael Morpurgo’s Running Wild and Richard Adam’s Watership Down. Several respondents mentioned how much they enjoyed having books read to them at a young age. It is perhaps worth reflecting that this magical combination of story and relationship (between listener and storyteller) cannot be replaced by modern media, no matter how advanced. I wonder how many of life’s chapters have their origins in such dream moments.

A big thank you to all who contributed to these lists. Preparing them has been great fun; reminding me over and over of the enjoyment I’ve had (and keep on having) in the world of animals. As pressure on nature mounts year on year and the space for wild animals diminishes, let us not forget just how much we love them!

As before, books mentioned as favourites by two respondents are marked with an asterisk, and by three or more respondents with a double asterisk. Quotations from the books are within double inverted commas, a quote from the publisher or a review is within single inverted commas, and a comment from one of the respondents (or my own occasional remarks) is without any inverted commas.

Children’s Books

*Incredible Journey, by Sheila Burnford (Hodder & Stoughton, 1961) This book touched two respondents quite profoundly. A great story combined with the acknowledgement that animals have an inner life.

**The Very Hungry Caterpillar, written and illustrated by Eric Carle (World Publishing Company, 1969) ‘Eaten holes in the pages and simple text with educational themes – one of the greatest childhood classics of all time’.

*The Wind in the Willows, by Kenneth Grahame (Methuen, 1908) One youthful senior reports: I read this every couple of years or so and have done since I was 9.  It came out in 1910 and the reviewer in the TLS predicted it would have no attraction for either child or adult readers!

**Just So Stories, by Rudyard Kipling (Macmillan & Co, 1902) As the daughter of one respondent put it, “I love them but then who doesn’t?” Her top two are: How the Rhino got his Skin and the Elephant’s Child. Writing in 1908, H.W. Boynton noted: ‘It strikes a child as the kind of yarn his father or uncle might have spun if he had just happened to think of it; and it has, like all good fairy-business, a sound core of philosophy.’

The Jungle Book, by Rudyard Kipling (MacMillan, 1894) ‘Fables in which animals give moral lessons. The verses of The Law of the Jungle, for example, lay down rules for the safety of individuals, families and communities. Kipling put in these tales nearly everything he knew or heard or dreamed about the Indian jungle.’

The Silver Brumby, by Elyne Mitchell (Hutchinson,1958). This is the first in a series of much loved brumby books. In a remote part of the Australian Alps, ‘Thowra, a cream wild horse and his half brother Storm are loners. Even as foals they know their country better than others of their herd. Where they lack in strength, they rely on intelligence and knowledge. Is this enough to help them as they grow from foals to stallions?’ It has been suggested that the reason The Silver Brumby never won an award was because the horses talked. But then the judges were grown-ups!

*The Story of Babar, by Jean de Brunhoff (Harrison Smith and Robert Haas, 1933) ‘After Babar’s mother is shot by a hunter, he flees the jungle and finds his way to the city where he is befriended by an old lady, who buys him clothes and enrols him in school. He returns to the jungle bringing the benefits of civilization to his fellow elephants.’

Zoo-ology, by Joelle Jolivet (Roaring Book Press, 2003) This is a fab book, stacked with cool animals, which I have given as gift to kids aged 1-4, says one respondent. ‘Zoo-ology is filled with beautifully crafted species from the Aardvark to the Zebra connected in thought provoking and unusual groupings of creatures of all shapes and sizes.’

Muddle-Headed Wombat in the Snow, by Ruth Park (Educational Press Pty Ltd, 1966) Follows the adventures of Muddle-Headed Wombat and his friends, a good-natured, practical female mouse and a vain, neurotic male tabby cat. Wombat’s speech is peppered with malapropisms and spoonerisms, e.g. treely ruly for really and truly, and lawn the mow for mow the lawn.

The Lorax, by Dr. Seuss (Random House, 1971) I presume the Lorax counts as an animal? For me about the best environmental book out there… says one respondent. ‘In The Lorax, we find what we’ve come to expect from the illustrious doctor: brilliantly whimsical rhymes, delightfully original creatures, and weirdly undulating illustrations. But here there is also something more–a powerful message that Seuss implores both adults and children to heed.’

*Running Wild, by Michael Morpurgo (Harper Collins, 2009) A wonderfully gripping and tear-jerking story that captures the relationship between a ten-year old boy and the natural environment into which he is catapulted, within the context of global issues of the Iraq War, S/SE Asia tsunami, deforestation and wildlife trafficking. Another respondent added: my daughter loves the way the life of the boy and elephant become intertwined and eventual both depend on each other for their survival.

War Horse, by Michael Morpurgo (Harper Collins, 2007) War on the front line, seen and heard through the eyes and ears of a horse during World War I. Still running in the West End.

James and the Giant Peach, by Roald Dahl (Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. 1961) I identified with the 4 year old hero, who had no love from the adult world and made friends with animals. It’s a brilliant adventure, with great insect characters, team problem solving (James and the insects) and a decent jab at our greedy and paranoid society.

The Enormous Crocodile, by Roald Dahl with illustrations by Quentin Blake (Jonathan Cape, 1978) ‘One day an enormous crocodile goes tramping through the forest telling all the animals he’s going to eat children. The animals tell him that it’s a horrible thing to do but he tries to use his tricks to eat the tasty children nonetheless.’

Greedy Zebra (African Animal Tales), by Mwenye Hadithi and Adrienne Kennaway (Hodder Children’s Books, 1984) I loved this when I was little, writes one respondent – I found out how the zebra got his stripes.

*Charlotte’s Web, by E.B. White (Harper 1952) ‘About a pig named Wilbur who is saved from being slaughtered by an intelligent spider named Charlotte.’ Publishers Weekly listed the book as the best-selling children’s paperback of all time as of 2000.

Rascal, by Thomas Sterling North (E. P. Dutton & Co., 1963) ‘The young Sterling reconnects with society through the unlikely intervention of his pet raccoon, a “ring tailed wonder” charmer that dominates almost every page.’

Where the Red Fern Grows, by Wilson Rawls (Doubleday, 1961) ‘About a boy who buys and trains two redbone coonhound hunting dogs… according to an old Indian legend, only an angel can plant a red fern and wherever it grows is sacred.’

The Story of Doctor Dolittle, by Hugh Lofting (Frederick A. Stokes, 1920) Of the favourites which influenced me as a boy, writes one respondent, first are most of the Dr Dolittle books; they create questions and understanding – a pity that flying to the moon by moth is now even less credible, but that flies have to talk so fast because their lives are short, is a good insight!

The Honey Hunters, by Francesca Martin (Walker Books, 1994) A traditional African folktale for ages 4 and over. ‘There was a time when all the animals were friends: the antelope, the leopard, the zebra, the lion, the elephant and the human-kind.’

Down the Bright Stream, by “BB” (D J Watkins-Pitchford) (Eyre and Spottiswoode, 1948). This book opened my eyes to nature like no other. ‘The Little Grey Men are the last gnomes in Britain. They awake in their winter retreat with the appalling news that the Folly Brook is drying up and they must move at once to find a home where they will be really safe.’

The Snail and the Whale, by Julia Donaldson & Axel Scheffler (Macmillan, 2004). My 2 year old son’s favourite animal story – we’ve read it every night for the last 30 nights and I still like! ‘One tiny snail longs to see the world and hitches a lift on the tail of a whale. Together they go on an amazing journey, past icebergs and volcanoes, sharks and penguins, and the little snail feels so small in the vastness of the world. But when disaster strikes and the whale is beached in a bay, it’s the tiny snail who saves the day.’

The Adventure Series, by Willard Price (1949-1980, current publisher is Red Fox). Sneaky choice this one as the series contains fourteen books that ‘chronicle the exploits of budding teenage zoologists Hal and Roger Hunt, as they travel around the world capturing exotic and dangerous animals for their father’s wildlife collection’.

Alice‘s Adventures in Wonderland, by Lewis Carroll (Macmillan,1865).

“How doth the little crocodile

Improve his shining tail,

And pour the waters of theNile

On every golden scale!

How cheerfully he seems to grin,

How neatly spreads his claws,

And welcomes little fishes in

With gently smiling jaws!”

 

*Black Beauty, by Anna Sewell (Jarrold & Sons, 1877) ‘The story is narrated in the first person as an autobiographical memoir told by a horse named Black Beauty — beginning with his carefree days as a colt on an English farm, to his difficult life pulling cabs in London, to his happy retirement in the country. Sewell’s sympathetic portrayal of the plight of working animals led to a vast outpouring of concern for animal welfare.’

A Bear Called Paddington, by Michael Bond with illustrations by Peggy Fortnum (Collins, 1958) ‘Paddington is always polite and well-meaning, though he inflicts hard stares on those who incur his disapproval. He likes marmalade sandwiches and cocoa, and has an endless capacity for getting into trouble.’

The House at Pooh Corner, by A.A. Milne with illustrations by E.H. Shepard (Methuen, 1928) In which Winnie-the-Pooh and Piglet build a house for Eeyore…

And for those older children looking for something a bit different:

The Tao of Pooh, by Benjamin Hoff with illustrations by E.H. Shepard (Dutton Books, 1982)

*The World of Peter Rabbit – The Complete Collection of Original Tales 1-23, written and illustrated by Beatrix Potter (Frederick Warne & Co., 1902-1918). Which is your favourite? Mine is The Tale of Mr. Jeremy Fisher. I also love The Tale of Jemima Puddle-Duck and The Tale of Samuel Whiskers! A favourite of one respondent is The Tale of Pigling Bland.

Uncle Remus: His Songs and His Sayings, by Joel Chandler Harris (D. Appleton and Company, 1880) The first of nine Uncle Remus books featuring the trickster hero, Br’er Rabbit. ‘The tales are based upon folklore from the American South and are told by the venerable family servant to a little boy on a Georgia plantation. Remus, the old storyteller, is wise, perceptive, imaginative, poetic, and gifted with a sly sense of humor. Their hero, Br’er Rabbit, is “the weakest and most harmless of all animals,” but he is “victorious in contests with the bear, the wolf, and the fox.”’

Watership Down, by Richard Adams (Rex Collings,1972) Evoking epic themes, the novel recounts the rabbits’ odyssey as they escape the destruction of their warren to seek a place in which to establish a new home, encountering perils and temptations along the way. The novel takes its name from the rabbits’ destination, Watership Down, a hill in the north of Hampshire, England.

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This concludes the four lists of favourite books. I hope you find something of interest – perhaps the twinkle in a bushy eye or the flash of a tail disappearing down a rabbit hole, leading you on to unimagined delights….

Favourite Animal Books: Part 3

Amongst their favourites, a few people listed zoological books or books written for a general audience but with a zoological theme. I’ve listed eleven of these here. It’s an eclectic mix but reveals perhaps the influence of the pioneers in animal behaviour and conservation. I suspect that this genre really needs a dedicated project to itself. How else can we account for the absence of Charles Darwin’s last book published in 1881,  The Formation of Vegetable Mould through the Action of Worms (!!), or Alfred Russell Wallace’s magnificent, The Malay Archipelago: The land of the orang-utan, and the bird of paradise. A narrative of travel, with sketches of man and nature published in 1869, or at least one of Peter Scott’s books on wildfowl, not to mention the many wonderful contemporary classics in animal behaviour and ecology which are certainly favourites of mine. Perhaps I will have a go at this later, but meantime I hope you find something diverting amongst the following. Many thanks again to all those who contributed.

Books highlighted by two respondents are marked with an asterisk, and by three or more respondents with a double asterisk. Quotations from the books are within double inverted commas, a quote from the publisher or a book review is within single inverted commas, and a comment from one of the respondents (or my own occasional remarks) is without any inverted commas.

Zoology

*King Solomon’s Ring, by Konrad Lorenz (Methuen, 1961, translated by Marjorie Kerr Wilson) ‘A zoological book for the general audience which has changed the way many people see animals. A few of the findings such as the phenomenon of imprinting have found their way into common knowledge since its publication.’

Man Meets Dog, by Konrad Lorenz (Methuen, 1954, 1st English edition) ‘Invaluable as a guide to sharing your life with your very own devoted friend… there is much that was unknown to me such as the fact that a dog’s eyesight is poor and that dogs are capable of lying, astonishing.’

Curious Naturalists, by Niko Tinbergen (Country Life, 1958) ‘Exposing us up to both the world of nature and the methodology of the naturalist, Tinbergen reveals something that the modern day world distracts us from – patient observation and the results that it yields.’

The Variety of Life: A Survey and a Celebration of All the Creatures That Have Ever Lived, by Colin Tudge (Oxford University Press, 2000). ‘It contains all the knowledge that I hoped to acquire from a degree in Zoology – and didn’t.’  John Maynard Smith.

Island survivors: the ecology of the Soay sheep of St Kilda, by P.A. Jewell, C. Milner and J.M. Boyd. (Athlone Press, 1974) ‘An impressive and highly successful record of over 10 years of research on a feral population of about 1400 sheep on Hirta, the main island of the St Kilda group. This book is packed with fascinating and detailed information about the Soay sheep.’

Mountain Sheep: A study in Behaviour and Evolution, by Valerius Geist (University of Chicago Press, 1971) Why does a highly successful ungulate, living on the fringes of the great ice sheets, waste resources in growing the magnificently decorative horns that grace the Mountain Sheep? Valerius Geist answers this question and many more, so amply and eloquently, ‘that his book will be a model for many years. It is rare indeed that meticulous field observation, stimulating ideas of considerable generality and good writing are combined to give a book of high scientific value and readability that is also informative and exciting.’

Struggle for Survival: Elephant Problem, by John Hanks (Littlehampton, 1979) ‘Anyone wanting a balanced account of the elephant problem and the controversies it has engendered could not do better than read this authoritative, well-written and entertaining text’ notes Keith Eltringham in the journal, Oryx. One respondent observes: The author was very brave to write a book about the culling of so many elephants – when you consider at the time the ‘career-ending’ move this could have been.’

Elephant Destiny, by Martin Meredith (HarperCollins, 2004) A concise, richly illustrated biography of the African elephant. Martin Meredith lays out the history of this majestic animal from the Egyptian pharaohs’ first ivory expeditions 2500 years ago to today, and explores the elephant’s role in literature and popular culture. He shares recent extraordinary discoveries about the elephant’s ability to communicate, its sophisticated family and community structure, and the ways–rare in the animal world–in which elephants show compassion and loyalty to each other.’

Evolution in Action: Natural History through Spectacular Skeletons, by Jean-Baptiste de Panafieu (Thames and Hudson, 2007) This is a lovely book of skeletons; it brings them to life in a way that you wouldn’t have thought possible with a book. ‘Beautiful and instructive… an eloquent and convincing account of the theory of evolution through images alone’.

The Extended Phenotype, by Richard Dawkins (Oxford University Press, 1982) “An animal’s behaviour tends to maximize the survival of the genes ‘for’ that behaviour, whether or not those genes happen to be in the body of the particular animal performing it.” Thus a gene may effect an organism’s environment through the organism’s behaviour, as with caddis houses and beaver dams. A gene of a parasite may even affect the behaviour of another species – the host organism – to improve its (the gene’s) survival.

Silent Spring, by Rachel Carson (Houghton Mifflin, 1962) “Knowing what I do, there would be no future peace for me if I kept silent… It is, in the deepest sense, a privilege as well as a duty to speak out— to many thousands of people…” This book is widely credited with helping launch the environmental movement.

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The next posting in the series will list Children’s animal books.

Favourite Animal Books: Part 2

I’ve listed 15 animal novels in this second post about our favourite animals books, ranging from classics like Williamson’s Tarka the Otter to the contemporary like Jiang Rong’s Wolf Totem. As before, books highlighted by two respondents are marked with an asterisk, and by three or more respondents with a double asterisk. Quotations from the books are within double inverted commas, a quote from the publisher or a book review is within single inverted commas, and a comment from one of the respondents (or my own occasional remarks) is without any inverted commas.

Novels

**Tarka the Otter, by Henry Williamson (G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1927) ‘I could always appreciate the joy and wonder in the countryside so richly expressed in Tarka the Otter, but I could also see a darkness that was a mystery to me.’

The Snow Leopard, by Peter Matthiessen (Viking Press, 1978) “An insightful friend, a painter, pointed out that my fiction and nonfiction in their various forms were only different facets of a single immense work—the same rage about injustice, the same despair over our lunatic destruction of our own habitat and that of other creatures. An evocation of our splendid earth and an elegy to the land and life that is being lost—both lie at the heart of my fiction and nonfiction.” Peter Matthiessen, Paris Review

White Fang, by Jack London (Macmillan, 1906) ‘The story of a wild wolfdog’s journey to domestication in Yukon Territory, Canada. Much of the novel is written from the wolfdog’s view-point, exploring how animals view their world and how they view humans. White Fang examines the violent world of wild animals and the equally violent world of humans. The book also explores complex themes including morality and redemption.’

Never Cry Wolf, by Farley Mowatt (McClelland and Stewart, 1963) ‘As a young Game Warden, Farley Mowatt is sent to remote northernmost Canada to evaluate the effect of wolf depredations on the caribou herds. What he finds is that the wolves eat voles and mice and only sick, aged, or weak caribou. (This is contested by wolf biologists.) He finds that the wolves are a natural part of the ecosystem, and that a pack of wolves together is far less destructive than even a single human being with a rifle.’

Wolf Totem, by Jiang Rong (English edition: translated by Howard Goldblatt, Penguin, 2008) Reveals the intelligence of the wolf, its uncompromising nature and how, as a spirit animal, it shaped the great Mongolian nation. Contains some biological errors. It is perhaps best thought of as a semi-biographical novel describing the wolf-nomad relationship as recounted by Inner Mongolians prior to their settlement and loss of nomadic culture.

Lions Share: The Story of a Serengeti Pride, by Jeannette Hanby. (Collins, 1983)  ‘This is a beautifully written and illustrated book written from a lion’s perspective.’ ‘David Bygott describes the book as having three themes: the story of a specific lion pride on the plains, a summary of lion social organisation and behaviour, and a basic introduction to the ecology of the Serengeti plains.’

Forbush and the Penguins, by Graham Billings. (Hodder & Stoughton, 1970) ‘Forbush and the Penguins was Graham Billing’s first novel. It explores the physcial and emotional world of a biologist working in solitude on a study of penguins in Antarctica and was written after he had spent eighteen months working there as a journalist.’

The Roots of Heaven, by Romain Gary. (White Lion Publishers, 1973) “Barely alive, starved, exhausted, we would clench our teeth and follow our great free herds obstinately with our eyes, and see them march across the savanna and over the hills, and we could almost hear the earth tremble under that living mass of freedom. We tried not to speak of it, for fear the guards would notice, and sometimes we would just look at each other and wink, and then we knew that it was all right, that we could still see it, that it was still alive in us. We held on to the image of that gigantic liberty, and somehow it helped us to survive.” Romain Gary

*A Sand County Almanac, by Aldo Leopold. (Oxford University Press, 1949)  A classic of nature writing, mixing essay, polemic, and memoir to elaborate a land ethic that is based on a balance of nature. One respondent remarked: I read Aldo Leopold’s A Sand County Almanac and the accompanying Round River at least once a year (I have a volume falling to bits). Another considered this to be one of the best books ever written.

Six Pointer Buck, by David Stephen. (Swan Hill Press, 1992) ‘An intimate and closely observed portrait of the life of a roebuck, written with all the insight of an experienced naturalist allied to the descriptive skills of a first-class country writer.’

Gazelle Boy, by Jean-Claude Armen. (The Bodley Head, 1974) An intriguing account of Armen’s quest for this boy in the Spanish Sahara where he found him living with a herd of gazelles. True or hoax – the jury is still out. (I think Jean-Claude Auger finally came clean, MM)

Wild Animals I have Known, by Ernest Thompson Seton. (Scribner, 1898) ‘If you want to learn the laws of nature and better understand animals and their ways, these accounts of a hunter-trapper will reward you with hours of enchanted stort-telling.’

Grey Owl: Three Complete and Unabridged Canadian Classics, by Grey Owl. (Firefly Books, 2001) A favourite that influenced me as a boy is most of Grey Owl’s adventures in Canada. I remember especially how he came to a stand of ancient trees and remarked how rare that is – even more so now!  His understanding of beaver is excellent and relevant today.

The Once and Future King, by T.H. White. (Collins, 1958) The description of geese is unforgettable. ‘White’s glorious and rich narrative paints a vivid picture of twelfth century adventure, chivalry, treachery, despair and ultimately, tragedy.’

Animal Farm, by George Orwell. (Secker and Warburg, 1945) ‘While this novel portrays corrupt leadership as the flaw in revolution (and not the act of revolution itself), it also shows how potential ignorance and indifference to problems within a revolution could allow horrors to happen.’

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Next postings will list Zoological and Children’s animal books. Let me know if you have an all-time favourite!

Favourite Animal Books: Part 1

As a child, I remember being enthralled by the stream-side world of BB’s Little Grey Men – how the gnomes fashioned fish hooks from bone, used snail shells for blackberry wine and could speak with the Kingfisher! A few years later, as a young teenager, I treasured my large volume of Lincoln Barnett’s The Wonders of Life on Earth which stimulated an early love affair with Darwinian evolution and its unparalleled explanatory power. When beginning my apprenticeship as a zoologist, I was absorbed by books written by field biologists such as Iain Douglas Hamilton, Jane Goodall, George Schaller and Valerius Geist, which opened a window onto the lives of our most charismatic creatures. These days I enjoy a wide range of animal books, including classics, biographies, field guides, textbooks and books by anthropologists that illuminate animals from the eye of other cultures, but still most of all I enjoy the field biologist, when he or she blends close animal observation, an understanding of evolution and ecology, human culture and history, to illuminate a species and ourselves from many varied angles.

Our relationship with nature is a real muddle of different bits and pieces – aesthetic and pragmatic, spiritual and commonplace, shocking and wonderful. Presumably books help us to interpret that link, and perhaps in some cases even to forge it. Out of curiosity I sent round an email to a group of friends and colleagues about their favourite animal books (FAB for short!). Many of them have some connection with wildlife through their work as field biologists, conservationists and scientists or are otherwise involved with animals. Age of respondents varied from 11 to 80+, some recalling books they enjoyed from as young as 4.

So as not to restrict choice, I requested that any kind of animal book be considered: “novels, children’s stories, field guides, texts, autobiographies – anything goes”. However I did restrict the number of favourite titles to a maximum of 3 per person. I’ve compiled a list of responses organised by four categories (or genres as they like to say in the book world): novels (N), true life (TL), zoology (Z) and children’s books (C). In some cases the distinction is difficult to make in which case I’ve just plumped for one, more or less arbitrarily. There are 57 favourite books so far; I am putting the list of 14 ‘true life’ books in this first post. The other lists will be published on the Wild Nature blog in parts 2, 3 & 4 over the next few days.

Books mentioned as favourites by two respondents are marked with an asterisk, and by three or more respondents with a double asterisk. Quotations from the books are within double inverted commas, a quote from the publisher or a review is within single inverted commas, and a comment from one of the respondents (or my own occasional remarks) is without any inverted commas.

True Life books

**My Family and Other Animals, by Gerald Durrell. (Rupert Hart-Davis, 1956) ‘An autobiographical account of five years in the childhood of naturalist Gerald Durrell, aged 10 at the start of the saga, of his family, pets and life during a sojourn on the island of Corfu.’

A Zoo in my Luggage, by Gerald Durrell. (Penguin, 1960) The story of Durrell’s 1957 animal collecting trip to British Cameroon.

*Ring of Bright Water, by Gavin Maxwell. (Longmans, 1960) ‘Maxwell’s descriptions of the Hebridean landscapes are very evocative and atmospheric, and the otters come alive as intelligent and hilarious creatures. This is also a book about a different lifestyle, Gavin Maxwell truly “dropped out” when he found the magical bay of Sandaig.’

**Cry of the Kalahari, by Mark and Delia Owens. (Houghton Mifflin,1984) One respondent admitted that Cry of the Kalahari was so inspirational to them so long ago, especially because it touted living and learning about animals by being with them, rather than a view from 30,000 feet above. Another respondent mentioned: its about the romance of adventure in wild Africa. A third respondent was moved by the book but frustrated by the naivety shown by the authors.

**Jock of the Bushveld, by Sir Percy Fitzpatrick. (Longmans, 1907) ‘Jock of the Bushveld was first published in 1907 when it became an instant best seller and a local classic. Since then it has never been out of print.’ One respondent recalls: it was read to me by my father and I have read it myself countless times.

Nature’s Child, by John Lister-Kaye. (Little Brown, 2004) ‘John Lister-Kaye’s meditation on fatherhood, and the delights of bestowing experiences on his daughter during those wonder-full years of childhood.’ Lister-Kaye’s travels with his daughter are brilliant.

Born Free: A Lioness of Two Worlds, by Joy Adamson. (Pantheon Books, 1960) ‘Joy Adamson’s remarkable true story of a lion cub in transition between captivity and the wild captures the abilities of both humans and animals to cross the seemingly unbridgeable gap between their radically different worlds.’ ‘Based in part on George Adamson’s notes.’

Horses and the Mystical Path: The Celtic Way of Expanding the Human Soul, by McCormick, McCormick and McCormick. (New World Library, 2004) ‘Strap yourself into a Celtic saddle for a stirring mystical ride into the horse-human relationship.’

Gorillas were My Neighbours, by Fred Merfield. (The Company Book Club, 1957) A story of the author’s life among the gorillas of West Africa. ‘Love this book and the dry way its author relates some quite hairy moments with cannibals, crocs, unpleasant hunters and the peoples he meets on his journeys.’

No More the Tusker, by George Rushby. (W. H. Allen, 1965) Rushby describes better than many contemporaries what it was like to live in the African bush.

Among the Elephants, by Iain and Oria Douglas-Hamilton. (Collins, 1975) Back in the early 1970s, only a few pioneers had based their studies on long-term observation of individual animals. It was new, exciting and risky. This book gives some great insights to elephant behaviour and also captures the lighter side of bush life in Lake Manyara National Park.

The Soul of the Rhino, by Hemanta Mishra. (The Lyons Press, 2008) A Nepali Adventure with Kings and Elephant Drivers, Billionaires and Bureaucrats, Shamans and Scientists and the Indian Rhinoceros. One respondent writes: a fascinating and, at times, humorous account by Nepal’s first government ecologist of efforts to ensure that this endangered species survived the onslaught of poaching and habitat destruction in Nepal, where the animal is symbolic of the nation’s natural and cultural heritage. Entering the body of the rhino is an awesome kingly rite that touches on soulful matters.

In the Shadow of Man, by Jane Goodall. (Collins, 1971) Jane Goodall’s groundbreaking classic book based on 10 years of field study which launched her career as the chimpanzee’s ambassador to the world of humans.

The Year of the Gorilla, by George Schaller. (University of Chicago Press, 1966) In 1959 Schaller travelled to Central Africa to study and live with the mountain gorillas of the Virunga Volcanoes in Zaire, Rwanda and Uganda. This is a wonderful account of pioneering field work ‘under difficult and sometimes dangerous circumstances by one of the great wildlife biologists’.

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The next post will list favourite animal books in the ‘novels’ category.

Book Trailers and Videos

Electronic books are set to rival our beloved, dog-eared shelf-mates. In 2009, Amazon sold about 2.4 million Kindles and in 2010 the figure jumped to 8 million plus. I decided I might as well embrace the change and begin thinking about an electronic version of my book The Storm Leopard. Most e-books reproduce the printed version as accurately as possible but some companies are experimenting with interactive or enhanced e-books.  These include video clips and audio files and may for instance provide the choice of the text or the author reading from the text, with seamless interchange between the two. A suitably romantic way to begin the embrace, I thought, would be to produce a book trailer, or book video as it is sometimes called. This is a short video that introduces a conventional book, which is usually posted on YouTube, Google Video, MySpaceTV, Revver, AuthorsDen and other online media networks. It is still quite new but like e-books, book trailers are taking off right now.

So I started off with a bit of research on book trailers – mainly looking at examples and reading some of the online articles. The general consensus is that the aim of the trailer is to give the viewer a hint and leave them intrigued. If it is too explicit about the characters and locations, then the trailer will interfere with the reader’s freedom to create their own mental images. This is a design issue unique to the book trailer genre. In books, words on the page create an image that exists in our imagination. The skill is supposedly to find the right balance between cinematic over-production, which can be too prescribed and melodramatic for a book, and an uninspired series of stills and straplines (pithy statements). The voiceover in which the author talks about the book or reads extracts is a way to connect the viewer to the story and that is what the trailer is about – storytelling.

Book trailers are still in their pioneering phase with quite a lot of diversity in length and content. Most range between 1-6 minutes in length. The usual advice given is to keep the book trailers short as otherwise you are likely to lose your audience, and it is has been noticed that two and half minutes is the maximum length allowed by cinemas for their trailers. However some 5-minute book trailers, such as Patrick Watson’s This Hour Has Seven Decades are so good, I would happily watch them for longer. (Trailer links are given below.)

So far I’ve distinguished five styles. I’ve labelled the two dominant ones as ‘documentary’ and ‘cinematic’ and three less common ones as ‘story’, ‘animated’ and ‘artistic’. Some trailers share elements from more than one style.

(a)    Documentary – where the author parks themself in front of a picturesque (or not-so-picturesque) scene and talks about the book they’ve written and why you should read it, sometimes interspersed with graphics (e.g. Patrick French’s India).

(b)   Cinematic – movie style which shows the story happening in pictures or video-clips with either text or a voice-over of a short, intriguing synopsis. (e.g. the short trailers by Circle of Seven Productions).

(c)    Story – film that encapsulates a simple story (e.g. Allergic Girl by Sloane Miller).

(d)    Animated – usually in the form of an animated story (e.g. Northern Lights by Michael Kusugak)

(e)    Artistic – portrays the essence of the book artistically. Paulo Coelho’s trailer of Amor is the perfect example and in a league of its own really but then a book on love lends itself perfectly to this style.

Two popular techniques amongst producers of book trailers are the use of cliff-hangers which leaves the viewer suspended and wanting more of the action, and the creation of some feeling or emotion to draw the viewer in. Many examples of the former can be found in the trailers made by Circle of Seven Productions. An example of the latter is Jami Attenberg’s The Kept Man.

Here are a few more examples to illustrate the different styles:

Documentary
This Hour Has Seven Decades (Patrick Watson)
Highly amusing trailer about the serious subject of story-telling.
India (Patrick French)

Cinematic
Five Seconds (Javier González)
Circle of Seven Productions: this company is winning the most Davey awards for book videos (as judged by the International Academy of Visual Arts). Most last about 1 minute and promote fantasies or thrillers.

Story
Allergic Girl (Sloane Miller)
The Kept Man (Jami Attenberg)

Animated
Northern Lights: The Soccer Trails (author Michael Kusugak and illustrator Vladyana Krykorka)
The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid (Bill Bryson)
Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned (Wells Tower)

Artistic
Amor (Paulo Coelho)
Lowboy (John Wray)

The best style probably depends on the type of book. Thrillers and fantasy lend themselves to the cinematic style; biography and travel lend themselves to the documentary style; books with a strong central theme may lend themselves to the artistic style. I hope to post details of a trailer for The Storm Leopard soon.

Tropical Rain Forests – Wonders of the World or Service Providers?

Most people if asked might admit that they like, perhaps even love, wildlife and wild creatures; some may believe in the right of every other organism to just ‘be’ and value life (any life) for just that reason. A friend of mine, who harbours such feelings, confided that they felt pretty much part of a huge minority. Maybe less than 1% of people, they thought, might share similar sentiments. “I’m not morose that humans are selfish,” they said, “just pragmatic about how things are. Over the years I’ve ended up with utilitarian ‘labels’ on species so that they can pay their way within the human framework.”

Tropical lowland rain forest in Pasoh Forest Reserve, Peninsular Malaysia

Many would agree, and I too see the attraction of utilitarian arguments. I know they could make a difference if there is a decision to be made on whether to cut down trees or drain a wetland, but even so I distrust them. Partly it’s because I believe that, in time, they will be challenged and found wanting. Take the current trend in the conservation world – ‘ecosystem services’. Rain forests on hilly terrain provide a great ecosystem service for people living on the plains below: they prevent soil erosion during heavy downpours, hold water like a sponge so that it is available in the dry season, and release filtered water that is ready for household use. All this makes for an impressive argument, but terraced rice paddies also prevent erosion on steep hillsides and perhaps they also hold water like a sponge, or could be made to do so by planting some shade crops in between the terraces. Build a reed bed system at the bottom for filtration and you have the complete set of ecosystem services plus a valuable rice crop.

Low’s Pitcher Plant (Nepenthes lowii) on Mount Kinabalu, Borneo – Faery King’s goblet, carnivorous plant or tree shrew’s commode?

I once asked John Corner, an inspirational professor of botany at Cambridge at the time (now sadly departed after a long and creative life) why we should conserve rain forests. He replied, “If man was not so ignorant, tropical rain forests would be the wonder of the world”. That pretty much sums it up for me. But I would add one thing more. I really think individuals can make a difference simply by expressing their wonder and heartfelt feeling for the wild, and by standing up for the rights of other species. I believe we can lift Corner’s veil of ignorance and open hearts to nature, and that people will thank us when we do.

For those interested, here is a link to a paper I wrote in the 1980s after living in Malaysia for 2 years and visiting rain forests at every opportunity. It is about the reasons people give for conserving tropical rain forests. The last 2 or 3 paragraphs might be worth a look: http://www.mgmsolutions.com/publications/Murray_Rain_Forest_Values_Biol_Cons_1990.pdf

The Rabbit Catcher

Rarely a poem may provide a glimpse of nature as intimate as nature herself, perhaps more often it reveals something of our own complex human nature. Ted Hughes and Sylvia Plath lived on Dartmoor in the mid-sixties, and this extract of his poem ‘The Rabbit Catcher’ illustrates how strongly opinions differ. (Thanks to A.L.)

We found
An eyrie hollow, just under the cliff-top.
It seemed perfect to me. Feeding babies,
Your Germanic scowl, edged like a helmet,
Would not translate itself. I sat baffled.
I was a fly outside on the window-pane
Of my own domestic drama. You refused to lie there
Being indolent, you hated it.
That flat, draughty plate was not an ocean.
You had to be away and you went. And I
Trailed after like a dog, along the cliff-top field-edge,
Over a wind-matted oak-wood –
And I found a snare.
Copper-wire gleam, brown cord, human contrivance,
Sitting new-set. Without a word
You tore it up and threw it into the trees.

I was aghast. Faithful
To my country gods – I saw
The sanctity of a trapline desecrated.
You saw blunt fingers, blood in the cuticles,
Clamped round a blue mug. I saw
Country poverty raising a penny,
Filling a Sunday stewpot. You saw baby-eyed
Strangled innocents, I saw sacred
Ancient custom. You saw snare after snare
And went ahead, riving them from their roots
And flinging them down the wood. I saw you
Ripping up precarious, precious saplings
Of my heritage, hard-won concessions
From the hangings and transportations
To live off the land. You cried:’Murderers!’
You were weeping with rage
That cared nothing for rabbits. You were locked
Into some chamber gasping for oxygen
Where I could not find you, or really hear you,
Let alone understand you.