I'm pretty sure my 'Critter' reading started with the Mother West Wind stories by Thornton Burgess. I loved Grandfather Frog and his 'chug-a-rum'. These stories explained why the skunk has a striped tail and so on. They are also wonderful when read aloud. Titles include Mother West Wind Why Stories and Mother West Wind How Stories.

For some of my critter books all that is left are fond memories: Won Kim's Ox by Philip Eisenberg, Rascal, by Sterling North and The Little Cow and Turtle, by Meindart Dejong.

Like so many other readers, I loved the James Herriot (the pen name for James Wright) books and have reread them several times. Starting with All Creatures Great and Small the series is about a veterinarian in Yorkshire and the animals in his care. Touching and heartwarming, the animals and their owners become like family and you will laugh and cry at their escapades.

James Herriot's Yorkshire is an armchair walking tour of the area where Herriot practiced. The photographs are by Derry Brabbs and the commentary by Herriot.

The brief text from the picture book, Noah's Ark, is translated from a poem by Jacobus Revius and illustrated by Peter Spier. Spier does wonderfully detailed drawings. Check in the corners of the ark for the spiders, look for the laundry on the line on the roof, see Noah mucking out the stalls!

My most recent critter read was actually called Critters! It came from a recommendation from Char. Critters: Adventures in Wildest Suburbia by A.B.C. Whipple and illustrated by John T. Burgoyne is a humorous and educational romp through the wildlife that has adapted to life in the 'burbs.' Read about the raccoon who enjoys Beethoven (especially the 9th Symphony) and learn how squirrels helped us when the war for Independence.

Reading Hermit With Dog