James Herriot’s Treasury for Children

by James Herriot
260 pages / 1992 & 2104
Rating: Good/Great/GIFT

James Herriot is best known for a series of semi-autobiographical books he wrote about his veterinary practice in the Northern England country of Yorkshire during the 1930s through the 1950s. Sadly, the books included frequent abuses of God’s name. Fortunately, his eight children’s stories, collected in this treasury, don’t share that problem. All are beautifully illustrated with full-page pictures. While there are some quirky human characters, the animals are the stars, as is evidenced by the story titles:

• Moses the Kitten
• Only One Woof
• The Christmas Day Kitten
• Bonny’s Big Day
• Blossom comes Home
• The Market Square Dog
• Oscar, Cat-About-Town
• Smudge, the Little Lost Lamb

A couple of cautions: at one point in Moses the Kitten Herriot says, “What the devil…?”, and in The Christmas Day Kitten, the momma cat dies soon after giving birth, which might be a bit traumatic for the very young. Oh, and if you are a tough macho dad who has never shed a tear in front of your kids, well, they’ll see another side of you when you come to very beautiful ending of Bonny’s Big Day.

I’d recommend these for three (so long as they can sit still!) all the way up – I can’t image anyone not enjoying them.