Birds, Beasts, and Relatives
by Gerald Durrell | 
Beasts in My Belfry
by Gerald Durrell | 
The New Noah
by Gerald Durrell | 
Catch Me a Colobus
by Gerald Durrell | 
A Zoo in My Luggage
by Gerald Durrell | 
Menagerie Manor
by Gerald Durrell | 
Vet in Harness
by James Herriot | 
The Garden of the Gods
by Gerald Durrell | 
Three Singles to Adventure
by Gerald Durrell | 
My Family and Other Animals
by Gerald Durrell | 
The Overloaded Ark
by Gerald Durrell | 
Vets Might Fly
by James Herriot | 
Let Sleeping Vets Lie
by James Herriot | 
Encounters with Animals
by Gerald Durrell | 
If Only They Could Talk
by James Herriot | 
The Picnic and Suchlike Pandemonium
by Gerald Durrell | 
The Stationary Ark
by Gerald Durrell | 
Golden Bats and Pink Pigeons
by Gerald Durrell | 
The Bafut Beagles
by Gerald Durrell |
The Aye-Aye and I
by Gerald Durrell |
Durrell's hilarious and warm My Family and Other Animals (1957) began a trio of reminiscences of his life growing up with a slightly dotty family--the overbearing and omniscient Larry; the affectionate and loving siblings, Margot and Leslie; and, of course, the overburdened and patient Mother--on the island of Corfu in the 1930s, when a pound could buy a villa and life was conducted as a series of riotously high (and sometimes low) adventures. But what shines through these five vignettes is the author's engagement with and immense affection for animals in all their forms. From fish to fowl, from lizards to little water fleas (daphnia), Durrell's eye is acute and his prose is tart. You can read this book for the humor alone (for he did perceive his family as some rare and rarefied species), but between the lines you can discern the makings of a world-class naturalist and a cultivated and engaging writer.