The Natural World in Daily Life: All Creatures Great and Small

All Creatures Great and Small

by James Herriot

This book is one of the suggested "nature reading" books for Mater Amabilis™ ™Level 4. These books are not for narration. I think a reading journal entry would be appropriate, but I didn't assign anything like that to First Son. Instead, he just read these books and appreciated them. All Creatures Great and Small is the book assigned for the third term.

[I] hadn't dreamed there was a place like the Dales. I hadn't thought it possible that I could spend all my days in a high, clean-blown land where the scent of grass or trees was never far away; and where even in the driving rain of winter I could snuff the air and find the freshness of growing things hidden somewhere in the cold clasp of the wind.

Herriot is the pen name of a real British veterinarian of who shaped his memories of 1930s rural Yorkshire into this and subsequent fictionalized collections almost like interwoven short stories. They are not novels in the strictest definitions but neither are they memoirs.

The children and I have read James Herriot's Treasury for Children, which is a masterpiece and a beautifully illustrated book. We've also listened to the audio version as well as James Herriot's Favorite Dog Stories which all the children enjoyed. This is the first time I've read one of his complete books. There are enough references to drinking, smoking, women and dating, and rougher language, that I wouldn't recommend this particular book for young children, but it's not inappropriate for a Level 4 student (eighth grade for us).

This book is a wonderful choice for nature reading because it demonstrates an appreciation for the natural world as an integral part of a young man's life as he lives his vocation as a vet. The natural world becomes a salve to comfort him when his job is uncomfortable and to lift his spirits when he struggles.

Through May and early June my world became softer and warmer. The cold wind dropped and the air, fresh as the sea, carried a faint breath of the thousands of wild flowers which speckled the pastures. At times it seemed unfair that I should be paid for my work; for driving out in the early morning with the fields glittering under the first pale sunshine and the wisps of mist still hanging on the high tops.

One day, Herriot underestimated how long his appointments would take and, after a series of frustrating farm visits, found himself eating his lunch while driving through the countryside.

But I had gone only a short way when reason asserted itself. This was no good. It was an excellent pie and I might as well enjoy it. I pulled off the unfenced road on to the grass, switched off the engine and opened the windows wide. The farm back there was like an island of activity in the quiet landscape and now that I was away from the noise and the stuffiness of the buildings the silence and the emptiness enveloped me like a soothing blanket. I leaned my head against the back of the seat and looked out at the checkered greens of the little fields along the flanks of the hills; thrusting upwards between their walls till they gave way to the jutting rocks and the harsh brown of the heather which flooded the wild country above.

I felt better when I drove away and didn't particularly mind when the farmer at the first inspection greeted me with a scowl.

There are plenty of disgusting descriptions which will particularly appeal to young men. Once, Herriot watched his boss, Siegfried, operate on a cow:

[T]hrough the incision shot a high-pressure jet of semi-liquid stomach contents--a greenish-brown, foul-smelling cascade which erupted from the depths of the cow as from an invisible pump.

The contents shot right onto Siegfried's face and then continued to pour forth.

Siegfried, still hanging grimly on, was the centre of it all, paddling about in a reeking swamp which came half way up his Wellington boots.

The operation was a success! But the drive home was nearly unbearable, even with their heads sticking out of the windows.

Encountering farmers of all types and kinds in the surrounding area, Herriot is able to tell stories of people of all backgrounds and dispositions. There are examples of heroic sacrifice for their animals, steady unrelenting hard work, and fears and victories. One elderly woman, devoted to her animals, confesses her sorrow her pets will not join her in heaven. Herriot disagrees and comforts her:

"If having a soul means being able to feel love and loyalty and gratitude, then animals are better off than a lot of humans. You've nothing to worry about there."

Animals do not have souls, but there are good reasons to believe they will be with us in heaven. If we need our pets to be happy in eternal life, they will certainly be with us. At the resurrection, the whole world will be remade, including animals. There are opportunities for contemplating what kind of life will lead to happiness. One story compares the petty disdaining daughter of a rich man with a sweet loving daughter of a poor man.

But I kept coming back to the daughters; to the contempt in Julia Tavener's eyes when she looked at her father and the shining tenderness in Jennie Alton's.

The ending is perfectly lovely. Herriot marries a young woman in the midst of a busy season in the practice and they decide to spend their honeymoon on the job.

I looked over at Helen as she sat cross-legged on the rough stones, her notebook on her knee, pencil at the ready, and as she pushed back the shining dark hair from her forehead she caught my eye and smiled; and as I smiled back at her I became aware suddenly of the vast, swelling glory of the Dales around us, and of the Dales scent of clover and warm grass, more intoxicating than any wine. And it seemed that my first two years at Darrowby had been leading up to this moment; that the first big step of my life was being completed right here with Helen smiling at me and the memory, fresh in my mind, of my new plate hanging in front of Skeldale House. 

I don't imagine First Son will read this book and think, I want to be a country vet! But I hope this book helps shape the hopes and dreams and thoughts of how his vocation might unfold and how the natural world might become a part of his life in a way many people neglect.

I purchased this book used. All opinions are my own. Links to Amazon are affiliate links.