Books - Literature
The chronicles of Narnia: The horse and his boy.
by C.S. Lewis Fiction F LEW |
Shasta is a young boy living in Calormene with a cruel man who claims to be his father. One night he overhears his "father" offering to sell him as a slave, so Shasta makes a break and sets out for Narnia.
He meets Bree, a talking horse who becomes his companion. On their way they encounter Aravis, a high-born girl escaping an arranged marriage, and on own her talking horse. |
Red Dog
by Louis de Bernieres; illustrated by Alan Baker English store 1 7-8 F DE |
While passing through a town in the Australian outback, novelist Louis de Bernières discovered a statue of a dog. Intrigued, he made inquiries, and was swamped by locals with tales of the wildly charismatic, Tally Ho.
De Bernières has fashioned a charming tale of Tally's misadventures, not least of which involve the animal's enormous appetite. |
The Wind in the Willows
by Kenneth Grahame Fiction F GRA |
The Wind in the Willows tells the story of Mole, Water Rat, Badger, and Toad, and takes place on a peaceful riverbank surrounded by meadows. Mole is from a neighbouring meadow, but one spring day he ventures away from home and finds the magical life of the river.
Mole becomes friends with Water Rat, a polite and civilised creature who invites Mole to live with him while he teaches Mole the secrets of river life. |
The legend of Luke: a tale of Redwall
by Brian Jacques; illustrated by Fangorn Fiction F JAC. |
A chance meeting with a hedgehog maid who is visiting Redwall Abbey reveals to Martin, the Warrior, a glimpse of the early life and family he can scarcely remember.
He sets forth from the Abbey to seek the truth about the father he barely knew. |
Ape house
by Sara Gruen Fiction F GRU |
Sam, Bonzi, Lola, Mbongo, Jelani, and Makena are no ordinary apes.
These bonobos, like others of their species, are capable of reason and carrying on deep relationships—but unlike most bonobos, they also know American Sign Language. |
Caesar, the war dog
by Stephen Dando-Collins Fiction F DAN |
At the kennel Caesar, the chocolate Labrador, doesn't look special, but Corporal Ben Fulton sees something different and recognised the potential of an intelligent dog whose curiosity will make him an excellent sniffer dog in the Australian Army.
On operations in Afghanistan Caesar becomes separated from his master, who is wounded and evacuated to hospital. |
Flyaway
by Lucy Christopher Fiction F CHR |
One cold, winter morning, dad gets sick and goes into hospital.
It's there that I meet Harry, with his scruffy hair and firefly eyes. From his window, we watch a wild swan on the frozen lake outside. There's something different about her, almost magical. Perhaps, if we can help her, everything else will begin to make sense. |
Books: NON-fiction
gerald durrell
Gerald Durrell was a famous modern naturalist, environmentalist and writer.
He became well-known for establishing a zoo on Jersey Island in order to promote the protection of endangered species. To populate his zoo, he travelled all over the world finding rare and wonderful animals. Even though his writing is about a very serious subject, his books are delightful to read for their empathy and humour. We have quite a number available in our AGHS library. If you like factual books and have a love of nature and the environment, Gerald Durrell is definitely for you. If you haven't read him, or know nothing about him, have a look at this youtube video. |
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A zoo in my luggage
Subjects: Animals - West Africa Non-Fiction 591.966 DUR A Zoo in My Luggage begins with an account of Durrell’s third trip to the British Cameroons in West Africa, during which he and his wife capture animals to start their own zoo.
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Returning to England with a few additions to their family—Cholmondeley the chimpanzee, Bug-eye the bush baby, and others—they have nowhere to put them as they haven’t yet secured a place for their zoo.
Durrell’s account of how he manages his menagerie in all sorts of places throughout England while finding a permanent home for the animals provides as much adventure as capturing them. |
The whispering land
Non-Fiction 591.98 DUR Gerald Durrell and his wife are the proud owners of a small zoo on the island of Jersey. But there's one thing that's better than a small zoo - a bigger one! So Durrell heads off to South America to collect more animals.
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Along windswept Patagonian shores and in Argentine tropical forests, Durrell encounters a range of animals from penguins to elephant seals.
As always, he is drawn to those rare and interesting creatures which he hopes will thrive and breed in captivity . . . Told with enthusiasm and without sentimentality, Gerald Durrell's The Whispering Land is an often hilarious but always inspiring foray into the South American wilds. |
Menagerie Manor
Subject: Zoos Non-Fiction 590.74 DUR Most children at the tender age of six or so are generally full of the most impractical schemes for becoming policemen, firemen or engine drivers when they grow up...
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I knew exactly what I was going to do: I was going to have my own zoo.
"Menagerie Manor" is the hugely entertaining account of how the well-known and much-loved conservationist and author, Gerald Durrell, fulfilled a lifelong ambition by founding his very own private zoo in Jersey. With the help of an enduring wife, a selfless staff and a reluctant bank manager, the zoo grows. |
The stationary ark
Subject: Jersey Zoo / Zoos Non-Fiction 590.74 DUR |
‘What we tried to do in Jersey is create a new sort of zoo. I think we have succeeded.’
Gerald Durrell was a zoo maniac from the age of two when he starting collecting everything alive, from minnows to woodlice. In this book he writes about setting up the Wildlife Preservation Trust in Jersey - a a place of entertainment, research and eduction. |