All Creatures Great and Small

by James Herriot

Review posted April 5, 2009.
St. Martin's Paperbacks, 1998. First published in 1972. 437 pages.
Starred Review

I doubt I need to say much about this classic story of James Herriot's tales of starting out as a young veterinarian in the Yorkshire Dales. I'm quite sure I first read it sometime when I was in elementary school. They're wholesome stories, and I enjoyed them as much then as I did delighting over them as an adult.

I thought I'd reread All Creatures Great and Small to give myself some good laughs in between other books. Since the book is mostly episodic -- with mainly separate, funny stories -- it works well to read it in bits and pieces.

There are overarching threads, like the memorable characters of his employer Siegfried and his brother Tristan. But mainly the book tells delightful, funny, and heartwarming tales of his work with animals and the farmers of the Dales.

This book is definitely the sort worth coming back to every few years to enjoy all over again.