The beloved naturist and author of My Family and Other Animals shares the pleasures and pitfalls of opening a zoo on the English Channel Island of Jersey. Spurred by his passion for animals and a lifelong dream, in the spring of 1959 Gerald Durrell opened the Jersey Zoo—now known as the Durrell Wildlife Park—on the grounds of an old manor house. The menagerie provided a safe habitat for rare and endangered species and exposed its human visitors to the wonders of nature. Dealing with escapee animals and overdrawn bank accounts, Durrell soon discovered that owning and operating a fledgling zoo was no easy task. But despite the setbacks, these charming, often hilarious stories make clear that, for Durrell, ensuring the park’s success and helping the creatures he loved so dearly was worth any obstacle. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Gerald Durrell including rare photos from the author’s estate.

The British naturalist and bestselling author of the Corfu Trilogy—the inspiration for the Masterpiece production The Durrells in Corfu—founds a zoo. In this trio of delightful memoirs, British wildlife preservation pioneer and national bestselling author Gerald Durrell recounts the ups and downs he faces in transforming his lifelong dream of creating a new kind of zoo into a reality. A Zoo in My Luggage: In 1957, Durrell and his wife travel to the British Cameroons in West Africa to begin assembling his menagerie. The greater challenge proves to be in safely transporting their exotic animals back to Britain and finding a home for them. “Animals come close to being Durrell’s best friends. . . . He writes about them with style, verve, and humor.” —Time The Whispering Land: On an eight-month journey in South America to expand his menagerie, Durrell and his wife travel across windswept Patagonian shores and through tropical forests in the Argentine, encountering fur seals, ocelots, penguins, parrots, pumas, and more. “An amusing writer who transforms this Argentine backcountry into a particularly inviting place.” —San Francisco Chronicle Menagerie Manor: In 1959, on the grounds of an old manor house on the Channel Island of Jersey, Durrell finally opens the Jersey Zoo—now known as the Durrell Wildlife Park. Along with the satisfaction of providing a safe habitat for rare and endangered species come the trials of operating a fledgling zoo, including overdrawn bank accounts and escaped animals. “No one can be funnier than Mr. Durrell in relating his own adventures or the antics of the claw and paw set.” —The Christian Science Monitor

National Bestseller: The complete trilogy that inspired Masterpiece production The Durrells in Corfu in one volume. The tales of a naturalist and his family, who left England for the Greek island of Corfu—where they interacted with fascinating locals of both human and animal varieties—these memoirs have become beloved bestsellers and inspired the delightful series that aired on PBS television. Included in this three-book collection are: My Family and Other Animals: Ten-year-old Gerald Durrell arrives on sun-drenched Corfu with this family and pursues his interest in natural history, making friends with the island’s fauna—from toads and tortoises to scorpions and geckos—while reveling in the joyous chaos of growing up in an unconventional household. Birds, Beasts and Relatives: Written after a boyhood spent studying zoology, this memoir is part nature guide, part coming-of-age tale, and all charmingly funny memoir. The Garden of the Gods: In the conclusion of the trilogy, Durrell shares more tales of wild animals and his even wilder family, including his mother, Louisa, and his siblings Lawrence, Leslie, and Margo, in the years before World War II. “[Durrell’s] books have an unfailing charm. . . . It is a tribute to his skill that one never tires of his accounts” (Chicago Tribune). This ebook features an illustrated biography of Gerald Durrell including rare photos from the author’s estate.

“First-rate entertainment”: The author of the Corfu Trilogy recounts his expedition to Madagascar and search for the elusive, endangered aye-aye (Publishers Weekly). In 1990, Gerald Durrell; his wife, Lee; and a television crew embarked on a rescue mission to one of the most interesting places in the world: the island of Madagascar. It was there that they hoped to record and capture the endangered aye-aye, the world’s largest nocturnal primate. Recognizable by its big eyes and long fingers, the strange, rare aye-aye was an animal of incredible fascination for Durrell, one he felt compelled to conserve as its habitat was taken away by deforestation. In this passionate memoir, Durrell’s funny, vibrant voice shines as he describes the magical landscape of Madagascar, the exotic animals that inhabit it, and the challenges of his expedition to preserve an important part of our ever-changing world. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Gerald Durrell including rare photos from the author’s estate.

A comprehensive guide to fiction in English for readers aged four to sixteen, The Puffin Good Reading Guide for Children is divided into three sections to suit every age group. It has entries listing over 1000 books, and is divided into categories with cross-references so that children can read more in genres they like. It includes both classics and the best of contemporary works and books from all over the world. With an introduction by Ruskin Bond, India's best-known children's writer in English, The Puffin Good Reading Guide is an invaluable resource for children who love books, as well as for parents and friends looking for the right book for the young people in their lives.

This national bestseller exploring the complex emotional lives of animals was hailed as "a masterpiece" by Elizabeth Marshall Thomas and as "marvelous" by Jane Goodall. The popularity of When Elephants Weep has swept the nation, as author Jeffrey Masson appeared on Dateline NBC, Good Morning America, and was profiled in People for his ground-breaking and fascinating study. Not since Darwin's The Expression of Emotions in Man and Animals has a book so thoroughly and effectively explored the full range of emotions that exist throughout the animal kingdom. From dancing squirrels to bashful gorillas to spiteful killer whales, Masson and coauthor Susan McCarthy bring forth fascinating anecdotes and illuminating insights that offer powerful proof of the existence of animal emotion. Chapters on love, joy, anger, fear, shame, compassion, and loneliness are framed by a provocative re-evaluation of how we treat animals, from hunting and eating them to scientific experimentation. Forming a complete and compelling picture of the inner lives of animals, When Elephants Weep assures that we will never look at animals in the same way again.