All Creatures Great and Small

Sometimes I just want to read a sure bet, something good and wholesome. It has been a while since I've read some of James Herriot and decided to read the first of his series on veterinary practice in England in the 1930's. It was a best seller when it first came on the scene in America in the 70's, and for some reason or other I never got around to reading it until I became a librarian and I read it to my patrons at the nursing home. It's a perfect read aloud for that audience, short chapters with little connecting them so that if a patron would miss a week or so, he'd be able to pick up the story just fine. Also I live near the farms in Ohio and I think the elderly could relate to the stories, although I think James Herriot's stories can appeal to most. Just the other day my hairdresser said she read them in her youth while watching the television series with her mother. I tried to get my daughter to read the first in the 80's or early 90's but I can't remember if she made it through the book. I see that there is talk of another filming of the James Herriot stories, but I think they couldn't improve on the BBC series with Christopher Timothy and Robert Hardy.