My wife just came with a box from her "closet of lost items". It contained copies of the first three books in the series to replace the ones that I have pretty much worn out reading and rereading them over the years. She can't remember whether they were for my birthday or Christmas, nor can she remember which year, but they are appreciated all the same. If you have never read them, I highly recommend them.

What are they about?

country vet in England around WWII - well-written and very funny

Some of my favorites,they are very well done.make you feel like your really there.

I wish I could find my copies. They are buried somewhere. Great reads and his humor is fantastic. I remember the farting dog and the owner whose sense of smell was kaput. A match made in heaven.

As others have said, very well written, never get tired of them.

Mine aren't quite worn out but they're getting ragged. My favorite books.

Wore out a set when kids were growing up, got a paperback set for my dad, then another for myself. Grandkids will go through those, it appears.

The ones that I read were funny and also informative, with lots of info on old tools. miles

As was said, they were written by a country vet in Yorkshire England about his life as a vet. They start in the '30's, go through WWII, and through his later life. Herriot (pen name) is a great writer and injects a lot of humor in his works. Start with All Creatures Great and Small as that one covers how he became a vet and sets the stage for the rest. After that, keeping them in order isn't as important.

I always like the Mrs Pumphrey stories. Those are great, especially Nugent, her pet pig.

I reread them this winter. What a joy!

Don't recall which Christmas begat the first book in the series, but perhaps 40-50 years is excusable for that lapse. Nothing has been overstated about them.

Loved them when I was a boy

Wifey picked up her copies in a quaint little book store in Glasgow over 20 years ago. What great books. I need to find them!

Some of my favorites too. I've lost count of how many times I've read mine.

G23

When they first came out most all the readers thought they were fiction.
Silly and crazy stuff like that didn't really happen.

Of course all the vets that read them believed every word. Weird stuff happened to them.

They are non fiction books. Lol

Tristan would have been a great one to be around.

Been reading them and rereading them over many years also. First book was a loaner then it became a gift as I read it several times and then it took forever to return it to the original owner, who by then just laughed and gifted me with it

They are well worth many, many, reads.

Brings back memories.I have read them all. There was a follow on TV show with the same characters

While I cannot possibly pick a favorite chapter, the Raines Abbey Ghost is hard to beat.

When I mentioned Tristan a couple posts ago, that's the main one I was thinking about. I can just see him high tailing it with a monk's robe flying around his knees and a big cop with a bigger club close behind him.

A great read and look forward to revisiting his books. Recently talked with a friend about "All Creatures Great and Small" we both agreed its a great read.

Also highly recommend them.

Need to get my granddaughters on them

The "All Creatures" books?

Never read them, but PBS did a bangup job for their series based on them.
https://www.amazon.com/All-Creatures-Great-Small-Collection/dp/B000062XDW

Those books are awesome. One thing I love about them is that there is humor in them for all ages of readers, but the things for the adults are just a little more subtle, they are not raunchy or trashy. They can still be read by the kids/teens.

The British TV series that aired on PBS was very well done and was faithful to the stories in the books. It is available on DVD. We have the boxed set, we pull it out every few years.

This Wikipedia article reveals a little of who Herriot really was. His real name was James 'Alf' Wight. HERRIOT

Siegfried's real name was Donald Sinclair. The books never mention it, but he was married before. His wife died very young from brucellosis from cows milk. It's a very serious disease that comes up a number of times in the books. It's the same disease that causes concerns with the cattlemen in MT and the buffalo moving out of Yellowstone.

The episode where they were taking a semen sample from a dairy bull made me laugh until tears ran down my cheeks.

"You grabbed his old man?"

Great books and the TV show was one of the best cast shows I have ever seen, they really got the right people for the right characters. Except for the 2nd woman to play Jame's wife Helen,, She always struck me as a cold hearted beech,, The first one was great and really fit the character ... I steer alot of my better readers in 4th and 5th grade to those books.

Yes... Excellent books to read..

a decent read, but very little exciting stuff. Gives you a real look into rural England from the past.

Superb books. I've enjoyed them all!

If you're in a tight stall with an Ayrshire bull, you'll have all the excitement you can stand. In those days, and today, too, small farms didn't have the equipment to restrain dangerous animals. Vets got hurt on a regular basis.

I think visiting his home and surgery was the main reason for my parents visiting England.

Still just as it was. A big tourist draw. Very real. Not a Disneyland deal.

"All creatures great and small"

BBC tv series from years gone by...I thoroughly enjoyed it.

IIRC, the part that made it dicey was when the farmer filled the collection sheath with boiling water, unbeknownst to the vet.

While reading through the first book last night (yet again), I got to the chapter about the old pensioner's dog, and I was reminded that it would be a good idea to point out to potential readers that while you will spend a great deal of time in laughter, you will also (if you are a weak, old fool like me) spend some time in tears.