Are you a James Herriot fan? Do you watch All Creatures Great and Small reruns?

If you haven't yet discovered the wonderful autobiographical stories of the young veterinarian's adventures with the animals and farmers of the Yorkshire dales in England, don't waste another minute. Start with All Creatures Great and Small, then move on to All Things Bright and Beautiful, All Things Wise and Wonderful, The Lord God Made Them All and Every Living Thing. Written in a friendly, evocative style, and filled with unforgettable anecdotes and stories about animals and people, these five books more-or-less follow Herriot's life from a single young man starting work in a strange world to a family man who is very much part of his surroundings.

If you prefer a more eclectic approach, many of his stories have been collected into anthologies. The Best of James Herriot: The Favorite Stories of One of the Most Beloved Writers of Our Time combines selected stories with illustrations and photographs to give a taste of James Herriot, and James Herriot's Yorkshire Revisited combines excerpts from Herriot's books with photographs. For dog lovers there's James Herriot's Dog Stories and for the cat set, James Herriot's Cat Stories.

Several of Herriot's stories have been made into children's books illustrated by Ruth Brown or Peter Barrett. They haven't been written down, just presented differently. Herriot's warmth, the animal's characters, and the lessons in human nature make them a good choice to read with children, and you'll enjoy them too. Moses the Kitten, Only One Woof, The Christmas Day Kitten, Bonny's Big Day, Blossom Comes Home, Oscar, Cat-About-Town, and Smudge, the Little Lost Lamb belong in every young animal lover's library. They are available separately or collected into one anthology: James Herriot's Treasury for Children

If you already love the books, you may want to deepen your appreciation with some background reading.

James Herriot's Yorkshire is a beautiful photographic journey into the locations where the Herriot stories took place. Written by Herriot in the same friendly style as his other books and generously illustrated with photographs by Derry Brabbs, it will transport you to the dales he loved so much.

Finally, to learn the truth behind the fiction, read the biography of Alfred Wight, the real-life James Herriot, written by his son Jim: The Real James Herriot: A Memoir of My Father. Jim does not write nearly as well as his famous father and I found the book rather dry, but then I'm not a great reader of biographies. It's interesting, though, to learn the facts from which the stories were drawn. If you're a fan of both James Herriot and biographies, you'll want to read this one.

Many of Herriot's stories are available on audiotape, and you can buy videotapes of the television series.

Click here for more information about his books.