BEASTS AND BABIES

by David Creaton ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 11, 1978

A welcome return to Maywood, Creaton's 65-acre Kentish farm, where two youngsters now feed into the former bachelor's ready supply of refreshing, cultivated vignettes. But his wife is not Jean, the snappy rat-catcher who brightened up The Beasts of My Fields (1977); after a short engagement the two quarreled and broke it off. A bit later Olive came along, and it is her appealing personality that enlivens this genial sequel. Mum appears now and again, and that redoubtable duo, Bert and Pete, still handle the chores and add the choice remark, but the more recent arrivals--children, calves, pigs, iambs--are venerable scene-stealers, by themselves and in the inevitable tangles of small bodies. As before, the warmth of the barn or a new litter of pigs or son Donald at his first calving offers time for keen reflection, and in the single solemn episode, Creaton varies his manner appropriately and then moves smoothly on. Balmy.

Pub Date: Sept. 11, 1978

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: St. Martin's

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1978

Categories: NONFICTION