Author’s Large Talent for Small Creatures

The Christmas Day Kitten by James Herriot; illustrations by Ruth Brown (St. Martin’s: $9.95)

James Herriot, the English veterinarian who makes house (or barn) calls and writes warm-hearted novels about man and beast, has written another children’s book, this one a children’s Christmas book.

Mrs. Pickering has three basset hounds who like nothing better than slumbering before the fire. She also entertains a shy, dainty little cat named Debbie whose acquaintance Herriot makes while calling on the bassets. Debbie visits Mrs. Pickering once a day, just long enough to warm her tiny paws at fireside. The bassets never even wake up.

Then, Christmas Day, the phone rings at Herriot’s. Come quick. The bassets? No, they’re fine, but Debbie--something is terribly wrong.

Herriot drives over through the snowy, empty streets, past Christmas trees twinkling in the windows, and finds Debbie near death, but with her a solitary newborn kitten.

Spunky Little Guy

Mrs. Pickering adopts the kitten, a spunky little guy who wakes up the basset hounds and entertains the whole house. She names him Buster. The story ends at Christmas a year later. All is well at the Pickering house. Mrs. Pickering thanks the kindly doctor for “the best Christmas present I’ve ever had.”

Animals are common in children’s stories, but usually they appear as people in animal disguise. They have funny lines to speak, adventures to survive, sometimes even psychological problems to worry about. This story is different. The people do all the talking. The animals behave just like animals we’ve all known. “The Christmas Day Kitten” is simply another yarn of the sort Herriot spins so effectively, a memory shared, this time, as a doctor might share it with a child on his knee. I think the average kid would be all ears.