The Dun Cow Rib : A Very Natural Childhood

John Lister-Kaye is Scotland's high priest of nature writing; it's charming and moving to wander along with him . . . The Dun Cow Rib is a loving book * * The Times * * For my book of the year, however, there is only one contender. John Lister-Kaye is - and I am sure he won't mind me saying this - an "old" nature writer, who has delighted his legion of readers since the early 70s. His memoir, The Dun Cow Rib, is the perfect winter read: funny, moving and packed with evocative recollections of a 50s childhood, lived under the shadow of his mother's chronic illness. Never once does he succumb to self-pity. His accounts of adventures as a (mostly) free-range child exploring the wonders of the natural world are simply delightful. -- Stephen Moss * * Guardian * * I should love to pay a visit to and shake this fine author by the hand * * Mail on Sunday * * A wise and affectionate celebration of Britain's natural landscape * * The Week * * Utterly charming and captivating * * The Sunday Times * * Excellent * * The Scotsman * * In this moving autobiography by Scotland's foremost wildlife writer . . . it's when describing the lost countryside of his earliest years that he's without equal * * Country Life * * Escape into the joyous childhood of John Lister-Kaye * * Daily Express * * Lister-Kaye sometimes writes like the long-lost sixth member of the Famous Five * * Herald * * [John Lister-Kaye] movingly recalls a profound awakening to the wonders of the natural world * * Country Living * *