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All Creatures Great and Small by Herriot


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We have been tee-totalers, but have always enjoyed James Herriot stories. I would be sad for your kids NOT to read/experience his stories just because of the alcohol.

 

They drink a single glass of some kind of alcohol to unwind & talk at the end of the day, or go to the local pub and drink a pint of beer. There is another vet, Dr. Granville (sp?) in a nearby town, who handles their serious cat/dog surgeries. After the surgeries, Dr. Granville always takes naive James to his man-cave (cottage in the back yard) where he good-naturedly gets him to drink too much. Every time they visit. But none of them are alcoholics, they just drink a glass to unwind--like most Europeans do.

 

I just explained it to the kids as we read it. You may want to consider using it as a way to teach the different approaches to alcohol consumption. Most Europeans drink in moderation, and it does not have the same related problems that some of us witness with crazy-drunk college students, etc.

 

It's easy to pre-read, or just read the "James Herriot Treasury for Children", or sample it online (I googled James Herriot alcohol & got this:)

http://books.google.com/books?id=ekj1aA6S68wC&pg=PA139&lpg=PA139&dq=%22james+herriot%22+alcohol&source=bl&ots=Rx5WzhJAvQ&sig=8KSjIEkM66cKDld_8hRt7M8OGEQ&hl=en&ei=J0JQTaykE8_Atgf4tby3AQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CBYQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q&f=false

 

But I hope you're able to enjoy these priceless tales of a vet in the English countryside. There is also a well-done, long-running TV series, with Robert Hardy and Christopher Timothy, which is readily-available.

http://www.amazon.com/All-Creatures-Great-Small-Collection/dp/B000062XDW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1297105988&sr=8-1

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We have been tee-totalers, but have always enjoyed James Herriot stories. I would be sad for your kids NOT to read/experience his stories just because of the alcohol.

 

They drink a single glass of some kind of alcohol to unwind & talk at the end of the day, or go to the local pub and drink a pint of beer. There is another vet, Dr. Granville (sp?) in a nearby town, who handles their serious cat/dog surgeries. After the surgeries, Dr. Granville always takes naive James to his man-cave (cottage in the back yard) where he good-naturedly gets him to drink too much. Every time they visit. But none of them are alcoholics, they just drink a glass to unwind--like most Europeans do.

 

I just explained it to the kids as we read it. You may want to consider using it as a way to teach the different approaches to alcohol consumption. Most Europeans drink in moderation, and it does not have the same related problems that some of us witness with crazy-drunk college students, etc.

 

It's easy to pre-read, or just read the "James Herriot Treasury for Children", or sample it online (I googled James Herriot alcohol & got this:)

http://books.google.com/books?id=ekj1aA6S68wC&pg=PA139&lpg=PA139&dq=%22james+herriot%22+alcohol&source=bl&ots=Rx5WzhJAvQ&sig=8KSjIEkM66cKDld_8hRt7M8OGEQ&hl=en&ei=J0JQTaykE8_Atgf4tby3AQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CBYQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q&f=false

 

But I hope you're able to enjoy these priceless tales of a vet in the English countryside. There is also a well-done, long-running TV series, with Robert Hardy and Christopher Timothy, which is readily-available.

http://www.amazon.com/All-Creatures-Great-Small-Collection/dp/B000062XDW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1297105988&sr=8-1

 

I totally agree. :iagree:

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I haven't read them since 6th grade, so I don't remember exactly, but I'm almost sure there weren't drunks or anything like that. More like a drink while reading the paper at the end of a hard day type of thing.

 

I was raised with the expectation that I would never drink (and I never have), and looking back, would have hated missing out on those great books because of some light alcohol use.

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I totally agree. :iagree:

 

We love Herriot here! The kids have the beautifully illustrated collection as well.

 

As far as drinking and how it is portrayed--often times your child is going to find that drinking alcohol isn't portrayed as "positive" or "negative" because it just isn't that way all of the time, particularly in cultures where it's as normal as eating.

 

One of my favorite bits of trivia is that the average Puritan drank more than the average American today. That, and the folks on the Mayflower brought more beer than water on board with them. For many thousands of years alcohol has "been" without being "bad" or "good"--beyond often being safer to drink that water :)

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I agree with the response you have received and want to add that in the first book, there is lots of alcohol and drunkenness in James's early meetings with Helen (at parties with Tristan). The television series is one of my all-time favorites; I own them all; but sometimes things do seem to be running on alcohol. There is voiced disapproval for drunkenness in both books and film, but there is plenty of drinking.

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I agree with the response you have received and want to add that in the first book, there is lots of alcohol and drunkenness in James's early meetings with Helen (at parties with Tristan). The television series is one of my all-time favorites; I own them all; but sometimes things do seem to be running on alcohol. There is voiced disapproval for drunkenness in both books and film, but there is plenty of drinking.

 

Lots? I've read all the books several times, and I would not say 'lots'. It's just a part of the story, and the drinking is neither portrayed as an absolute positive or absolute negative. When one is suffering from a hangover, it's hard to put a positive spin on it. They're wonderful books, and I would hate to think someone is forgoing them due to alcohol. But that's a choice each person needs to make. These answers might be clouded by our perspective.

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You know what? I grew up in a staunch, tee-totaling Methodist home and my parents read the Herriot books outloud to us. We laughed ourselves silly. Sometimes the drinking is on a restricted social level. Sometimes Tristan is out and out drunk which drives his brother to distraction and usually lands Tristan in so much hot water with Sigefried that he ends up punished with some particularly gross aspect of the vet work. He generally gets his just deserts for his ways and the couple of times that James doesn't exercise self-control, he pays for it dearly too...be it his delicate digestive track, doing or saying something completely unprofessional and having to eat crow for it, or embarassing himself in front of a client or Helen, he doesn't come out of it unscathed. Social drinking is presented as okay, drunkeness as being weak willed.

 

We've read them to the kids and like any other piece of literature, we discuss the positives and negatives while filtering that through our world view, much like we do history.

 

If your children are fairly young, you might be interested in his children's books. There is a collection of his favorite Dog and Cat stories and these were written especially with children in mind. Some of the editions have lovely illustrations and stories are endearing and innocent.

 

Faith

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I would be sad for your kids NOT to read/experience his stories just because of the alcohol.

 

:iagree: That would be throwing the baby out with the bath water.

 

Tristan is definitely a bad influence as far as drinking goes, though. On the rare occasions the characters do get drunk, it is not portrayed in a positive light.

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We have been tee-totalers, but have always enjoyed James Herriot stories. I would be sad for your kids NOT to read/experience his stories just because of the alcohol.

 

They drink a single glass of some kind of alcohol to unwind & talk at the end of the day, or go to the local pub and drink a pint of beer. There is another vet, Dr. Granville (sp?) in a nearby town, who handles their serious cat/dog surgeries. After the surgeries, Dr. Granville always takes naive James to his man-cave (cottage in the back yard) where he good-naturedly gets him to drink too much. Every time they visit. But none of them are alcoholics, they just drink a glass to unwind--like most Europeans do.

 

I just explained it to the kids as we read it. You may want to consider using it as a way to teach the different approaches to alcohol consumption. Most Europeans drink in moderation, and it does not have the same related problems that some of us witness with crazy-drunk college students, etc.

 

It's easy to pre-read, or just read the "James Herriot Treasury for Children", or sample it online (I googled James Herriot alcohol & got this:)

http://books.google.com/books?id=ekj1aA6S68wC&pg=PA139&lpg=PA139&dq=%22james+herriot%22+alcohol&source=bl&ots=Rx5WzhJAvQ&sig=8KSjIEkM66cKDld_8hRt7M8OGEQ&hl=en&ei=J0JQTaykE8_Atgf4tby3AQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CBYQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q&f=false

 

But I hope you're able to enjoy these priceless tales of a vet in the English countryside. There is also a well-done, long-running TV series, with Robert Hardy and Christopher Timothy, which is readily-available.

http://www.amazon.com/All-Creatures-Great-Small-Collection/dp/B000062XDW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1297105988&sr=8-1

:iagree:

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These books are absolutely wonderful! Don't pass on them because of alcohol use. This is coming from a Mormon girl who doesn't drink at all. :lol: Herriot's books are among my favorites!

 

And, FWIW, they're not drinking anymore than Larry Tate on "Bewitched". Did anyone ever notice just HOW MUCH alcohol they consumed on that show??? :lol: :lol: :lol:

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Thank you for all the responses! I was just curious because my son read the book for LL7. A few weeks ago, we were at a Baptist church, where even one drink is considered a serious sin, and he started acting drunk and making a joke about it. I was mortified! :001_huh: A few days later he made another comment about drinking. It is a non issue in our house, other than to explain that drinking and driving is not me drinking from my water bottle while driving. :tongue_smilie: I asked him why he was talking about drinking so much and I got a shoulder shrug.

 

Today we were doing comprehension questions for LL7 and the subject of drinking came up. There was an interesting question about why two certain men are drinking. One is for an occasional treat and one is to help him deal with his wife and daughter. I thought the question was odd, so it got me wondering what exactly was in the book.

 

Thanks for the replies. I feel better! I also did not know there was a TV series. We will be sure to try and watch it!

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The T.V. series is very endearing through the third season. We love them. However, when Helen was replaced, we weren't quite so fond of the new actress.

 

Anyway, we purchased the first three seasons and watch them a lot. You can also watch them on Netflix instant play.

 

Faith

 

:iagree: The new actress just wasn't Helen for us.

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We are very conservative Christians here plus my dad was killed by a drunk driver, and I absolutely loved the books. The drinking is not glorified, it is just a part of the story, although as I recall the episodes of drinking were presented more in a somewhat humorous sense. Also, remember it is a biography.

 

There are definitely good opportunities there for discussions on alcohol usage and potential for abuse. Better to expose our children, on a limited basis of course, at an early age to these things when we can talk to them and teach them then for them to experience the exposure later on having no clue how to deal with it.

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