Man—a springtime coming-of-age story 

April 8 | 2022

“At first Man drank milk from the bottle. … He shared cat food and dog food of all varieties—canned, cubed, or kibbled. … Like any infant, his lips were often dark with sand and dirt.” 

            Man was an orphaned black-tailed fawn befriended by the writer Irving Petite. The fawn’s adventures are related in The Audubon Book of True Nature Stories, with illustrations by Walter F. Ferguson. It’s one among a number of books in my collection of illustrated animal tales from the 1950s through ’70s pairing quality storytelling with superlative visuals. Unlike so much writing about animals, these books are for adults. My favourite titles include Cats in Cahoots by Doreen Tovey, The Year of the Badger by Molly Burkett, and The Wildlife Stories of Faith McNulty.

            In this troubled spring of 2022, I’m finding solace and humour especially in those animal stories celebrating young life. Man, we’re told, developed an appetite for whole flowers, including violets and hothouse chrysanthemums grown out of season. On occasion, he even ate the covers of paperback books—Keats and Shelley, the College Standard Dictionary, plus the Journals of Lewis and Clark!

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