Books with author Edmund Selous

Edmund Selous (1857 – 25 March 1934) was a British ornithologist and writer. He was the younger brother of big-game hunter Frederick Selous. Born in London, the son of a wealthy stockbroker, Selous was educated privately and matriculated at Pembroke College, Cambridge in September 1877. He left without a degree and was admitted to the Middle Temple just over a year later and was called to the bar in 1881. He practised as a barrister only briefly before retiring to pursue the study of natural history and literature. He married in 1886 and moved to Wiesbaden, Germany with his family in 1888 and then to Mildenhall in Suffolk in 1889. In the 1920s, he moved to the Weymouth village Wyke Regis in Dorset, where he lived in the folly Wyke Castle with his wife.

There is something special about Tommy Smith—everywhere he goes, animals talk to him! On a family vacation to London, Tommy goes to visit the zoo, and discovers that the lions, penguins, ostriches, bears, boars and other animals are very willing to come forward and tell him about themselves. Tommy's natural curiosity guides each conversation with questions, and by the end he has learned about the things the animals eat and how they live. This imaginative presentation of animal behavior is as informative as it is fun to read.

Edmund Selous's "Tommy Smith's Animals" is a collection of short stories written for children. The tales revolve around animals and convey various life lessons, making them ideal bedtime reading for animal-loving children. Contents include: "The Meeting", "The Frog and the Toad", "The Rook", "The Rat", "The Hare", "The Grass-snake and Adder", "The Peewit", "The Mole", "The Woodpigeon", "The Squirrel", "The Barn-owl", and "The Leave-taking". Edmund Selous (1857 - 1934) was a British writer, ornithologist, and younger brother of the famous big-game hunter Frederick Selous. Other notable works by this author include "Beautiful Birds" (1901), "Bird Watching" (1901), and "Bird Life Glimpses" (1905). Many vintage books such as this are becoming increasingly rare and expensive. We are republishing this volume now in an affordable, modern, high-quality edition complete with a specially commissioned new biography of the author.

I should like to explain that this work, being, with one or two insignificant exceptions, a record of my own observations only, it has not been my intention to make general statements in regard to the habits of any particular bird. In practice, however, it is often difficult to write as if one were not doing this, without its having a very clumsy effect. One cannot, for instance, always say, "I have seen birds fly." One has to say, upon occasions, "Birds fly." Moreover, it is obvious that in much of the more important business of bird-life, one would be fully justified in arguing from the particular to the general: perhaps (though this is not my opinion) one would always be. But, whether this is the case or not, I wish it to be understood that, throughout, a remark that any bird acts in such or such a way means, merely, that I have, on one or more occasions, seen it do so. Also, all that I have seen which is included in this volume was noted down by me either just after it had taken place or whilst it actually was taking place; the quotations (except when literary or otherwise explicitly stated) being always from my own notes so made. For this reason I call my work "Bird Watching," and I hope that the title will explain, and even justify, a good deal which in itself is certainly a want and a failing. One cannot, unfortunately, watch all birds, and of those that one can it is difficult not to say at once too little and too much: too little, because one may have only had the luck to see well a single point in the round of activities of any species—one feather in its plumage, so to speak—and too much, because even to speak of this adequately is to fill many pages and deny space to some other bird.

All the animals in Tommy Smith's neighborhood lived in fear of him. Thinking that he would treat them more kindly if he knew more about them, they each agreed to meet him and share their life story. In these conversations Tommy Smith did indeed learn lots of information about the animals: the food they ate, the places they slept, the enemies they faced, and much more. In the course of these encounters with the frog and toad, the rook, the rat, the hare, the snake, the peewit, the mole, the woodpigeon, the squirrel, and the owl, Tommy's heart did soften, and, as the barn owl had predicted, he became a friend to all the animals. Suitable for ages 7 and up.

What beautiful things birds are! Can you think of any other creatures that are quite so beautiful? I know you will say “Butterflies,” and perhaps it is a race between the birds and the butterflies, but I think the birds win it even here in England. Just think of the Kingfisher, that bird that is like a little live chip of the blue sky, flying about all by itself, and doing just what it likes. The Sky-blue Butterfly is like that too, I know, but then it is a much smaller chip, and does not shine in the sun in such a wonderful way as the Kingfisher does. Neither, I think, does the Peacock-Butterfly, or the Red Admiral, or the Painted Lady, or the Greater or Lesser Tortoise-shell; and, besides, they none of them go so fast. Yes, all those butterflies are beautiful, very, very beautiful. But now, supposing they were all flying about in a field that a river was winding through, and, supposing you were sitting there too, amongst the daisies and buttercups in the bright summer sunshine, and looking at them, and supposing all at once there was a little dancing dot of light far away down the river, and that it came gleaming and gleaming along, getting nearer and nearer and keeping just in the middle all the time, till it passed you like a sapphire sunbeam, like a star upon a bird's wings, then I am sure you would look and look at it all the time it was coming, and look and look after it all the time it was going away, and when at last it was quite gone you would sit wondering, forgetting about the butterflies, and thinking only of that star-bird, that little jewelly gem. But, perhaps, if you were to see a Purple Emperor sweeping along—ah, he is a very magnificent butterfly, is the purple emperor. You can tell that from his name, but whether he is quite so magnificent as a star-bird (for that is what we will call the Kingfisher)—well, it is not so easy to decide. The birds and the butterflies are both beautiful, there is no doubt about that, only this little book is about beautiful birds, and perhaps afterwards there will be another one about beautiful butterflies. That will be quite fair to both.

All the animals in Tommy Smith's neighborhood lived in fear of him. Thinking that he would treat them more kindly if he knew more about them, they each agreed to meet him and share their life story. In these conversations Tommy Smith did indeed learn lots of information about the animals: the food they ate, the places they slept, the enemies they faced, and much more. In the course of these encounters with the frog and toad, the rook, the rat, the hare, the snake, the peewit, the mole, the woodpigeon, the squirrel, and the owl, Tommy's heart did soften, and, as the barn owl had predicted, he became a friend to all the animals. Several black and white illustrations by G. W. Ord complement the text. Suitable for ages 7 and up.

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.