Creature Features by Tim Rowland

Creature Features is a compilation of articles about Tim and Beth Rowland's life on their farm with an assortment of animals.  There are cows along with a clueless bull named Dim Dan.  There are geese which terrorize every creature around them,  The goats are more stable, until one tries to get them to do something against their inclination.  The two large horses are docile, but outshone by the miniature horse who believes himself to be master of all he surveys.  Pigs are friendly in Tim's experience, but difficult to convince of the wisdom of doing what their owner wishes.  The battles in the hen yard and the difficulties of the few roosters are daunting.  Then there are what most people consider pets; the dogs and cats.  Hannah is an English bulldog while Opie is a large bouvier des Flandres herding dog.  Julie is the head cat, a Siamese, while Genna the stray who comes to live on the farm while pregnant (is there such a creature as a stray cay who isn't pregnant?) is biding her time to take over.

If you suspect that a menagerie like this provides plenty of stories a newspaper columnist can use for benefit, you'd be right,  If you suspect that the animals are running the farm, you wouldn't be far wrong,  If you suspect that the resulting book is a hilarious telling of daily life, you would be as pleasantly surprised as I was.

Be careful; this book can be hazardous to your health, if the standard for healthy individuals doesn't include someone cackling manically as they quietly read.  Readers who enjoy stories of rural life and man's attempt to be lord of his estate will be pleasantly surprised to meet Tim Rowland.  The articles are short and easy to pick up for a few minutes between tasks, but different enough from each other that sitting down and gulping the entire book in one sitting is definitely possible.  This book is recommended for animal lovers as well as those who love humor.