to humans; and although Grace has her apron, fur coat, mouse tippet and
cornflower hat, Orlando wears, and needs to wear, nothing.
Blount 1974:273–274Lengthier fantasies were also being written about animals. Hugh Lofting began to tell
stories about his famous characters to his own children; The Story of Doctor Dolittle was
first published in America in 1920 and was soon followed by The Voyages of Doctor
Dolittle (1922), a story more obviously geared to children and which was a Newbery
Medal winner. Dolittle lives in the English village of Puddleby-on-the-Marsh and learns
to attend to sick animals by speaking to them in their own language which is taught to
him by Polynesia, his parrot. The charm and simplicity of the books, coupled with their
almost naïve drawings, soon made them highly popular and they continued to be
published after Lofting’s death. Again, the story is often known more through versions in
other media as is Dodie Smith’s The Hundred and One Dalmatians (1956), remembered
by many through its Disney version (One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961)).
One American writer, E.B.White, the humorist famed for his contributions to the New
Yorker, created two fascinating books in which animals play a prominent role (and one
featuring birds, The Trumpet of the Swan (1970)). In Stuart Little (1945) the hero is a
mouse who is born to a human family. The sad, often tragic, story tells of his adventures
and love for a bird, as he is able to fit into neither human nor animal world. As Margery
Fisher notes:
E.B.White has faced the implications of his fantasy head on... The story that begins
as a cheerful if edgy fantasy darkens until it becomes distressingly poignant.
Stuart...can never belong either in the human or the animal world. It is not easy to
read the book without a feeling of distaste at the idea of a mouse being born to a
human mother. If this is to be overcome, it can only be by recognising the sober
meaning under the riddling humour of the book.
Fisher 1975:334In Charlotte’s Web (1952), White does not shirk the realities of animal life. ‘Where’s papa
going with that axe?’ is the first line of the book and Fern’s papa is about to finish off
Wilbur, the runt of a pig litter on their farm. Fern manages to save Wilbur’s life and with
the guidance of Charlotte, the spider who lives with him, he even manages to win a prize
at the fair. Wilbur is afraid of dying, but Charlotte’s death reinforces the cycle which is a
vitally important part of animal existence. (Animals are also used in picture books which
try to help children through the trauma of death, such as Susan Varley’s Badger’s
Parting Gifts (1984) and two books dealing with the death of pets, Judith Viorst’s The
Tenth Good Thing about Barney (1971) and Hans Wilhelm’s I’ll Always Love You (1985).)
A writer whose work can be compared with White’s in its attitude to realistic
depictions of animal life is Dick King-Smith, an ex-farmer. His books are rare in that
they are enjoyed by children and praised by adults. He is a prolific writer whose early
work probably best represents an unsentimental approach to animals. His creatures
communicate with each other with words but otherwise are animals, living short and
often bloody lives. King-Smith himself says
288 ANIMAL STORIES