Thursday, December 11, 2008

I'm sure you know someone who will love this book, honestly. . .


Rosalyn and I had a good laugh about this book when it was still only a catalogue page, but I really love this book - Beautiful Sheep, by Kathryn Dun with photography by Paul Farnham. Granted, it's not for everyone, but I go on a lot of walking holidays and on them I see a lot of sheep, and now I will be able to distinguish between a Bluefaced Leicester and a Greyface Dartmoor and tell the difference between a Kerry Hill, a Hill Radnor and a Rough Fell. I also happen to believe that sheep have the most expressive faces and maybe rumours of their apparent stupidity are grossly exaggerated. Read Three Bags Full by Leonie Swann if you don't believe me. To me, sheep always seem to be laid back and smiling at you; they are the zen creatures of the animal kingdom. In Beautiful Sheep, an example of each breed is carefully groomed for their close-up and photographed against a professional backdrop. Opposite their glam photo is some useful information about their uses, the geographical location where they are found and some key features. It's heartening to know, for example that the British Bleu du Maine lambs, "have a strong desire to live". Sadly, they also have "good carcass qualities". Oh, I do love lamb so.

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