James Herriot
Recognized in the Creative Minds Montessori 2026 Teacher’s Choice list.
James Herriot is one of roughly one hundred authors whose work was selected by the Montessori-certified teachers at Creative Minds Montessori for the 2026 Teacher’s Choice list — 120 books chosen across four reading stages, from first lap-reads to first chapter books. The selected book was chosen for how precisely it meets children at a real developmental moment. This recognition cannot be bought: no author or publisher paid to appear on our lists, and we take no commission on any book sale.
About James Herriot
James Herriot was the pen name of Alf Wight (1916–1995), a working Yorkshire veterinarian whose surgery stories — written in his fifties after decades of doctoring — became worldwide bestsellers; the children's treasury distills their warmest cases.
Wight wrote at the kitchen table after evening rounds, publishing his first book at 53 after years of rejections; he kept practicing as a vet through all the fame, seeing patients the morning after television crews left.
Also by this author: All Creatures Great and Small · Moses the Kitten · The Christmas Day Kitten
Official legacy site: worldofjamesherriot.com
Selected for the 2026 Teacher’s Choice list
Part of The Best Children’s Books by Age, chosen by the teachers at Creative Minds Montessori in Frisco, TX.