Our home is starting to feel like the Durrells’ place: full of eccentricity and animals.

Like Gerald Durrell, I loved animals as a child. My parents signed me up for the RSPCA’s Animal Action magazine, which, as a true 90’s kid, I loved. I pored over the little quizzes, fact pages and letters. I entered the competitions. And I covered my walls with cute animal posters. My parents’ concession to actual pet ownership was a hamster, the first of which was sweetly named “Tippy Tiptoes”, while his successor was given the cooler epithet, “Buster”. (Following Buster’s long and flourishing life, I also had another hamster, called Basil, about whom my brother wrote a prize-winning poem, but that’s another story.) I made mazes for the hamsters out of vhs cases, fed them vegetables and carried them around. I paraded them in front of my parents’ friends, disregarding the various levels of enthusiasm, interest, and in some cases, ill-concealed fear of these visitors. My hamsters were truly beloved.

I dreamed of living on a farm, though I had a very limited understanding of what this might entail.

Now, I do live on a farm, or at least a smallholding. We don’t have farm animals really, but we do have a growing menagerie, thanks to my children’s love of animals as well as our own.

A while ago, I wrote about our leopard gecko, Lenny. Since then, he has moved into his full sized enclosure, started eating an encouraging amount of crickets (healthy appetite, and all that) and is getting very good at being handled. I attribute some of this friendliness to our relentless singing to him during the summer holidays. After a stressful day, there is little I like more than to check in with my reptile friend. My research into appropriate care for him has turned into a bit of an obsession and my son and I can spend hours absorbed in reptile videos on Youtube.

Meanwhile, we have also acquired two lovable goats, Rhubarb and Custard, and twenty new hens. Invariably, when I round the corner and look over the gate, the goats are either stood on their climbing frame looking rugged, with just the slightest air of mischief about them, or they’ve seen us coming and are galloping to the gate as if they’ve never had a meal in their lives. (This, despite the fact that they eat pretty much constantly. They are the definition of the word grazer.)

Our sausage dog, Jamie, remains the comfort and joy of the whole family, from the seventy year olds to the eight year old. He is getting on a bit himself, and even has a few grey hairs on his chin.

We have two new additions to the family, coming soon, a cute pair of kittens, who I can see are going to be time wasters in all the best ways.

Animals are so therapeutic. They teach us to earn and offer trust and love. They can calm us and bring joy. And they can make us better humans.

There are many great books that explore our relationship with animals. Here are a few recommendations:

Charlotte’s Web, E.B. White: A children’s classic I read for the first time only recently. A sweet and profound story of friendship, loss and hope.

My Family and other Animals, Gerald Durrell: a memoir about the author’s somewhat eccentric childhood in Corfu, and the animaks he observed and collected there. Told with warmth and humour.

Remarkably Bright Creatures, Shelby Van Pelt: A novel whose central characters are Tova, a night cleaner at a small aquarium, and Marcellus, a giant pacific octopus. It’s a surprisingly tender novel, which quickly absorbs the reader.

The Butterfly Isles, Patrick Barkham: The fascinating account of the author’s travels around the UK, when he set out to see all 59 species of butterfly in one summer. The book encompasses many interesting facts and details but also captures what it means to humans to study and spend time with nature.

The Lost Spells, Robert Macfarlane and Jackie Morris: Poems and art about nature, including beautiful lines on various insects, animals and birds, from moths, to seals, to egrets to jackdaws, and more.

Following Atticus, Tom Ryan: The author’s account of his relationship with his small dog, Atticus, and their remarkable walking adventures.

Blue Wonder, Frauke Bagusche: Brimming with interesting facts about the oceans and the creatures that live in them.