Now that Gerald Durrell has like so many of the animal species about which he wrote with such infectious enthusiasm - shuffled off this mortal coil, it is quite possible that an entire generation of children may grow up without encountering his books. The way to prevent such an unthinkable outcome is this grab a child of your acquaintance, sit them down and read them the passage from Two in the Bush which begins "The penguin glared at me in a disbelieving fashion.. ." Or maybe the episode in which Durrell helps a baby albatross to repair its nest; or the description of a torrid afternoon in Malaya spent "encouraging" flying lizards to fly - by launching them into the air from the top of a wobbly stepladder - for the benefit of 15 seconds of film for the BBC. Then give them the book, and let them sail away on Durrell's raft of joy.
