Animals and Us

About the Book

Animals and Us

Animals and Us is a beautiful collection of illustrated children’s short stories, written from the point of view of endangered species and how they encounter their changing environments.

As readers, we learn to empathise with the sometimes life-and-death struggle each creature faces. We also witness their resourcefulness, as they compete to survive in a habitat changed by the humans around them.

An eclectic mix of birds, beast and butterflies, Animals and Us transports us across the planet and under oceans.

Written for children of all ages, each story is a thought-provoking, imaginative and uncompromising voyage into the animal’s mind’s eye, and the effect we are all having on our precious world.

Illustrator and author, David G Shaw (1942 – 2016) won acclaim from family and friends for this charming and original collection of children’s short stories, now published for the very first time.

About the Author

Born in London during World War II, David G Shaw (1942 – 2016) was an accomplished artist in his youth.  A natural educator, he taught at night school and became an established member of his local community in the North London suburb of Edgware, where he worked as a Chartered Surveyor alongside his wife Jill. Together they raised three children in a home marked by its warmth and hospitality for nearly 50 years.

He was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as motor neurone disease (MND) in 2014.  As his body declined his imagination flourished:  He started drawing again, this time making up stories for his eight grandchildren, aged between 7 and 13 so they could appreciate the world he would soon leave behind.

Click here for more about how David G Shaw’s stories brought him closer to his grandchildren: https://issuu.com/thumbprint1/docs/thumb_print_-_autumn_2017/26