''Animal Ark'' is a
children's book
Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. In addition to conventional literary genres, modern children's literature is classified by the intended age of the reade ...
series written by a collection of authors under the direction of
Ben M. Baglio using the
pseudonym
A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true meaning ( orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individual's o ...
Lucy Daniels starting in 1994. They have now been published in the USA under the name Ben M. Baglio as a pseudonym for the authors who write the books. Each author is named with a 'Special Thanks' on the copyright page. The age the books are aimed at is usually agreed as 8 plus.
Plot
The general plot of each book features Mandy Hope, the daughter of the local
veterinarian
A veterinarian (vet) or veterinary surgeon is a medical professional who practices veterinary medicine. They manage a wide range of health conditions and injuries in non-human animals. Along with this, veterinarians also play a role in animal r ...
, finding animals in trouble and trying to help them with the assistance of her best friend James, and other people in the village. Animal Ark is the name of the vet surgery.
The Animal Ark books have been adapted for a television series, and a magazine, ''Animal Ark'', has been published to accompany the books. The magazine helps to support the Jean Byrd Animal Rescue and Education Centre near
Shamwari, South Africa, through the
Born Free Foundation.
Born Free Foundation report
The books
Note: Editions for the United States are numbered differently from those of the United Kingdom. This is primarily because not all of the Animal Ark Series books were published in the United States.
The original Animal Ark Series consisted of 94 books written between 1994 and 2008. Although the majority of the stories centred around Mandy Hope and her parents vet practice, Animal Ark, in the village of Welford in Yorkshire, a number of stories took readers to other continents around the world. The original series also included a number of books labelled as Summer Specials or Holiday Specials. In fact, by late 2003, the Animal Ark Series was mainly publishing holiday specials including Valentine's Day
Valentine's Day, also called Saint Valentine's Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine, is celebrated annually on February 14. It originated as a Christian feast day honoring a Christian martyrs, martyr named Saint Valentine, Valentine, and ...
, Easter
Easter, also called Pascha ( Aramaic: פַּסְחָא , ''paskha''; Greek: πάσχα, ''páskha'') or Resurrection Sunday, is a Christian festival and cultural holiday commemorating the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, described in t ...
, Halloween
Halloween, or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve), is a celebration geography of Halloween, observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christianity, Western Christian f ...
, and Christmas
Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a Religion, religious and Culture, cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by coun ...
.
These were followed by an adult-oriented sequel and spinoff series starting in 2018 titled ''Hope Meadows''. This series again follows Mandy, now an adult and a fully-qualified vet, as she returns to Welford to help her parents run the surgery, following a disastrous relationship. This series focuses mainly on the romance genre, and, though animals still provide the main concern for Mandy, the situations they are in are considerably more graphic and darker in nature.
Television series
A television adaption of the Animal Ark books was created and broadcast on CITV
CITV is a British children's morning programming block on ITV2 and formerly a free-to-air channel owned by ITV plc. CITV, then Children's ITV, launched on 3 January 1983 as a late afternoon programming block on the ITV network for children aged ...
in the United Kingdom. Each episode covered a book, sharing its title and plot. The series ran for two seasons with a total of thirteen episodes, running from 4 September 1997 to 7 July 1998.
See also
*Children's literature
Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. In addition to conventional literary genres, modern children's literature is classified by the intended age of the reade ...
*List of children's literature authors
These writers are notable authors of children's literature with some of their most famous works.
__NOTOC__
A
*Verna Aardema (1911–2001) – ''Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears''
*Rafael Ábalos (born 1956) – ''Grimpow''
*Jacob Abbott (1 ...
* Publishers of children books
References
{{Reflist
American children's book series
Works published under a pseudonym
British children's novels
Children's novels about animals
Children's books adapted into television shows