The Backyard Zoo

Daniel Pratt Mannix raised and studied wild animals at his grandparents' Pennsylvania farm since the time he was a boy of six. The animals were ideal companions and, in order to support his zoo, Daniel wrote stories about them for magazines which were eventually compiled into a book. The Backyard Zoo will dazzle the reader with the joy and humor and havoc the animals created while burrowing, flying, spraying, chewing, pecking, outwitting, and inevitably stealing the hearts of the boy, his family, and the household staff who put up with them.
Who could resist Claude the porcupine who napped on the sofa with his head under a pillow and narrowly missed suffocation when he was almost sat upon by a visitor of considerable bulk? Or Jesse the crow who delighted in nipping the ankles of silk stockinged ladies in order to observe the run that shot up their legs?
The antics of Jesse and Claude along with Haji the walking fish, opossums, a family of skunks, armadillos and a host of others will educate, entertain, and uplift readers of all ages.