In September, the book club I belong to will be discussing My Family and Other Animals by Gerald Durrell. The book was printed in 1956, and the copyright renewed in 1984, so it still might be available in a few places. The book I read was from our local public library, so maybe yours might have a copy too. It's such a nice book.
As far as I can tell, the book is mostly true, with the exception that the behavior of some of the family members might be a tad exaggerated The story is told by the then ten-year-old youngest member of a nutty British family. They obviously have tons of money, and decide to take themselves to the Greek island of Corfu to escape the (sometimes) miserable English climate. There is a sweet, unflappable mother and four unusual entities which she calls her children. The boy telling the story is a budding naturalist who is allowed to roam over the landscape where he collects almost every living thing he encounters --- animals, birds, snakes, insects --- actually, if it breathes, he wants it. Problems usually arrive when he takes his latest acquisition home. It's frequently okay with Mom, but hardly with his brothers or single sister.
There are a lot of funny situations, mixed with some down to earth reality. I enjoyed the whole thing.