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Our Peaceable Kingdom: The Photographs of John Drysdale
John Drysdale's photographs are exciting, tender, hilarious, often exhilarating- but for more than the obvious reasons. Certainly it's not every day that one sees a lion that's befriended a Boston terrier. Maybe elephants don't usually go fishing, and parrots generally don't tend to lounge around in beach chairs, next to their human companions. But in the "peaceable kingdom" of John Drysdale, surprisingly unique alliances flourish. His photographs are whimsical and charming, but also carry a very important, necessary truth - the essential bonds of friendship transcend appearances, expectations, and traditions. Cats can love mice, bulldogs can rear squirrels, and foxes can protect chicks.
With a refreshingly honest eye, Drysdale has captured the many ways in which the creatures that inhabit the earth bring one another comfort and happiness. Never mind that a burro and a boy are curled up on the sofa, or that a chimpanzee is sunbathing with his human family by the pool. Friendship is where you find it. The familiarity and love expressed in Drysdale's work is heartfelt and very real - as the endnotes explain, the exotic animals that are his subjects were often orphaned as babies, and reared along with the humans and other animals in the photographs.
Since his earliest photographs of children frolicking on the cobblestoned streets of London, Drysdale's wonderfully illustrious career has spanned close to fifty years. And in Our Peaceable Kingdom, for the first time, 100 of his most memorable images are collected in one beautiful volume, destined to become a favorite on the shelves of children, adults, animal lovers, and anyone who appreciates a good friend.
With a refreshingly honest eye, Drysdale has captured the many ways in which the creatures that inhabit the earth bring one another comfort and happiness. Never mind that a burro and a boy are curled up on the sofa, or that a chimpanzee is sunbathing with his human family by the pool. Friendship is where you find it. The familiarity and love expressed in Drysdale's work is heartfelt and very real - as the endnotes explain, the exotic animals that are his subjects were often orphaned as babies, and reared along with the humans and other animals in the photographs.
Since his earliest photographs of children frolicking on the cobblestoned streets of London, Drysdale's wonderfully illustrious career has spanned close to fifty years. And in Our Peaceable Kingdom, for the first time, 100 of his most memorable images are collected in one beautiful volume, destined to become a favorite on the shelves of children, adults, animal lovers, and anyone who appreciates a good friend.
112 pages, Hardcover
First published October 1, 2000
28 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
January 30, 2023
I just bought a copy of this, and it's just as good as I recalled. Let's see if I can find you some sample photos:
https://www.facebook.com/109224663986...
This has many of my favorites: the girl hugging her pet elephant! Two girls racing their sheep!
https://www.posterlounge.com/p/724518...
Pet donkey with a chauffeur!
https://www.flickr.com/photos/2905046...
Sheep race! "Full Speed" (1969)
Start (as usual) with the publisher's intro, then move on to Stephen's nice review, conveniently at the top of the reviews here. "This is the only book in my four months on goodreads that I've dared to recommend to every one of my 70 or so goodreads friends." 5 stars from him -- and from me. My used copy in good condition from Thiftbooks cost under $5. Go for it! You can thank me later.
Note that many photos, such as the great photo of the girl and her pet crock on a leash, descending the stairs in a Stately Home, are of eccentric upper-class Brits & their pets. The lady at the piano, with her pet lion singing along! I couldn't find this one online, but it's wonderful! You'll just have to buy the book . . . One of my 100 best ever. Trust me: you NEED a copy of this book!!
https://www.facebook.com/109224663986...
This has many of my favorites: the girl hugging her pet elephant! Two girls racing their sheep!
https://www.posterlounge.com/p/724518...
Pet donkey with a chauffeur!
https://www.flickr.com/photos/2905046...
Sheep race! "Full Speed" (1969)
Start (as usual) with the publisher's intro, then move on to Stephen's nice review, conveniently at the top of the reviews here. "This is the only book in my four months on goodreads that I've dared to recommend to every one of my 70 or so goodreads friends." 5 stars from him -- and from me. My used copy in good condition from Thiftbooks cost under $5. Go for it! You can thank me later.
Note that many photos, such as the great photo of the girl and her pet crock on a leash, descending the stairs in a Stately Home, are of eccentric upper-class Brits & their pets. The lady at the piano, with her pet lion singing along! I couldn't find this one online, but it's wonderful! You'll just have to buy the book . . . One of my 100 best ever. Trust me: you NEED a copy of this book!!
January 1, 2015
One hundred black and white photos. About 40% are of humans (usually children) in very close touch with unexpected animal companions like a chimp, elephant, lion, leopard or pigmy hippo. Maybe 40% are of two different genera or phyla of animals in close companionship with each other. The rest are candid shots of human children in small groups.
Here’s how keen I am to tell you about this book today: I saw it while looking on our real shelves for something else, spent half an hour typing a review, then threw it all away with a bad keystroke; rallied with a re-do of fewer words (for the better?) .
Brief end-notes give back stories for many of the relationships depicted and for how the shot was made. Frequently, one of the animals was an orphan who socialized with a foster-upbringer, a kind of imprinting that relaxed the rules of “Nature red in tooth and claw.” For example, “Just Looking” shows a fox cub with a fond guardian’s interest in ducklings he’s in charge of.
Most of the pictures were in England; some must have been done in Africa or Australia. For many, I think, the photographer sought out a farm or family he’d heard about, then waited for a candid shot. Some of these might looked posed, but could not have been. In “Baking Day” a large predatory bird, a fish eagle, has flown into the pantry to steal a cracked egg from cook. This can’t have been the first time the eagle pulled this off.
One photo, in which a miniature donkey alights from a Rolls-Royce, has an “anything for the bit” gimmicky air that I think is out of place, but all the rest are truly touching (e.g. “Dog Goalie” The end-notes tell us that the boys played football (soccer to Yanks) in a closed-off street where the dog was invincible defending the goal.)
Many of the pictures will bring a laugh out loud. Maybe my favorite is “Frinton-on-Sea.” A man in proper English sun-bathing attire – shoes, socks, trousers, sweater and long sleeves—reclines in his beach chair. In the foreground, his macaw lies in a baby-sized beach chair, claws to the sky.
Readers (and photo-viewers) familiar with the epochal book of photos The Family of Man will see this work as similar but less awesome. Two big differences: Our Peaceable Kingdom: The Photographs of John Drysdale expands the family of man to include the animals. It also has none of the searing depictions of war, of suffering, of anger that make the Steichen book so memorable. It’s 100% feel-good. If you don’t buy the book straight off, see it at the library. You will not be sorry. I promise.
This is the only book in my four months on goodreads that I've dared to recommend to every one of my 70 or so goodreads friends. Click click!
Here’s how keen I am to tell you about this book today: I saw it while looking on our real shelves for something else, spent half an hour typing a review, then threw it all away with a bad keystroke; rallied with a re-do of fewer words (for the better?) .
Brief end-notes give back stories for many of the relationships depicted and for how the shot was made. Frequently, one of the animals was an orphan who socialized with a foster-upbringer, a kind of imprinting that relaxed the rules of “Nature red in tooth and claw.” For example, “Just Looking” shows a fox cub with a fond guardian’s interest in ducklings he’s in charge of.
Most of the pictures were in England; some must have been done in Africa or Australia. For many, I think, the photographer sought out a farm or family he’d heard about, then waited for a candid shot. Some of these might looked posed, but could not have been. In “Baking Day” a large predatory bird, a fish eagle, has flown into the pantry to steal a cracked egg from cook. This can’t have been the first time the eagle pulled this off.
One photo, in which a miniature donkey alights from a Rolls-Royce, has an “anything for the bit” gimmicky air that I think is out of place, but all the rest are truly touching (e.g. “Dog Goalie” The end-notes tell us that the boys played football (soccer to Yanks) in a closed-off street where the dog was invincible defending the goal.)
Many of the pictures will bring a laugh out loud. Maybe my favorite is “Frinton-on-Sea.” A man in proper English sun-bathing attire – shoes, socks, trousers, sweater and long sleeves—reclines in his beach chair. In the foreground, his macaw lies in a baby-sized beach chair, claws to the sky.
Readers (and photo-viewers) familiar with the epochal book of photos The Family of Man will see this work as similar but less awesome. Two big differences: Our Peaceable Kingdom: The Photographs of John Drysdale expands the family of man to include the animals. It also has none of the searing depictions of war, of suffering, of anger that make the Steichen book so memorable. It’s 100% feel-good. If you don’t buy the book straight off, see it at the library. You will not be sorry. I promise.
This is the only book in my four months on goodreads that I've dared to recommend to every one of my 70 or so goodreads friends. Click click!
September 16, 2013
Marvelous, life-affirming images. There were just a few photos that seemed out of place in the collection, but that's the only criticism I have. This is a book you need to buy, not borrow.
February 26, 2018
Came upon this by total accident but the cover caught my attention so I had to see what it was about & it was marvelous
September 16, 2023
Great pictures
November 10, 2008
This is a book of photographs of children and animals. There is no text and there does not need to be any. This is a perfect match for middle school students because it is a book showing the possibilities of unlikely friendships, humor, and love. It would be great for "story starters". Get a document camera for best effect.
August 27, 2016
Such sweet photos of unlikely friends. If only our world could take the message to heart.
January 29, 2015
It's a picture book of different animals getting along. I love it.
January 27, 2016
Adorable and hilarious photos of animals, sometimes with their humans, sometimes interacting improbably with each other.
April 20, 2018
Great photographs that will make you smile and want to know the story behind each one.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews