Storm Force - An Otter's Tale

Four-legged yet water gifted, to outfish fish;
With webbed feet and long ruddering tail
And a round head like an old tomcat.
 

So wrote the late Poet Laureate Ted Hughes, whose poem An Otter kicks off this enchanting tale of a cheeky little lady called Storm. Henry Williamson started the otter cult as far back as 1927 with his classic tale of Tarka the Otter. Years later there was the memorable film of Gavin Maxwell's book Ring of Bright Water Doubtless Stormforce has all the ingredients for a 21st century sequel. Chaffe, a tireless wildlife conservationist whose affection for otters shines through every page, has produced a delightful book, beautifully put together with dust-jacket, endpapers and 32 pages of colour and black and white photographs. Somewhere in the land between two rivers in Devon - the Taw and Torridge - a postman stopped in a windswept lane to pick up an animal casualty. But this one, bedraggled and scarcely breathing, was no road accident. No bigger than his fist and weighing just 1lb 7ozs she was a six week old otter cub. What David Chaffe didn't know at that moment was that the half-dead bundle would change both his and his daughter Olivia's life.The story of how David and Olivia formed an intense bond is at the centre of this remarkable true story. Stormforce is a touching and illustrated account of the animal's rescue and struggle for survival.
 

Stormforce Publications £14.99 + £1.50p+p. St Ives, Cornwall, TR26 2HN