Controversial from the first but immensely popular worldwide, Charles G. D. Roberts’ animal stories fixed the landscape and wildlife of Canada in a million imaginations. As popular in their day as Kipling’s Jungle Book, Roberts’ books were far more concerned with precise natural history and with the real experience of wild creatures. A century later, with our sense of the shrinking wilderness, these stores have a fresh, unsentimental and elegaic impact. Introduced by Seán Virgo, this edition brings back into print the best work by Canada’s first and greatest storytelling naturalist.

Charles G.D Roberts (1860-1943) was a poet and prose writer. After a childhood in New Brunswick, he became a heralded poet who later turned to fiction, writing an extensive series of animal stories and pioneering a genre that remains popular today. His works include Eyes of the Wilderness, The Vagrant of Time, and Earth's Enigmas. Roberts spent the last years of his life in Toronto, where he died.

Charles G.D. Roberts' profile page

Seán Virgo was born in Malta, and grew up in South Africa, Malaya, Ireland and the U.K. He immigrated to Canada in 1966 and became a citizen in 1972. He has published a number of works of both poetry and fiction including: Pieces for the Old Earth Man(1974); Island (1975); Selected Poems (1990); White Lies & Other Fictions (1981); Through the Eyes of a Cat (1983); Selakhi (1987); Wormwood (1989); and Waking in Eden (1991). His work has won various awards, including the CBC Competition (first prize for fiction, 1979); The BBC 3 Short Story Competition (first prize, 1980); and National Magazine Awards (first prize for both Poetry [1979] and Fiction [1990 ]).

Seán Virgo's profile page