Chewing the Cud

This is the story of an ordinary family man from the heart of rural England, who, after years of a happy but less-than-successful career in farming, found himself in the limelight of a Hollywood blockbuster.

Dick King-Smith was in his seventies when the film, "Babe", charmed audiences the world over.

The story of the little pig who wanted to be a sheep-dog won the hearts of millions - and turned many vegetarian overnight.

Few people knew that the author of all this success was a charming and unassuming man who had lived in a quiet corner of Gloucestershire for pratically all his life, and whose failure as a farmer was largely due to the fact that he just loved his animals too much.For many years Dick King-Smith and his family lived at Woodlands Farm where he built up an extraordinary varied collection of animals.

They were all memorable characters, from the goat who insisted on riding in the passenger seat of a baker's van to a dog who outrivalled Houdini, and, above all, generations of charismatic pigs.

Dick King-Smith was 45 when the farm failed and a new career had to be found, first as an unsuccessful asbestos-suit salesman, then as a worker in a shoe factory, and finally a teacher.

The he started to write - and all the comic exploits of the animals he had known and loved found new life in over a hundred best-selling books for children."Chewing the Cud" is the story of a down-to-earth but remarkable countryman.

It is also a portrait of a farming and country community that has all but vanished - a nostalgic journey into an English rural past in the company of an accomplished, sympathetic and very funny storyteller.