author
Known for warm, observant writing about animals, this early 20th-century author won readers with true-life squirrel stories that offered comfort and charm during the First World War years.
by Eleanor Tyrrell
Eleanor Tyrrell is the author of More About the Squirrels and is identified in that book as the author of How I Tamed the Wild Squirrels as well. In the foreword to More About the Squirrels, she explains that readers from across the United Kingdom, Canada, and South Africa had written to her after the earlier book appeared in autumn 1914, asking for more news of her squirrel companions.
That foreword gives the clearest glimpse of her appeal: she wrote for animal lovers, drawing on close observation and everyday life with squirrels rather than fantasy or fable. Her work was illustrated by Honor C. Appleton and published by Thomas Nelson and Sons, helping place it among the gentle animal books enjoyed by family readers of the period.
Very little biographical information about Tyrrell herself was easy to confirm from reliable sources found here, so the surviving books are the best guide to her voice. What comes through strongly is a patient affection for animals and a talent for turning small domestic encounters with wildlife into engaging stories.