David Alderton


David Alderton is an English writer specialising in pets and natural history topics. Growing up in a home surrounded by pets, he originally trained to become a veterinary surgeon. An allergic dermatitis acquired in his final year of study forced a change of career however, and so led him into the field of writing about pets and their care. He has since become a regular contributor of articles on this subject to a wide range of newspapers and magazines in the UK and abroad, and also participates frequently in radio and television programmes. As of 2010 his books have sold over five million copies, and have been translated into 30 different languages. Alderton's titles have won awards in the US from the Cat Writers' Association of America and the Maxwell Medallion from the Dog Writers' Association of America, as well as being nominated for the Sir Peter Kent Conservation Book Prize. He has also chaired the National Council for Aviculture, the umbrella organisation for bird-keeping clubs and associations in the UK.

Selected bibliography

Animals, published by Amber Books LTD, 2009Encyclopedia of Aquarium and Pond Fish, published by Dorling Kindersley, 2008Your Dog Interpreter, published by Reader's Digest, 2007Firefly Encyclopedia of the Vivarium, published by Firefly Books, 2007Chinchillas, published by TFH Publications, 2007Young at Heart, published by Reader's Digest, 2007Your Cat Interpreter, published by Reader's Digest, 2006The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Birds of the World, published by Southwater, 2004Horses, published by Dorling Kindersley, 2003Smithsonian Handbook : Dogs, published by Dorling Kindersley, 2002Smithsonian Handbook : Cats, published by Dorling Kindersley, 2002Hamster, published by Collins, 2002Budgerigar, published by Collins, 2002The Small Animals Question and Answer Manual, published by Barron's Educational, 2001Hounds of the World, published by Swan Hill Press, 2000Rodents of the World, published by Cassell, 1999Foxes, Wolves & Wild Dogs of the World, published by Cassell, 1998Wild Cats of the World, published by Cassell, 1993Eyewitness Handbook of Cats, published by Dorling Kindersley, 1992