Wild Animals I Have Known
Ever read an animal biography? Written in 1898, the sympathy for other lives in Ernest Thomas Seton's Wild Animals I Have Known seems very contemporary. Naturally, wild lives are short and often end violently, but these stories make you think about what human civilizations does, and could, mean.
The book is out of copyright and can be downloaded in numerous places on the web. Find an illustrated version--drawn by the author, the numerous ink wash and line drawings are well-observed, sympathetic and witty.
I bet Hagrid loves this book (and weeps great crocodile tears in places.)