Mountain Born
For Elizabeth Yates, the story of Peter and his little black cosset began long before she ever wrote it.  In her early years the life on her father's large farm gave her a feeling for the land, for animals, and for the people who have both in their care.  Many of her experiences found their way into the story, including the joy she felt when she could bury her nose in her own sweater, made of wool spun as it came from the sheep's back.  Miss Yates drew inspiration from her hours spent with a New Hampshire shepherd, and, she observes, sheep shepherds, and their ways have not much changed from the days when David cared for his flock on a hillside in Judea.  Her story could have taken place in any mountain pasture, in any alpine meadow around the world.