David Day

David Day (born 14 October 1947 in Victoria, British Columbia) is a Canadian author of more than forty books: poetry, natural history, ecology, mythology, fantasy, and children's literature. Internationally, he is best known for his literary criticism on J. R. R. Tolkien and his works.

Biography

After finishing high school in Victoria, British Columbia, Day worked as a logger for five years on Vancouver Island before graduating from the University of Victoria. Subsequently, he has travelled widely, most frequently to Greece and Britain.

Day has published six books of poems for adults and ten illustrated children's books of fiction and poetry. His non-fiction books on natural history include The Doomsday Book of Animals (1981), Noah's Choice: True Stories of Extinction and Survival (1990), and Nevermore: A Book of Hours – Meditations on Extinction (2012). His Doomsday Book became the basis for the 100-part animated-short TV series Lost Animals of the 20th Century in 1995/1996. His books on environmental activism include The Whale War (1987) and Eco Wars: A Layman's Guide to the Ecology Movement (1989).

Day's best-selling books on the life and work of Tolkien, are: A Tolkien Bestiary (1978), The Tolkien Companion (1993), Tolkien's Ring (1994), The Hobbit Companion (2000), Tolkien: The Illustrated Encyclopedia (1992) and The World of Tolkien (2003). Day's Tolkien's Ring was illustrated by Academy Award-winning artist Alan Lee, as was Castles (1984), The Animals Within (1984), Gothic (1986) and Quest For King Arthur (1996).

In 2015 he published Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland Decoded on the 150th anniversary of the publication of the classic book by Lewis Carroll.

Works

Poetry

• The Cowichan (1975)
• Many Voices: An Anthology of Contemporary Canadian Indian Poetry (co-editor) (1977) ISBN 0-88894-134-X
• The Scarlet Coat Serial (1981) ISBN 0-88878-135-0
• The Animals Within (1984) ISBN 0-88878-135-0
• Gothic (novel)|Gothic (1986) ISBN 978-0-920428-05-4
• The Visions and Revelations of St. Louis the Metis (1997) ISBN 1-895449-64-2
• Just Say 'No' to Family Values (1997) ISBN 1-55096-162-4

Natural history and ecology

• The Doomsday Book of Animals (1981) ISBN 0-670-27987-0
• The Whale War (1987) ISBN 0-87156-775-X
• The Eco Wars: A Layman's Guide to the Environmental Movement (1989) ISBN 0-245-54723-1
• The Encyclopedia of Vanished Species (1989) ISBN 0-947889-30-2
• Noah's Choice (1990)ISBN 0-670-80669-2
• True Tales of Environmental Madness (1990) ISBN 0-7207-1974-7
• Green Penguin Book Guide (1992)
• The Complete Rhinoceros (1994) ISBN 0-9516342-6-7
• Nevermore: A Book of Hours – Meditations on Extinction (2012) ISBN 978-1-926802-68-8

Fantasy and mythology

• The Burroughs Bestiary (1978) ISBN 0-450-03442-9
• A Tolkien Bestiary (1978, ISBN 0-345-28283-3); reprinted as Guide to Tolkien's World (2002, 1571458786) and Guide to Tolkien's World: A Bestiary (2012, 978-0753720806)
• Castles, illustrated by Alan Lee (1984) ISBN 0-07-037280-2
• Tolkien: The Illustrated Encyclopedia (1992) ISBN 0-02-533431-X
• The Tolkien Companion (1993, ISBN 0749315946); reprinted as A to Z of Tolkien (1996, 1851529217) and A Guide to Tolkien (2002, 0753705621)
• Tolkien's Ring (1994) ISBN 0-261-10298-2
• The Quest for King Arthur (1996) ISBN 0-8160-3370-6
• The Hobbit Companion (1997) ISBN 1-57036-391-9
• Tolkien's World (2002) ISBN 0-517-22317-1
• The Battles of Tolkien (2016)
• The Heroes of Tolkien (2017) ISBN 978-0-7537-3247-2
• The Dark Powers of Tolkien (2018) ISBN 978-0-7537-3307-3
• A Dictionary of Tolkien (1993) ISBN 978-0-75372-827-7

History

• History and Literature: Sound Heritage Anthology Series (editor) (1975)
• Myth and the Mountains: Sound Heritage Anthology Series (editor) (1976)
• Men of the Forest: Sound Heritage Anthology Series (editor) (1977)
• Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland Decoded (2015)

Children's fiction and poetry

• The Emperor's Panda (1986) ISBN 0-396-09036-2
• The Swan Children (1989) ISBN 0-8249-8461-7
• The Sleeper (1990) ISBN 0-8249-8456-0
• Aska's Animals (1991) ISBN 0-385-25315-X
• The Big Lie (1991) aka The Walking Catfish ISBN 0-02-726360-6
• Aska's Birds (1992) ISBN 0-385-25388-5
• The King of the Woods (1993) ISBN 0-02-726361-4
• Tippu (1993) ISBN 0-8120-6498-4
• Aska's Sea Creatures (1994) ISBN 0-385-32107-4

Television, radio, film and theatre

• The Scarlet Coat – University of Saskatchewan Theatre (1984)
• The Lost – CBC Radio (1984)
• Gothic – Royal Victoria Museum Theatre (1988)
• The Emperor's Panda – Young People's Theatre of Toronto (1988)
• Noah's Choice – Channel 4 Television (1990)
• Still Life at the Penguin Cafe – Ballet – BBC Television (1993)
• The Whale War – ITV Television Documentary (1993)
• Lost Animals of the 20th Century – Channel 4 and NHK Japan TV series (1995/1996)
• Just Say 'No' to Family Values – Poetry and Jazz – The Senator, Toronto (1998)
• Arthur I & Arthur II – Royal Birmingham Ballet – Covent Garden, London (2000)

Criticism

Day's works on Tolkien, specifically his compendium books, have received criticism from both fans and experts. Criticisms range from publishing multiple books with the same text or information, misleadingly labelling his books as compendia and guides to the Legendarium when they often feature Day's own interpretations and inventions (including inaccurate maps), and the outright spreading of misinformation about Legendarium lore and canon to uninformed readers. Tolkien scholars generally discourage reading Day's books as a study of Tolkien and his works, with Tolkien scholar Michael Martinez stating: "In Tolkien scholarship the worst insult one could deliver at any point for many years was equivalent to 'That sounds like something David Day wrote;''" and Tolkien author Steuard Jensen explaining: "It is important to be aware that a considerable number of other details in those vivid descriptions were invented by Day himself with little or no justification in the texts, and that these extrapolations are not distinguished from the justified facts in any way." The Tolkien Society does not recommend any of Day's books in their suggested readings.