The Boy Who Drew Birds

September 27, 2004
The Boy Who Drew Birds: A Story of John James Audubon by Jacqueline Davies, illus. by Melissa Sweet, tells of the naturalist's lifelong study of his feathered friends. Author and artist portray Audubon as a curious and dedicated young adult who meticulously studied birds, their sounds, characteristics and behavior. Sweet uses a combination of pencils, ink and watercolors overlaid on several different types and textures of paper, and often incorporates photographs of fossils, feathers and more. A handsome presentation of this influential man's life. .

December 1, 2004
Gr 2-4 -This readable account focuses on a short period in the famous naturalist's youth. Audubon, who was born and raised in France, was sent to America at age 18 to avoid service in Napoleon's army. Living in his father's farmhouse in Pennsylvania, he roamed the countryside and observed nature. His interest in birds and their migration habits led him to watch a family of pewee flycatchers (Eastern Phoebes) that nested in a limestone cave nearby. In order to determine whether the same creatures returned each year, he banded the young birds with silver thread before they flew south in autumn, providing a means of identification when they returned in spring. Davies relates how the self-taught painter and ornithologist combined his artistic talent and keen skills of observation to produce detailed, life-sized portraits of birds "alive and moving." Sweet's extensive research is evident in her carefully crafted, mixed-media artwork, which includes photos of found objects, re-created pages from a nature sketchbook, maps, and watercolor paintings of young Audubon in the rolling Pennsylvania countryside. Students writing reports can find further information in Peter Anderson's John James Audubon: Wildlife Artist (Sagebrush, 1996). The Boy Who Drew Birds is a wonderful and accessible introduction to a man who made a great impact on the science of ornithology.-Susan Scheps, Shaker Heights Public Library, OH

Copyright 2004 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

November 1, 2004
Gr. 2-4. The story opens with 18-year-old French naturalist John James Audubon roaming Pennsylvania countryside in search of birds. In an effort to determine whether individual birds return to the same nests in the spring, he uses silver thread to band some fledgling peewee flycatchers. He observes them as they grow through the summer, leave for the winter, and return the following year. An appended historical note explains that Audubon was the first person in North America to band a bird and that Audubon became "the greatest painter of birds of all time," while a source note details which parts of the story are based on speculation, and an illustrator's note comments on research, inspiration, and technique. Sweet's mixed-media collage artwork includes sensitive pencil sketches and ink drawings washed with watercolors and gouache, as well as elements such as photos of bird nests and bones. A good companion to Jennifer Armstrong's picture-book biography " Audubon" (2003), which relates several incidents in the painter's later life, this handsome book makes a beguiling introduction to the painter.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2004, American Library Association.)

January 1, 2005
Audubon, the famous ornithological painter, was also distinguished for scientific curiosity, as dramatized in this slightly fictionalized account from his young adulthood. Sweet's relaxed watercolor style and skillful incorporation of collage, plus a lively narration that illuminates Audubon's passion for observation and sets his pivotal insight into context, make this appealing vignette a fine introduction to his work. Bib.

(Copyright 2005 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

November 1, 2004
Though best known for his precise ornithological paintings, Audubon was also distinguished for scientific curiosity, as dramatized in this slightly fictionalized account of an incident from the French teenager's earliest time in the United States. No one knew in the early 1800s what became of songbirds in the winter; scientists' unfounded theories included Aristotle's guess that they "hibernated under water," while some of Audubon's contemporaries "believed that birds transformed from one kind into another." Though knowledge concerning actual migration paths would await another century, Audubon postulated that the same birds returned each spring and proved it by banding phoebe nestlings with silver thread and finding them, months later, nesting near their natal site. Melissa Sweet's relaxed watercolor style and skillful incorporation of collage, plus a lively narration that illuminates Audubon's passion for observation and sets his pivotal insight into context, make this appealing vignette a fine introduction to his work. Author and illustrator source notes and a bibliography are appended.

(Copyright 2004 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)