That would be me, delighted because Colleen Mondor in her latest Bookslut in Training column recommends as her Cool Read The Robin Makes a Laughing Sound: A Birder’s Journal by Sallie Wolf. Delighted because next month is Laura’s 13th birthday, and the book — a “blend of poetry, field guide and nature notes” — sounds perfect for her. Colleen, who also blogs at Chasing Ray, writes,
Wolf arranges her entries by season, and includes bird lists, haiku, observations, ruminations, watercolor illustrations and drawings on every page. Essentially, she is inviting the reader into her life, providing a space at her window and her desk. It is a very personal work, for all that it does not share about Wolf’s actual personal life. You are merely seeing what she sees, and perhaps altering your own conclusions about art and nature through her influence. Teen readers who might be wary of their own creativity, and are reticent to face the blank page, will find a sympathetic fellow artist here — someone who uses the barest of brush strokes to capture the creatures she sees. Exquisitely designed by Charlesbridge, The Robin Makes a Laughing Sound is one of the more elegant books to come across my doorstop in a long time. I hope a lot of young birders and artists and poets find it.
I think the book might be a bit young for Laura but I still think she’d enjoy having it, and she can always use another journal. There’s another bird book I’d really like to get her, too, and while it shouldn’t be listed at an online bookseller for a decent price, it is. I’ll post the title if I manage to get my mitts on it*.
The publisher’s page with various links and downloads is here. Sallie Wolf has a blog and a website (where I learned that much like Davy, as a child Sallie loved Ben Hunt books and wanted to be a Mohawk. Davy wants to be an Iroquois, but why quibble?)
You can find all of Colleen’s warm weather reading titles for your favorite children and young adults in this post, Summertime, and the Reading Is Easy.
* Apparently the book is still in stock and winging its way to me: the hardcover edition of Tim Birkhead’s The Wisdom Of Birds: An Illustrated History of Ornithology, for $10.11 CAN, much cheaper and sturdier than the paperback edition coming out in March. And for some reason the copies at Amazon.ca are $26.92 and $39.57 — odd.
Filed under: Arts & Crafts, Books, Children's Books, Natural History, New Books, Outdoor Education, Poetry, Writing/Composition
What a lovely looking book. Thanks for sharing Becky. And our warmest wishes to Laura :)
Thank you so much for this discussion of my book, The Robin Makes A Laughing Sound. I hope Laura has a wonderful birthday. I was about her age when I first started keeping a diary and making notes about nature, so while the book is small, I don’t think it will be too young for her. And I hope she makes her own books.
Happy Birding to all of you–
Sallie Wolf
Thanks, Suji!
Sallie, thanks so much for stopping by, the birthday wishes, and great good luck with the book. I think small is wonderful for this kind of a journal — easy to pack along.
One of things that caught my eye about the book is how it combines nature studies with journaling and art, which I think is a natural (forgive the pun!) for many home schoolers. In addition to promoting the book in schools, I’d promote it to hs’ers and hs’ing groups, via libraries and hs groups in Chicago, and possibly even The Field for a back-to-home school field trip in September. I was so happy to read about the book in Colleen’s column, but surprised that I hadn’t come across it anywhere else — I think it deserves a much wider audience!