Elise Faike
January 28th, 2008, 08:16 PM
Good Birders Don’t Wear White
Book Review
Surfbirds.com
By Elise Faike
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Good Birders Don’t Wear White: 50 Tips From North America’s Top Birders, Forward by Pete Dunne, Illustrations by Robert A. Braunfield, Edited by Lisa White / April 2007 / Paperback $US8.95
www.houghtonmifflinbooks.com
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The title, Good Birders Don’t Wear White, peeked my interest. When I got the book, I immediately turned to the namesake chapter written by Sheri Williamson to find out why not. Then to the next chapter, by Kenn Kaufman saying that, well, maybe sometimes they do! That was how I dove into this fun little book.
Then I picked and chose titles or authors that sounded appealing, before just reading through the book cover to cover. Of interest in the Foreword is the idea that if you could paint or write like someone else, who would it be?
The very short essays are indeed mostly fun, but not consistent. With 50 different authors, all famous writers from the birding community, there are as many styles, and almost as many tones, ranging from light-hearted to Bird Policeman. Not all essays can appeal to everyone, but rather readers will find something of interest for themselves from the various essays.
All in all, I gleaned info from most of them. I found myself making notes in the margins, going from “Good One!” for essays like Mel White’s “Oh, Behave”, to “Too Serious”, and even “Is This Serious?” when Dave Jasper proposed waving a white flag to attract waterbirds and owls in “Surrender!”
I learned new birding facts and ideas, such as about birding at night, and reiterated others. I found myself saying “Yeah!” and “No way!” in response to different chapters, but whether or not I agreed, the book was entertaining.
◊
Book Review
Surfbirds.com
By Elise Faike
◊
Good Birders Don’t Wear White: 50 Tips From North America’s Top Birders, Forward by Pete Dunne, Illustrations by Robert A. Braunfield, Edited by Lisa White / April 2007 / Paperback $US8.95
www.houghtonmifflinbooks.com
◊
The title, Good Birders Don’t Wear White, peeked my interest. When I got the book, I immediately turned to the namesake chapter written by Sheri Williamson to find out why not. Then to the next chapter, by Kenn Kaufman saying that, well, maybe sometimes they do! That was how I dove into this fun little book.
Then I picked and chose titles or authors that sounded appealing, before just reading through the book cover to cover. Of interest in the Foreword is the idea that if you could paint or write like someone else, who would it be?
The very short essays are indeed mostly fun, but not consistent. With 50 different authors, all famous writers from the birding community, there are as many styles, and almost as many tones, ranging from light-hearted to Bird Policeman. Not all essays can appeal to everyone, but rather readers will find something of interest for themselves from the various essays.
All in all, I gleaned info from most of them. I found myself making notes in the margins, going from “Good One!” for essays like Mel White’s “Oh, Behave”, to “Too Serious”, and even “Is This Serious?” when Dave Jasper proposed waving a white flag to attract waterbirds and owls in “Surrender!”
I learned new birding facts and ideas, such as about birding at night, and reiterated others. I found myself saying “Yeah!” and “No way!” in response to different chapters, but whether or not I agreed, the book was entertaining.
◊