Davies, Jaccqueline. (2004). Illustrated by Melissa Sweet. The boy who drew birds: a
story of John James Audubon. New York: Houghton Mifflin. 32 pages.
ISBN-0-618-24343-7
Award: Outstanding Science Trade Books for Students K-12, 2005
Genre: partial biography
Content area: science
Grade level: 2nd-4th
Credibility of author: The author states that he relied primarily on John James Audubon’s book Ornithological Biography and Shirley Streshinsky’s Audubon: Life and Art in the American Wilderness
Summary: This book focuses on a short period of John James Audubon’s life beginning when he was eighteen years old. His father sent John James from France to live in Pennsylvania so that he would not have to fight in Napoleon’s War. While in America, John James focused on learning and documenting everything he could about birds. His particular interest in migrating birds led to him becoming the first person in North America to band a bird in 1804.
Standard: Life Science IV (Archaeology, Anthropology, and Paleontology)
Illustrations: mixed media using Twinrocker handmade papers, collage, and found objects
Text: The text set is Regula. The display text is Escrita.
Text structure: narrative
Tone: conversational and engaging
Voice: The author conveys a positive and supportive attitude for the subject.
Language: informal and easy to follow
Access features: author’s source note, bibliography, and illustrator’s source note
Use: I would use this book as a read aloud for younger children and independent reading for older children. This would be a neat book to integrate with a unit on birds.
Response: This book was very enjoyable to read. It gave me a lot of information presented in an interesting, narrative format. I’ve always heard of John James Audubon, but I really didn’t know much about him other than he was a naturalist famous for his paintings of birds. I never realized he was from France and that he was the first person to begin bird banding in North America.
Related texts:
Into the Woods: John James Audubon Lives His Dream by Robert Burleigh
It’s a Hummingbird’s Life by Irene Kelly discusses the patterns of migration.
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3 comments:
This would be a great book to use when doing a bird unit. I think that bringing in the art aspect of drawing what you observe would motivate some reluctant learners!
I was thinking the same thing that Tassie said. I would love to teach my students how to go outside and observe things. Imagine the discussions that could come from their observations and the inquiries that it could open!!!!
Art museum bookstores often have books with reproductions of art work by great artists. I picked up one with Audubon's work at the National Gallery of Art in D.C. Seeing his work "in person" is amazing.
Don't forget about field guides when studying birds. Place a bird feeder outside your classroom window to get your observations started--another inquiry project (smile)
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