AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 BIRDS

I own bird books by the scores if not by the 100s. Yet this beautifully illustrated book has a special draw - its written in a simple charming style. The understated soft coloured artwork complements the text. If you loved the Around the World in 80 Trees (I did!) you ll love this one just as much - if not more.PS It’s not a comprehensive book on birds. This is just a more or less random sample of 80 of world’s 10000 species of birds. Yet the descriptions of these 80 birds stick to your mind and make you want to know more about all the othet birds around you.

This delightfully unassuming book is an adept highlight of 80 birds from around the globe.The anecdotes, data points and illustrations excel in their ability to provide a thoughtful 1-2 page glimpse of each included bird that sparks further interest. This book does not get bogged down in the intricacies and minutiae of the vast ornithological world which can read more like a spreadsheet than something enjoyable to sit down and digest, which this book very much is.A special thought and insight is made to touch on these birds’ places within our human world, sometimes historical or mythological, the legislative to the artistic.Blessings to the author for including imperial measurements alongside their metric standard. I also really appreciated the author’s inclusion of the conservation status of the various species, whether in shamefully dire decline or triumphantly on the uptick, his method in stating these facts allows the reader to contemplate our effects on the natural world while still affording us to simply marvel at the diversity, ability, and loveliness of our ever present earth-mates, birds.Each bird is a vignette unto itself so a reader can dive in or revisit at any page. It could be read cover to cover in a day or two but I took about a week given all the little side quests in Google it inspired.Without question I can highly recommend this book as I feel it will be quite enjoyable for both novice and more advanced bird lovers. I can’t agree more with the author’s parting thoughts in the acknowledgements, “Birds are even better when shared.”

Gave this as a birthday present and the recipient was delighted, in particular commenting on the beautiful illustrations.

Really love this entire series of books, own all 4 titles, & have given as gifts. All recipients loved them as much as I do! Birds you don't know at all, and information you never knew about birds you thought you knew all about.

The media could not be loaded. I fell in love with this book instantly. The illustrations are absolutely captivating, what a talented illustrator.I really appreciate that each bird received an illustration. Shouldn’t this be taken for granted? Well, I bought similar books before and was always disappointed that not every subject discussed received an illustration, not even a tiny one. I think illustrations in books of this kind are important, since the reader may not know how each bird looks like, plus it’s so wonderful to read through a good book with aesthetically pleasing illustrations. So I really appreciate that his is done exceptionally well in this book!The texts about the birds are very informative and the reader learns something new with every bird. An absolute wonderful read. I’m keen to read the other version of this about plants too!

The recipient loved it. Beautiful illustrations. Great book.