ACCESS DIGITIZED EDITION
Guide/Reviews Database
BIOGRAPHIES
Esbaum, Jill

Bird Girl: Gene Stratton-Porter Shares Her Love of Nature with the World

48 pp. | Calkins/Astra | March, 2024 | Trade ISBN 9781635926866 $18.99 | Ebook ISBN 9781635926873 $11.99
(2) K-3 Illustrated by Rebecca Gibbon. This lively picture-book biography introduces readers to "one of America's first bird photographers," whose early-twentieth-century books about the natural world have inspired generations of conservationists and birders. Unconventional for her time, Stratton-Porter (1863–1924) develops her fascination with birds and their behaviors during a carefree childhood in rural Indiana. As a "grown-up married lady," she writes about her birding experiences but declines to be published when she learns her words would be accompanied by unlifelike drawings of birds "posed in silly positions." Photography changes everything for Stratton-Porter, and she embarks on a five-year project in the Limberlost Swamp near her home, photographing birds in their natural habitat (including "the world's first photo series of a growing vulture chick"). Esbaum's (Jack Knight's Brave Flight, rev. 5/22) conversational text engagingly conveys her subject's single-minded pursuit of her passion: sharing her love of birds with the world. Gibbon's (illustrator of Marjory Saves the Everglades, rev. 3/21) evocative acrylic-ink and colored-pencil illustrations depict the era and the beauty of the environs. Back matter includes more about Stratton-Porter and her influence; two photos of the subject and one of her photographs of a barn owl; a bibliography; and a list of Stratton-Porter's own books.
Reviewer: Kitty Flynn | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2024

RELATED 

BIOGRAPHIES

Saving American Beach
by King, Heidi Tyline
BIOGRAPHIES

Violet and Daisy
by Miller, Sarah
BIOGRAPHIES

Notes from a Young Black Chef
by , Onwuachi, Kwame & Stein, Joshua David
BIOGRAPHIES

Dr. Fauci
by Messner, Kate
BIOGRAPHIES

Indelible Ann
by Browne, Meghan P.
More

Get connected. Join our global community of more than 200,000 librarians and educators.

This coverage is free for all visitors. Your support makes this possible.

We are currently offering this content for free. Sign up now to activate your personal profile, where you can save articles for future viewing.

ALREADY A SUBSCRIBER?