Bateman's Backyard Birds

by Robert Bateman

Featuring dramatic, detailed, and scientifically accurate color illustrations by the acclaimed wildlife artist Robert Bateman, this beautiful book is written on a level that can be enjoyed by older children as well as by adults who are newcomers to bird watching. The book opens on an autobiographical note, describing how, at the age of eight, the author stopped to watch a chickadee's gymnastics in a hedge. As an adult, Bateman has sketched and painted birds in every corner of the world, and has developed deep insights into bird habitats, behavior, and survival skills. This book's stunning illustrations, supplemented with descriptive notes, show a variety of familiar birds in their natural settings. Readers who study these vivid illustrations of the black-capped chickadee, the nuthatch, the downy woodpecker, the sparrow, the cardinal, the robin, and other species will come to see these fascinating birds in a new light. The more than 65 color illustrations, supplemented with simple, direct text and interesting sidebars, make this unusual volume the perfect introduction to birding for nature lovers of all ages.

Genres: Nonfiction, Birds, Picture Books, Childrens, Nature

47 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2005

Reviews

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a beautiful introductory bird book loaded with pictures by the artist, Robert Bateman. It is quite basic, but seems to be directed towards children in the elementary school grades. It doesn't matter, because I still learned a few things that I didn't know before by reading it! A lovely, lovely, book!!

[foom · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great starter book for identifying birds. It's filled with lovely illustrations that I really enjoyed. Light on details, but it's intended for the younger crowd. There's a tiny fact sheet about each featured bird and paragraph or two describing them. A few more pages describe bird behaviour in general, with topics like migration.

[Yoursexylibrarian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Illustrations are excellent. This is a lovely introductory book to birding.

[Ammie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Bateman. My kids were less than engaged, but I enjoyed it.

[Connie · Rating 3 out of 5]

We think we have figured out that the new bird in our backyard is a finch thanks to this user-friendly, colorful, and descriptive book.