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

by Jill Esbaum, Rebecca Gibbon (Illustrator)

This lively STEAM picture book is about the life of Gene Stratton-Porter, a pioneering wildlife photographer and popular author from the late 19th and early 20th century, who showed the world the beauty of nature, especially birds, and why it was worth preserving.

Gene Stratton-Porter was a farm girl who fell in love with birds, from the chickens whose eggs she collected to the hawks that preyed on them. When she grew up, Gene wanted nothing more than to share her love of birds with the world. She wrote stories about birds, but when a magazine wanted to publish them next to awkward photos of stuffed birds, she knew she had to take matters into her own hands. Teaching herself photography, Gene began to take photos of birds in the wild. Her knowledge of birds and how to approach them allowed her to get so close you could count the feathers of the birds in her photos. Her work was unlike anything Americans had ever seen before—she captured the true lives of animals in their natural habitat. A pioneering wildlife photographer and one of the most popular authors of the early 20th century, this bird girl showed the world the beauty of nature and why it was worth preserving.

Genres: Picture Books, Biography, Nature, Birds, Animals, Nonfiction, Biography Memoir

49 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 12, 2024

About the author

Jill Esbaum is a full-time writer and author of I am Cow, Hear Me Moo!, I Hatched!, Stanza, and Tom’s Tweet, among many others. She lives on a farm with her husband and children in Dixon, IA.

Reviews

[uma · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love her, I want to be her.

[Haley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I always figured Gene Stratton-Porter had spent a lot of time in nature, based off her writings. This book delves into her childhood where she fostered her love for the land and its creatures, particularly birds. It continues into her life work of nature study, which she often intertwined into her fiction books as well.
This book was engaging, informative and beautiful. It made me reminisce of the couple of years I spent as a child in Indiana as well, exploring the river and swamp behind our old farmhouse.

[Michelle Fournier · Rating 5 out of 5]

So happy to stumble across this gem of a book in our library new books section. I don’t usually bother looking through the children’s new books, but I was waiting for a child and so happy to see this book on display. I have long thought someone should write a picture book biography about Gene Stratton-Porter. Very simple, but interesting.

[Bailey Young · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bird Girl: Gene Stratton-Porter Shares Her Love Of Nature With The World is an educational, fun, inspiring, insightful, wonderful, and delightful true story! I love that this book tells the story of a true female trailblazer's life! Starting in Indiana 1871 this book highlights how one remarkable child acquired skills which would later aid her career. It is clear everything this woman did arose from passion and compassion. This alone is something to truly admire. With an admiration for nature that is unparalleled, readers begin to see birds in a new light.

This book highlights the importance of asking questions and seeking to learn the answer to those questions! The dedication to understanding, learning, and achieving a dream is unparalleled. That dream was to share her love and knowledge of nature more specifically birds with the world. Gene marked history as one of the first bird photographers, a famous author, and an admired naturalist. I loved learning about her!

#gifted #ad A HUGE thank you to Astra Pulishing for our gifted copy! All thoughts are our own!

[Caroline · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting introduction to a lesser-known figure -- a woman who was one of the first bird photographers in America who took pictures to share her love of birds. Would be really interesting in conjunction with books about photography/photographers or other women who loved nature. The childlike illustrations are joyful and a good match for the story. Back matter has lots more information and one of Gene Stratton-Porter's photographs.

[Ms. Yingling · Rating 4 out of 5]

Copy provided by the publisher

While I have yet to read Stratton-Porter's 1909 Girl of the Limberlost, I have several older friends for whom this book was a favorite, and after reading Bird Girl, I might have to read this classic, along with her 1904 Freckles. Considering how much building is going on in Ohio due to the Intel factory, the message about saving natural environments is more timely than ever!

Born in 1864, young Geneva loved being outdoors, and had a special love for birds. When her family had to move to the city, she brought along several as pets, but missed being able to go into the wilderness. As an adult, she was able to return to living in the country, and wrote stories for magazines about her adventures, but was appalled that they would be illustrated with pictures of stuffed birds. Once she got a camera, she went to great lengths to capture birds in their native element, no matter how muddy she got, and earned great acclaim for her photography as well as her writing.

An afterword tells more about Stratton-Porter's life, as well as the fate of the Limberlost, which was damaged by development, but in recent years has seen successful reclamation efforts. This was new information to me, since I had only been familiar with her novels that were roughly contemporary to Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables.

Gibbons, who also illustrated Marjory Saves the Everglades: The Story of Marjory Stoneman Douglas by Sandra Neil Wallace, soe a great job at capturing the flora and fauna of Stratton-Porter's world and making it a setting into which the reader would love to travel, with it's colorful plant life and vibrant birds.

While it would be great to include this book in a display for Women's History Month, I'd also love to see it showcased for Earth Day in April along with The Leaf Detective: How Margaret Lowman Uncovered Secrets in the Rainforest by Lang and Christy, Rachel Carson and Her Book that Changed the World by Lawlor, Seeds of Change: Wangari's Gift to the World by Johnson and Sadler, and Cactus Queen: Minerva Hoyt Establishes Joshua Tree National Park by Alexander and Ely.

[TheRetiredSchoolLibrarian |Mrs. Ferraris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brief summary: Geneva Grace loved the birds on their family farm and visited their 64 nests of various birds to watch them. Her father retired moving the family to a town where the girl found little joy. She married and moved back to the country, where she began writing about the birds in her area, learning to use a camera to take hundreds of photos in Limberlost Swamp.

Her books became so popular in 1924 that ten million copies were sold, and some were made into movies.

Her beloved Limberlost Swamp was being harvested, bulldozed, and drilled for gas, disrupting and killing the wildlife.

In the 1990s, decades after her death, Indiana conservation groups, inspired by her life and books, began buying up the land that once was Limberlost Swamp to bring back some of the wildlife.

Comments: The back sections include Author's Note, More About Gene Stratton-Porter, and Bibliography.

The illustrations were created with acrylic ink and colored pencils.

Rating: 4/5 📗📗📗📗

[Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I only remember reading one or two of Gene Stratton Porter's books as a child but I do have a stronger memory visiting and having picnics at Limberlost. I'm embarrassed to say that I didn't know or retain the fact that she was a pioneer in nature photography and environmental protection!

This is an excellent and very informative book with well presented information and charming illustrations by Rebecca Gibbon. Inviting and interesting, the book has extensive back matter providing additional information on Stratton-Porter, photographs, a bibliography and an Author's Note. This would be an excellent choice for a STEM classroom.

[June · Rating 4 out of 5]

A young girl teaches herself about birds and caring for them. As an adult she wanted to share her love of birds and her stories but didn't like the unrealistic illustrations. Luckily, she taught herself photography.

Backmatter states she became one of America's most famous authors and naturalists. Millions of her books sold and many were made into movies. Her books inspired two Indianan conservation groups to buy up land and restore the Limberlost Swamp.

[Robbi C · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful picture book bio of Gene Stratton Porter! And although I knew much of the basic info about her already, I learned a few new things as well! The illustrations were adorable and well done for adding context. I am a sucker for added info in the back and this book had plenty of it, even giving me some additional books that I add to my TBR pile. Great read for budding nature enthusiasts or for some fierce female inspiration! ❤️

[Bobbi · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very nice picture book biography. It's not very long, but it was interesting, and especially after just reading Girl of the Limberlost for the first time, it was really fun to see the connections. It gave me inspiration to spend more time out in nature, to continue to be curious, and to learn more about all of God's wonderful creation.

[Angela De Groot · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing picture book biography that appeals to my love of birds and my love of passionate and determined individuals. Geneva Stratton believed that practice makes perfect so she went back and did it again and again, improving her approach and her process until she got the results she was striving for.

[Emily Haage · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent picture book biography that explores nature and perseverance in a historical setting.

Library program idea--part of a K-2 STEM Book Club? Pair with nature activities, bird watching, photography, etc.

"Just a curious farm girl who fell in love with birds and watched and wondered."

[Cathy Mealey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fabulous writing, glorious illustrations and backmatter galore. I adore this superb NF PB bio about birds, the Limberlost, photographer and a determined scientist with grit, curiosity and panache!

[Joy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun

[Jennifer Wadman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Charmingly illustrated mini. Io graphs of the beloved naturalist author.

[Joy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nicely written and illustrated. A child’s book written about the real “Girl From the Limberlost”.

[Reading · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gene Stratton Porter, respect!

[Melanie Gaum · Rating 5 out of 5]

ARC from Edelweiss.