Artist and naturalist Jim Arnosky has been honored for his overall contribution to literature for children by the Eva L. Gordon Award and the Washington Post/Children’s Book Guild Award for nonfiction. His latest book is "Frozen Wild."
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By: Greg Leitich Smith,
on 1/26/2012
Blog: GregLSBlog (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: picture book, biography, nonfiction, Peggy Thomas, Roger Tory Peterson, Laura Jacques, avian dinosaurs, Add a tag
FOR THE BIRDS: THE LIFE OF ROGER TORY PETERSON, by Peggy Thomas, ill. by Laura Jacques (Calkins Creek/Boyds Mills Press 2011)(ages 8+). As a child, Roger Tory Peterson (1908-1996) was considered a bit of an odd bird. He'd spend all his time exploring the woods in his small town, bringing home nests and wildflowers and butterflies and moths. Early on, though, he became enamored of birds, and studying them and drawing them became his life's work. Ultimately, he would become one of world's foremost ornithologists, and in 1934 would publish the first of the famous Peterson Field Guides.
FOR THE BIRDS provides a thoroughly fun and evocative introduction to the life and work of one of the premier naturalists of the 20th Century. The text is compelling and the art is realistic and richly detailed.
I am proud to say that it is absolutely beautiful! Award-winning illustrator Laura Jacques captured young Roger's enthusiasm, sharp blue eyes, and thatch of blonde hair as beautifully as she paints the feathers of a flying flicker. And after immersing myself in Roger's story, it still inspires me. Roger grew up in Jamestown, New York where he spent every spare minute out in the fields with binoculars or camera and taught himself how to identify birds on the wing at a time when even trained ornithologists had to shoot the birds before identification. Roger was also a natural artist, sketching birds in the margins of his text books, and later going to art school in New York City. At the naive age of 23 years old, Roger created a little bird identification field guide that, in the middle of the Depression, sold out in weeks and turned a nation on to bird-watching. He became a world reknowned naturalist and leader in the conservation movement.
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By: Bianca Schulze,
on 9/29/2015
Blog: The Children's Book Review (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Ages 4-8, Ages 9-12, Winter, Picture Books, Snow, Nature, Science, featured, Animal Books, Winslow Homer, Jim Arnosky, Roger Tory Peterson, Audubon, Nature Studies, Seasonal: Holiday Books, Illustration Inspiration, Sterling Children's Books, Environment & Ecology, Polar Animals, Natural History Books, Bob Kuhn, Bruno Liljefors, Charles Tunnicliffe, Add a tag
Blog: The Children's Book Review (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Ages 4-8, Ages 9-12, Winter, Picture Books, Snow, Nature, Science, featured, Animal Books, Winslow Homer, Jim Arnosky, Roger Tory Peterson, Audubon, Nature Studies, Seasonal: Holiday Books, Illustration Inspiration, Sterling Children's Books, Environment & Ecology, Polar Animals, Natural History Books, Bob Kuhn, Bruno Liljefors, Charles Tunnicliffe, Add a tag
By: Peggy T,
on 2/12/2013
Blog: Writing Nonfiction for Children (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: birds, nonfiction, metaphors, cliches, figurative language, Roger Tory Peterson, Common Core, Add a tag
Blog: Writing Nonfiction for Children (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: birds, nonfiction, metaphors, cliches, figurative language, Roger Tory Peterson, Common Core, Add a tag
Not too long ago I was sitting in the audience listening to a distinguished writer talk about her craft when she segued into “What Not to Do!” Then I saw her pick up one of my books.
My mind filled with a numbing buzz like anesthesia for surgery where your soul will be yanked out through your left eyeball. I can’t remember what don’t’s she referred to, but all the while she held my book. Then she opened it and said, “Unless you do it this way.” Ah, a reprieve. Or a backhanded compliment? I still couldn’t focus. The horror of being so close to the Don’t list left my brain limp.
You have to know the rules, before you can break them. That’s what writers say. And maybe I fall into that category, or at least cling to the outside rim, because I’ve noticed that I’ve done it again. Another common piece of advice is to avoid clichés. And yet, one of the literary devices that I employed in For the Birds: the life of Roger Tory Peterson, included several clichés –
He had eagle eyes.
Like an owl he worked at night …
He rose with the Robins
It was time to make a nest of his own
Determined as a woodpecker after a bug
I did add a few of my own:
He looked as thin and gawky as a fledgling egret
As focused as a heron after a fish, he perched on the edge of his seat.
But I had a reason. I wanted to create the image of Roger as a Bird, so the reader understood how strongly Roger loved and responded to them. Using phrases like, “he roosted with …” and “he migrated…” helped to reinforce this.
The use of common phrases and images can serve a purpose if you use them consciously and don’t overdo it. Seven comparisons sprinkled throughout a 48 page book with 3,000 words seemed to do the trick.
Will I break more rules in the future? I’m sure someone will point it out to me.
0 Comments on Hooray For Clichés! as of 2/12/2013 3:22:00 PM
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By: Greg Leitich Smith,
on 1/26/2012
Blog: GregLSBlog (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: picture book, biography, nonfiction, Peggy Thomas, Roger Tory Peterson, Laura Jacques, avian dinosaurs, Add a tag
FOR THE BIRDS provides a thoroughly fun and evocative introduction to the life and work of one of the premier naturalists of the 20th Century. The text is compelling and the art is realistic and richly detailed.
0 Comments on FOR THE BIRDS: THE LIFE OF ROGER TORY PETERSON as of 1/1/1900
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By: Peggy T,
on 10/24/2011
Blog: Writing Nonfiction for Children (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Kathryn Lasky, Roger Tory Peterson, Rebecca Bond, Bird Books, For the Birds: the life of Roger Tory Peterson, Add a tag
Blog: Writing Nonfiction for Children (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Kathryn Lasky, Roger Tory Peterson, Rebecca Bond, Bird Books, For the Birds: the life of Roger Tory Peterson, Add a tag
The second best moment of being a writer (first is making the sale) is opening the box to reveal for the first time the book that you have labored over for years. That moment happened last week when I came home to find an unexpected box sitting on the kitchen table. Before I even took off my coat or put the groceries away, I grabbed a scissors and sliced the box open. My book, For the Birds: The Life of Roger Tory Peterson, was finally here!
I am proud to say that it is absolutely beautiful! Award-winning illustrator Laura Jacques captured young Roger's enthusiasm, sharp blue eyes, and thatch of blonde hair as beautifully as she paints the feathers of a flying flicker. And after immersing myself in Roger's story, it still inspires me. Roger grew up in Jamestown, New York where he spent every spare minute out in the fields with binoculars or camera and taught himself how to identify birds on the wing at a time when even trained ornithologists had to shoot the birds before identification. Roger was also a natural artist, sketching birds in the margins of his text books, and later going to art school in New York City. At the naive age of 23 years old, Roger created a little bird identification field guide that, in the middle of the Depression, sold out in weeks and turned a nation on to bird-watching. He became a world reknowned naturalist and leader in the conservation movement. 