Difference between revisions of "Newest Animals and Wildlife Reviews"

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[[Category:New Reviews|Animals and Wildlife]]
 
[[Category:New Reviews|Animals and Wildlife]]
[[Category:Animals and Wildlife|*]]  __NOTOC__<!-- Remove -->
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[[Category:Animals and Wildlife|*]]  __NOTOC__
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author= Mark Cocker
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|isbn=1529395224
|title=Claxton: Notes From a Small Planet
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|title=Letting the Cat Out of the Bag: The Secret Life of a Vet
|rating= 4.5
+
|author=Sion Rowlands
|genre= Animals and Wildlife
 
|summary= In 2001, author Mark Cocker moved to Claxton, a small village in Norfolk that manages to be wonderfully remote, and yet only a few miles from Norwich. In a series of writings spanning the course of a year, Cocker quietly explores nature in the village, and his relationship to the living things around him, as well as the surrounding landscape. All written with a deep knowledge and a wonderful eye for detail, Cocker truly gets to the heart of the local wildlife and the local community.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0099593475</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Zoe Greaves and Leslie Sadlier
 
|title=Hare
 
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=For Sharing
 
|summary=Some animals feature large in mythology and the hare is one of these.  The hare we're going to meet is O'Hare - well, we hope we're going to meet him: hares are well known for being elusive and this one is no exception!  We'll be following him through the churchyard on a moonlit night - see him leaping in front of the moon - and through a summer meadow, where we only catch sight of his hind legs and his ears.  Look on the riverbank - is that him in the water?  Then he's in amongst the cabbages - the farmer is ''not'' going to be pleased about that.  Is he in the foxglove patch?  We can see the fox, but it looks as though O'Hare has gone.  The best sighting we have of him is on the corn field, where he's leaping through the stubble.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1910646032</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
{{newreview
 
|author=David Neiwert
 
|title=Of Orcas and Men: What Killer Whales Can Teach Us
 
 
|rating=3.5
 
|rating=3.5
 
|genre=Animals and Wildlife
 
|genre=Animals and Wildlife
|summary='Profoundly humbling experiences are good for our souls,' Neiwert asserts in the first pages of his all-encompassing book about killer whales. For him, encountering orcas, one of the world's largest mammals, has been both humbling and inspiring, reminding him that humans are just one among many wondrous species and that it is wrong for us to exploit other creatures for our own benefit. After moving to Seattle, he tried for three years to see the whales, and finally gave up; it was only when he began spending time in the places where the orcas live, simply for the pleasure of it, that he started seeing them all the time.
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|summary=Siôn Rowlands fell into veterinary science accidentally.  His father was a GP and Rowlands didn't want to follow in his footsteps, particularly when he considered the strain that being on-call put on his father's life. When he was seventeen he took the opportunity of doing work experience with a family friend who was a vet and was convinced this was the job for him. Before long, he was at Liverpool University.  It hadn't - as with so many students - been his dream since he was a child.  If anything, he'd wanted to be a professional footballer.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1468308653</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author=Seb Braun
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|isbn=1839948493
|title=The Tiger Prowls: a pop-up book of wild animals
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|title=A World of Dogs
|rating=4
+
|author=Carlie Sorosiak and Luisa Uribe
|genre=For Sharing
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|rating=5
|summary=It's a hardback book with a striking cover and when you open it, don't expect endpapers or gentle introductions: as you lift the cover, the tiger of the title appears:
 
 
 
''The tiger prowls, stalking through the jungle.''<br>
 
''Paw after heavy paw crunches on the forest floor.''
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1471122158</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Christopher Franceschelli
 
|title= Dinoblock
 
|rating= 4
 
|genre= For Sharing
 
|summary= As befits a book about dinosaurs, 'Dinoblock' is suitably chunky. Not monstrously large but enticingly substantial in a 'pick me up and read me' kind of way. Inside this board book, twenty plus beasts are on parade. If you don't know your Triassic from your Jurassic step this way…
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1419716743</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Jules Nilsson
 
|title=The Hounds of Falsterbo
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=For Sharing
 
|summary=''In between the beach huts''<br>
 
''Where the white sands meet the seas,''<br>
 
''The heather meets the sand dunes''<br>
 
''And long grasses dance the breeze.''
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0992708419</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Steve Backshall
 
|title=Favourite Deadly Facts
 
|rating=4
 
 
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
 
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
|summary=Many people have wondered what limbo must feel like.  I for one think it will be like being trapped on a long car journey with an enthusiastic child clasping a bumper book of factsThere is nothing quite like a book about how long, how short or how wide something is to put a certain type of child in cloverThis type of book should come with a warning sticker on the front as any nearby adult is going to get their ear talked off, especially if it is a bumper fact book.
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|summary=In the interests of full disclosure, I must tell you that I'm a sucker for dogsIn nearly eight decades, I've never met one I didn't trust and I've loved most of them.  I wish I felt the same about human beingsSo, any book about dogs, I'm going to sit down and devour.  Then I'm going to go back and read it properlyAnd so it was with ''A World of Dogs'', with ninety-six pages devoted entirely to my four-legged friends.  Author Carlie Sorosiak found herself the accidental owner of an American Dingo - she's learned quite a lot about dogs since then.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1444015397</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author= Keith Partridge
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|author=Lev Parikian
|title=The Adventure Game: A Cameraman's Tales from Films at the Edge
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|title=Light Rains Sometimes Fall
|rating= 4.5
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|rating=4.5
|genre= Animals and Wildlife
 
|summary=Keith Partridge has been one of the world’s leading adventure cameramen for over twenty years. The award winning Touching the Void, Beckoning Silence and Human Planet are just some of the films that have taken him all over the earth, from the caves of Papua New Guinea to the summit of Mount Everest. No location has been too dangerous, no environment too wild, and if you have ever seen a climber or explorer in some outrageous position, chances are that Keith Partridge was there with his camera. Here Keith discusses the challenges that have faced him in the daring adventures has taken part in, with personalities such as [[:Category:Steve Backshall|Steve Backshall]], [[:Category:Joe Simpson|Joe Simpson]] and Stephen Venables.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1910124311</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
{{newreview
 
|author= Simon Barnes
 
|title= Ten Million Aliens
 
|rating= 2.5
 
|genre= Animals and Wildlife
 
|summary=I don't want to alarm anyone, but I think it fair to warn you that there are aliens all around us; weird and wonderful ones at that. Take symbions for example. They attach themselves to a host by means of a sucker and propagate by budding. They then move on to the next life stage and become either male or female. The male sheds its mouth and anus and goes of to search for a female. Once the female is impregnated, her digestive system morphs into a larva which breaks free from her when she dies. This may sound like the stuff of science fiction, but the truth is that we share our planet with millions of strange life forms; each perfectly suited to survive and thrive in its own environment.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1780722435</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Richard Girling
 
|title=The Hunt for the Golden Mole: All Creatures Great and Small and Why They Matter
 
|rating=3.5
 
 
|genre=Animals and Wildlife
 
|genre=Animals and Wildlife
|summary=At age 15, on a camping trip to Dartmoor, Richard Girling had an epiphany. It was the first time that he had felt himself to be a part of nature, that the environment really mattered to him. As a big picture person, however, this had never translated into an affinity for individual species, even though he became a longstanding environmental writer for the ''Sunday Times''. That is, until he came across a mysterious listing for the Somali golden mole in a mammal encyclopaedia. This creature has never been seen in the wild, except as a few bones in an owl pellet found by an Italian zoologist in 1964. For some reason, the golden mole captured Girling's imagination, becoming a symbol of rarity and the fragility of mammals' existence.
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|summary= If you’re a writer yourself, or an aspiring writer, or someone who pretends to write, then you know that there are unnumbered types of books. Some you read for fun, some for distraction, some for vicarious emotion, some to learn from in a random way, some for focussed research, and some because they are, broadly speaking, the kind of thing you think you might like to write.  Or, indeed, are actually trying to write.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0099571935</amazonuk>
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|isbn=1783966386
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author=Sara Starbuck
+
|isbn=1398508632
|title= Born Free Lion Rescue: The True Story of Bella and Simba
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|title=The Wilderness Cure
|rating=4.5
+
|author=Mo Wilde
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
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|rating=5
|summary=Bella was not supposed to be worked as a youngster as a model for holidaymakers' photos on the Black Sea Coast, but that probably happened before she ended up in a poor Romanian zoo, blind in one eye and losing the sight in the otherSimba was not supposed to be shaking his magnificent maned figure about a circus cage in southern France.  But she was, and he was, and things weren't rightLuckily, the zoo was too poor to operate, and people were already on hand to relocate the animals, and fortunately someone realised the circus was a no-starter as well, when it comes to keeping a fully-grown lion in captivityIn alternating chapters the two cats' tales eventually combine to one, in this great little read with a heart-warming message.
+
|genre=Lifestyle
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1444015338</amazonuk>
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|summary=It had been on the cards for a while but it was the week-long consumer binge which pushed Mo Wilde into beginning her year of eating only wild foodThe end of November, particularly in Central Scotland was perhaps not the best time to start, in a world where the normal sores had been exacerbated by climate change, Brexit and a pandemicWilde had a few advantages: the area around her was a known habitat with a variety of terrains.  She had electricity which allowed her to run a fridge, freezer and dehydrator.  She had a car - and fuelMost importantly, she had shelter: this was not a plan to ''live'' wild just to live off its produce.
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author=Owen Davey
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|isbn=0711266204
|title=Mad About Monkeys
+
|title=The Secret Life of Birds
|rating= 4
+
|author=Moira Butterfield and Vivian Mineker (illustrator)
 +
|rating=5
 
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
 
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
|summary=Of all the many millions of animals on our planet that deserve a large format hardback non-fiction book, I guess monkeys are one of the ideal places to start.  They are, of course, our distant cousins, with the ancestor we have in common with them walking around our world within the past thirty million yearsThey have a large range across the planet, they have over 250 variant species, and they have a lot of interesting facts and details regarding their social life, their diet, their diversity and their potential future all of which makes this an interesting read whatever your species bias may be.
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|summary=I have recently discovered a great pleasure: I sit and watch the vast numbers of birds which visit our garden on a daily basis.  An hour can pass without my noticing.  I've established which species feed from the ground, which pop to the feeders for a quick snatch of some food and who settles in for a good munch but I wish I was more knowledgeableIt would have been wonderful if, as a child, I'd had access to a book such as ''The Secret Life of Birds''.  So what is it?
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1909263575</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author=Lucy Engelman
+
|isbn=gareth_steel
|title=Field Guide: Creatures Great and Small (Field Guides)
+
|title=Never Work With Animals
|rating=4.5
+
|author=Gareth Steel
|genre=Crafts
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|rating=4
|summary=Call me fuddy-duddy, but I have never seen the need to review a book via video – with Youtube and other sources becoming full of people giving their thoughts about the latest hot release the idea has never appealed to me, when there are also countless ways for one to share opinions by old-fashioned written word. That is, of course, until now, and the phenomenon that is building rapidly – that of mature colouring-in books.  Here at the Bookbag we can easily prove we've read every word of the books by being eloquent, informative and opinionated about what we examine, but even I admit four paragraphs regarding a picture book we ourselves have to finish off may leave some members of our audience wanting to see the results.
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|genre=Animals and Wildlife
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>184780635X</amazonuk>
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|summary=I don't often begin my reviews with a warning but with ''Never Work With Animals'' it seems to be appropriate. Stories of a vet's life have proved popular since ''All Creatures Great and Small'' but ''Never Work With Animals'' is definitely not the companion volume you've been looking for. As a TV show the author would argue that ''All Creatures'' lacked realism, as do other similar programmes. Gareth Steel says that the book is not suitable for younger readers and - after reading - I agree with him. He says that he's written it to inform and provoke thought, particularly amongst aspiring vets. It deals with some uncomfortable and distressing issues but it doesn't lack sensitivity, although there are occasions when you would be best choosing between reading and eating.
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author=Jen Green and Wesley Robins
+
|isbn=1787332098
|title=Oceans in 30 Seconds
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|title=How to Love Animals in a Human-Shaped World
 +
|author=Henry Mance
 
|rating=5
 
|rating=5
|genre=Popular Science
+
|genre=Politics and Society
|summary=Oceans in 30 Seconds is the latest book in the innovative series from Ivy Press, which aims to give an informative and entertaining overview of a given subject in bite-sized chunks. Each given subject has its own two-page spread, with a concise description on the left, covering all of the main points, and a colourful illustration on the right hand page, complete with extra snippets of information. Each chapter also has a handy 3-second sum up, which further condenses the main idea of the chapter into a single sentence.
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|summary=''When we do think about animals, we break them down into species and groups: cows, dogs, foxes, elephants and so on. And we assign them places in society: cows go on plates, dogs on sofas, foxes in rubbish bins, elephants in zoos, and millions of wild animals stay out there, ''somewhere,'' hopefully on the next David Attenborough series.''
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>178240239X</amazonuk>
+
 
 +
I was going to argue.  I mean, cows are for cheese (I couldn't consider eating red meat...) and I much prefer my elephants in the wild but then I realised that I was quibbling for the sake of it.  Essentially that quote sums up my attitude to animals - and I consider myself an animal lover. If I had to choose between the company of humans and the company of animals, I would probably choose the animals.  I insisted that I read this book: no one was trying to stop me but I was initially reluctant.  I eat cheese, eggs, chicken and fish and I needed to either do so without guilt or change my choices. I suspected that making the decision would not be comfortable.
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author=Barroux
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|isbn=1786495902
|title=Where's the Elephant?
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|title=The Natural Health Service: How Nature Can Mend Your Mind
 +
|author=Isabel Hardman
 
|rating=5
 
|rating=5
|genre=For Sharing
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|genre=Lifestyle
|summary=We've all had great fun with books such as ''Where's Wally'', haven't we?  They appeal to children and adults and everyone who has seen ''Where's the Elephant?'' has jumped in with great enthusiasm, keen to show just how observant they are.  We start off with a forest - actually it's the Amazon Rainforest - full of glorious colours and our three friends, who are hiding in there. Elephant is probably the easiest to spot, but Snake and Parrot are in there too and with a little concentration you'll find them. When you turn the page you'll scan the trees again and discover their hiding places. You even wonder if it might get a little ''boring'' if it goes on like this.
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|summary=Isabel Hardman suffered a trauma which she chooses not to share. She says that a friend who does know, burst into tears and health-care professionals' jaws have sagged in disbelief. Hardman dealt with this at the time by 'keeping going': the next day she went to work to cover the budget, next there was the EU referendum, the political party leadership contests and then it was party conference season. One night she had to be sedated and returned home to begin long-term sick leave. That was what brought me to this book: 2020 was the year when the bins went out more often than I did.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1405271388</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author=Dave Goulson
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|isbn=1782407480
|title=A Buzz in the Meadow
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|title=Bird Love: The Family Life of Birds
 +
|author=Wenfei Tong and Mike Webster
 
|rating=4.5
 
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=Animals and Wildlife
 
|genre=Animals and Wildlife
|summary=Back in 2003, biologist Dave Goulson bought a run-down farmhouse and 33 acres of meadow in the idyllic French countryside. His aim was to create a sanctuary for all sorts of wildlife, where creatures could go about their business without fear of disturbance. Soon, the meadows were abuzz with activity, with insect species thriving. Birds, mammals and amphibians also colonised this tranquil patch of countryside, including the mysterious 'snake and owl-eating beast' and the elusive 'wack-wack' bird...but if you want to find out more about them, you will have to read the book for yourself.
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|summary=I was a little perturbed when I looked at the blurb for ''Bird Love'' on a couple of on-line booksellers: ''exploring the sex life of birds'' it said. I very nearly passed over the book, but a closer examination suggested that the book is about the ''family life'' of birds, which is rather different. If the book was confined to the sex life of birds, you would be missing an opportunity to understand how birds live day-to-day, bring up their families and cope in the wild. Not only that, you have missed the treat of so many beautiful illustrations about a wide variety of birds which run through this book from the first page to the last.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0099597691</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author=Mick Manning and Brita Granstrom
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|isbn=1846045576
|title=Wild Adventures
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|title=Walks In The Wild
 +
|author=Peter Wohlleben and Ruth Ahmedzai Kemp (Translator)
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
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|genre=Animals and Wildlife|Animals and Wildlife
|summary=When I was growing up, TV only had four channels and games consoles came in the form of the rubber keyed ZX Spectrum. Despite these meagre offerings, we would still spend endless summer hours in the sitting room if our parents had not thrown us outside. In 2015, there are far more TV channels to watch and games come in high fidelity, what chance does nature have against ‘Call of Duty’? You would be surprised, as despite all the creature comforts of the front room, children still want to play outside, all they have to be - is inspired.
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|summary=''An instruction manual for the forest'' is how Wohlleben's publisher described the idea for this book, and that's basically what it is – although right at the end the author says that it is not intended to be a reference book, but an appetiser.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1847804365</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author=Adrienne Barman
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|isbn=Buckingham_Dawn
|title=Creaturepedia
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|title=The Little Book of the Dawn Chorus
|rating=4
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|author=Caz Buckingham and Andrea Pinnington
 +
|rating=5
 
|genre=Animals and Wildlife
 
|genre=Animals and Wildlife
|summary=''Creaturepedia'' welcomes young readers to the greatest show on earth, showcasing more than 600 different creatures within its pages. Rather than listing the animals in traditional alphabetical order, this book groups creatures according to a variety of criteria, including colour, habits and outstanding physical characteristics. Of course, there is a handy index at the end to keep the traditionalists happy too. There are a few unusual categories thrown in, such as mythical beats and extinct animals, as well as endangered species that sadly, may become extinct very soon
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|summary=What a treat!  I really did mean to just ''glance'' at ''The Little Book of the Dawn Chorus'' but the pull of the sounds of a dozen different birds singing their hearts out was far too much to resist on a cold and rather wet February morning. I spent an indulgent hour or so reading all about the birds and listening to their song. Then - just because I could - I went back and did it all again and it was just as good the second time around.  So, what do you get?
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1847806341</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author=Andrea Pinnington and Caz Buckingham
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|isbn=Honeyborne BlueII
|title=The Little Book of Garden Bird Song
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|title=Blue Planet II
|rating=5
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|author=James Honeyborne and Mark Brownlow
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
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|rating=4.5
|summary=Take a well-put-together board book (don't worry about it being a board book - no one is going to suggest that they're a bit too old for that), add exquisite pictures of a dozen birds - one on each double-page spread - and then fill in the details.  You'll need the name of the bird in English and Latin and a description of the bird in words which a child can understand but which won't patronise an adult.  Then you'll need details of where the bird is found, what it eats, where it nests, how many eggs it lays, how the male and female adults differ and their size.  Then you need a 'Did you know?' fact and this needs to be something which will interest children, but which adults might not know either.  Does it sound simple?  Well it isn't, but 'The Little Book of Garden Bird Song' does it perfectly.  And there's a bonus, but I'll tell you about that in a moment.
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|genre=Animals and Wildlife
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1908489251</amazonuk>
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|summary=You may well remember when the sticking of a number '2' after a film title was suggesting something of prestige - that the first film had been so good it was fully justified to have something more. That has hardly been proven correct, but it has until recently almost been confined to the cinema - you barely got a TV series worthy of a numbered sequel, and never in the world of non-fiction. If someone has made a nature series about, say, Alaska (and boy aren't there are a lot of those these days) and wants to make another, why she just makes another - nothing would justify the numeral. But some nature programmes do have the prestige, the energy and the heft to demand follow-ups. And after five years in the making, the BBC's Blue Planet series has delivered a second helping.
}}
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Helen Macdonald
 
|title=H is for Hawk
 
|rating=5
 
|genre=Autobiography
 
|summary=When I saw Helen Macdonald speak at a nature conference, she recounted a conversation with a Samuel Johnson Prize judge. S/he had remarked that Macdonald's was three books in one: a memoir of grief after her father's unexpected death, a biography of T. H. White, and an account of falconry experiments with Mabel the goshawk. Macdonald quipped that the description made her book sound like washing powder, but it's accurate nonetheless, and explains why the book won the Samuel Johnson Prize (the first memoir to do so) and is shortlisted for the Costa Biography award.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0224097008</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author=Noah Strycker
+
|isbn=Taylor_Owls
|title=The Magic and Mystery of Birds
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|title=Owls: A Guide to Every Species
 +
|author=Marianne Taylor
 
|rating=5
 
|rating=5
 
|genre=Animals and Wildlife
 
|genre=Animals and Wildlife
|summary=Sometimes it is easy to overlook the wonder all around us. For example, that scruffy looking starling sitting on your garden fence may look unassuming and commonplace, but type ''murmuration'' into the search bar on Youtube and prepare to be mesmerised as a huge flock of the birds perform a gracefully hypnotic aerial ballet which has an almost alien quality. If we take time to stop and look at our feathered friends, we will see that they are anything but ordinary. The bird world is full of unsolved mysteries that humans are only now beginning to unravel: How do pigeons navigate? How do vultures find food? What are penguins afraid of? How do nutcrackers find their hidden food caches? ''The Magic and Mystery of Birds'' searches for the answers to these questions, as well as many more, opening our eyes to the hidden world of birds.
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|summary=I feel like I am being watched. A huge pair of piercing orange eyes are staring right at me, locking me into their gaze. In contrast with the hardness of the deep-amber eyes, soft grey feathers fan out into the surrounding area, intricate, detailed and beautiful. An enigma; harsh and gentle at the same time, the owl is beckoning the reader to turn the pages and take a closer look inside...
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0285642790</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Steve Backshall
 
|title=Deadly Pole to Pole Diaries
 
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
 
|summary=Dear Diary, today I really woke up on the wrong side of the bed.  For most people that means waking up in a grumpy mood, but for me it literally means the wrong side of the bed.  I stepped straight into a pool full of viscous fish and then I climbed out, only to be chased by a bear. I am either eating too much cheese before I go to bed or partaking on a magnificent journey from Pole to Pole visiting dangerous animals on the way.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1444013769</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|title=The Snow Leopard (Mini Edition)
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|isbn=Montgomery Tamed
|author=Jackie Morris
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|title=Tamed and Untamed: Close Encounters of the Animal Kind
 +
|author=Sy Montgomery and Elizabeth Marshall Thomas
 
|rating=3.5
 
|rating=3.5
|genre=Confident Readers
+
|genre=Animals and Wildlife
|summary=You probably haven't heard of Mergichans – although if you pronounce it correctly in your head, in connection with spirits and magic, you will work out what they are. One of them is the totem, if you like, of a hidden Himalayan valley, and she is in the form of a snow leopard, singing existence as she sees fit and protecting the Shangri-La type location.  But she cannot protect it from all-comers, least of all when she's trying to sing to find a successor. Mergichans do not have it all their own way…
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|summary=Sy Montgomery and Elizabeth Marshall-Thomas are best friends who also happen to be ''New York Times'' best-selling authors. They first bonded over their shared love of animals: shortly after meeting, Sy's pet ferret had given Liz a nasty bite, but Liz didn't seem to mind at all. ''She REALLY didn't mind being bitten by a weasel. I knew we were soul mates,'' recalls Sy. ''Tamed and Untamed'' is the resulting collaboration between the two friends as they share personal anecdotes and amazing stories about the animal world.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1847805477</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|title=Life on Air
+
|isbn=Barr_Elephant
|author=David Attenborough
+
|title=10 Reasons to Love an Elephant
|rating=4.5
+
|author=Catherine Barr and Hanako Clulow
|genre=Autobiography
+
|rating=4
|summary=I was one of the generation who grew up when David Attenborough was a giant among presenters of wildlife programmes on television, and anything with his name attached was a must-watchAt the time, I had no idea that he was also one of the pivotal characters in the development of broadcasting, having been controller of BBC2 and director of programming for BBC TV for several yearsThese days, he is probably best remembered for writing and presenting the nine ‘Life’ series, a comprehensive survey of all life on the planet.
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|genre=Animals and Wildlife
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1849908524</amazonuk>
+
|summary=Ten reasons to love an elephant, eh?  Well, personally, I've never needed ten reasons as they've always been my favourite large animal, the gentle giants of Africa and India, but it was good to find out more about themPerhaps the most surprising fact which I discovered was that they live in herds headed by their ''grandmothers''Female elephants and their calves stay together and the oldest female elephant is the one in charge as she knows where to find food and water - and she knows her herd.  She remembers about people too.
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
+
{{Frontpage
|title=Mad About Mega Beasts!
+
|isbn=Grindrod Outskirts
|author=Giles Andreae and David Wojtowycz (Illustrator)
+
|title=Outskirts
|rating=5
+
|author=John Grindrod
|genre=For Sharing
+
|rating=4
|summary=When I was small I was fascinated with things that were big; big buildings, big vehicles, big animalsHowever, I have recently learnt that there is a size that is bigger than big – megaWhat beasts, both from now and from the past, are large enough to achieve this accolade and be welcomed into the hallowed pages of this book?
+
|genre=Animals and Wildlife
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1408329352</amazonuk>
+
|summary='' Outskirts'' is an interesting take on a phenomenon of the modern age: the introduction of the green belt of the countryside surrounding inner-city housing estatesJohn Grindrod grew up on the edge of one such estate in the 1960s and '70s, as he puts it, ''I grew up on the last road in London.'' Grindrod explores the introduction of the green belt, and the various fights and developments it has gone through over the subsequent decades, as environmental and political arguments have affected planning decisions.  Within this topic, he has somehow managed to wind around his personal memories of childhood, producing a memoir with a lot of heart.
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
+
 
|title=Four Fields
+
{{Frontpage
|author=Tim Dee
+
|isbn=Moss Wild
|rating=3.5
+
|title=Wild Kingdom: Bringing Back Britain's Wildlife
 +
|author=Stephen Moss
 +
|rating=4
 
|genre=Animals and Wildlife
 
|genre=Animals and Wildlife
|summary=If asked to name, or even think of, four fields, the common man might well struggle, such is the chance of him living in a city.  He might not think of the local park as a field, and he may turn to the field of the cloth of gold if a historian, the field of dreams perhaps, or he might at least have something looking like a football pitch in his mind's eye.  Tim Dee, not a nature scientist as such but so in tune with the outside world he really doesn't seem to have stopped indoors but to write this book in the past decade, seems like the sort of person who could hardly name four buildings, but would relish the chance to itemise his favourite fields.  He is very doubtful any two in Britain are the same.  Like snowflakes, then, they can bear a closer examination to show their full picture – and Dee picks on four, across the world and noted for events across the last few thousand years, to focus on.  The result is a rich – if at times over-rich – summation of the birdlife above the fields, and everything Dee knows and loves about them.
+
|summary=Wildlife has been declining in Britain over the last few decades; it is an unfortunate by-product of human population growth, which in the modern world has increased significantly. Through this book Moss suggests a few ways in which we can start to bring back some of Britain's wildlife without compromising the human way of life: we can co-exist with nature.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0099541378</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
+
{{Frontpage
|title=Animal Lives: Lions
+
|isbn=Sewell Spot
|author=Sally Morgan
+
|title=The Big Bird Spot
|rating=4.5
+
|author=Matt Sewell
 +
|rating=4
 
|genre=Animals and Wildlife
 
|genre=Animals and Wildlife
|summary=''Lions'' is part of the wonderful ''Animal Lives'' series, each focusing on a particular animal from the African savannah. This time, the king of the beasts takes centre stage, in a book that mixes stunning photography with plenty of fascinating facts and figures.
+
|summary=Recently I stood on a viewing platform at the RSPB reserve at Bempton Cliffs whilst a very helpful volunteer guided my sightline to one of the puffins who'd arrived on the cliffs in the last few days.  Finally, I found one, after visually sorting through all the other birds on the precipitous cliff face.  It was great fun and very rewarding.  The third double-page spread in wild-life author and artist Matt Sewell's first book for children, ''The Big Bird Spot'', shows some cliffs very like those at Bempton, but this time you're going to be looking for twenty-three Little Auks, in amongst the guillemots, puffins, herring gulls and razorbills. Oh, and you're looking for a pair of binoculars too: our bird watcher is very careless because you're going to have to find them in every picture.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1781715297</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
+
{{Frontpage
|title=Animal Lives: Giraffes
+
|isbn=Burkey_Ethics
|author=Sally Morgan
+
|title=Ethics for a Full World or, Can Animal-Lovers Save the World?
|rating=4.5
+
|author=Tormod V Burkey
 +
|rating=4
 
|genre=Animals and Wildlife
 
|genre=Animals and Wildlife
|summary=The new ''Animal Lives'' series of picture books aims to help young children become animal experts, with each book focusing on a different wild animal. The current series looks at animals of the African savannah and this time it is the turn of the noble giraffe to take centre stage.
+
|summary=Burkey argues that man's current practices are outside the realms of nature. He is no longer part of the ecosystem but instead exists above it through his dominating ways. He is himself distanced even further by advancement in technologies, industry, money and all the pollution that comes with them. The natural world, Burkey argues, no longer exists for man because he has altered it by such things. Indeed, global warming has caused climate change, which, if it continues, will make the world unrecognisable. For the world to become fuller, for it to be a world that seeks to provide for the needs of every living thing, then it needs to change.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1781715300</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
+
{{Frontpage
|title=Animal Lives: Elephants
+
|isbn=Ljung_Butterfly
|author=Sally Morgan
+
|title=Build a ... Butterfly
 +
|author=Kiki Ljung
 
|rating=4.5
 
|rating=4.5
 +
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
 +
|summary=I love butterflies: they're one of the delights of my garden and it's always a pleasure when there are children there and they see a butterfly close up, possibly for the first time, as it rests on a flower. Kiki Ljung has given us the opportunity to learn about butterflies and also to build a 3D model of our own. The book is primarily aimed at the five to eight-year-old age group, but I have to confess that I had a great deal of fun building my own painted lady. I learned quite a bit too!
 +
}}
 +
{{Frontpage
 +
|isbn=Jones_Foxes
 +
|title=Foxes Unearthed: A Story of Love and Loathing in Modern Britain
 +
|author=Lucy Jones
 +
|rating=4
 
|genre=Animals and Wildlife
 
|genre=Animals and Wildlife
|summary=The eye-catching image on the cover of this glossy picture book certainly encourages young readers to pick it up and start reading. Two cute baby elephants gaze confidently into the camera lens whilst sharing a trunkful of lush green vegetation. There is just ''something'' about baby elephants, isn't there? Who could resist opening the book for a closer look?
+
|summary=As one of the largest predators left in Britain, the fox is captivating: a comfortably familiar figure in our country landscapes; an intriguing flash of bright-eyed wildness in our towns. Yet no other animal attracts such controversy, has provoked more column inches or been so ambiguously woven into our culture over centuries, perceived variously as a beautiful animal, a cunning rogue, a vicious pest and a worthy foe. As well as being the most ubiquitous of wild animals, it is also the least understood. Here Lucy Jones investigates the truth about foxes – delving into fact, fiction, folklore and her own history with the creatures. Discussing the debate on foxes, Jones asks what our attitudes towards foxes says about us, and our relationship with the natural world.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1781715319</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
+
{{Frontpage
|title=Animal Lives: Cheetahs
+
|isbn=Metisola_1st
|author=Sally Morgan
+
|title=My First Animals
|rating=4.5
+
|author=Aino-Maija Metsola
 +
|rating=4
 
|genre=Animals and Wildlife
 
|genre=Animals and Wildlife
|summary=The first thing that struck me about this book was the excellent use of visuals. Most of the photographs in the book are for a double page spread. The images are crisp and clear and provide a great close-up view of these beautiful cats. Using the photograph as a centrepiece, each two-page section examines a different aspect of cheetah behaviour. Subjects covered include growing up, hunting, territory and cheetahs under threat. The sections have a brief introductory paragraph in large, bold print and then several smaller facts surround the main picture, sometimes including smaller photographs to illustrate the main points.
+
|summary=Get used to two simple words if you have a child, ''What's That?'' You will hear it over and over and over again. If you are lucky they are pointing at something that you actually know – chair, hat, my sense of regret. Sometimes they will point at something that is not too familiar. Here the parental practice of making something up comes into play – it's a bird type thing. Books that show images of items, colours or animals may seem a little dull to an adult, but to a toddler learning about the world, they are a who's who of what's that.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1781715327</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
+
{{Frontpage
|title=The Bee: A Natural History
+
|isbn=Packham_Babies
|author=Noah Wilson-Rich
+
|title=Amazing Animal Babies
|rating=5
+
|author=Chris Packham and Jason Cockcroft
 +
|rating=3.5
 
|genre=Animals and Wildlife
 
|genre=Animals and Wildlife
|summary=Bees have been making a bit of a media splash of late, due to heightened concern about their declining numbers and general welfare. Governments have been urged to do more to protect these important creatures, with a recent EU ban on neonicotinoid pesticides hailed as a 'victory for bees'. There is no doubt that these prolific pollinators are a vital part of our ecosystem, and the human fascination with bees goes back to our ancient history. But just why do we find these hardworking insects so fascinating?
+
|summary=Many children love animals, but they love baby animals even more. Would you rather watch a dog or watch a puppy? A cat or a kitten? A meerkat or a smaller meerkat? The answer is a no brainer to most children who enjoy the wide-eyed stumbling of youth that is not dissimilar to their own. However, someone needs to give them the facts about baby animals and who better than wildlife presenter Chris Packham?
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1782401075</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
+
{{Frontpage
|author=Ellie Laks
+
|isbn=PrasadamHall_Pairs
|title=My Gentle Barn: where animals heal and children learn to hope
+
|title=Pairs in the Garden
|rating=4.5
+
|author=Smriti Prasadam-Halls and Lorna Scobie
|genre=Autobiography
+
|rating=4
|summary=As a child Ellie Laks was abused, but not only did she suffer at the hands of her abuser, she also had to endure parental indifference to what was happening to her.  Her only relief came through animals - and even then she had to cope when the animals were taken from her.  As an adult she discovered that she had a real talent for healing animals - and that they helped her to heal too.  In a brilliant leap of intuition she realised that if the animals could help her to heal they could do the same for  others and so the Gentle Barn was born - a place where animals were brought as a place of safety and where disadvantaged children and special needs groups could use as therapy.
+
|genre=Animals and Wildlife
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0099584883</amazonuk>
+
|summary=''Pairs in the Garden'' is a fun book/game hybrid for little fingers into creepy crawlies. It's a lift-the-flap book with a difference, because not only do you get to see what's underneath, you then must see if you can find a matching pair on the same page. But beware! You cannot just use the process of elimination because there are 7 flaps on each page, but only 3 pairs to find. One poor creature is all alone with no partner.
}}
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Michael Fogden, Marianne Taylor and Sheri L Williamson
 
|title=Hummingbirds: A Life-Size Guide to Every Species
 
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=Reference
 
|summary=I've always been fascinated by hummingbirds - delicate, colourful, beautifully and brilliantly adapted to extract nectar from flowers. Perhaps most of all for me it's their acrobatic flight - the ability to hover and manoeuvre which has me hooked: I could watch them for hours, amazed that birds whose weight can only meaningfully be given in ounces can do so much.  I was drawn to this book as soon as I saw it, for a number of reasons.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1782400893</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 +
 +
Move on to [[Newest Anthologies Reviews]]

Latest revision as of 21:59, 29 January 2024

1529395224.jpg

Review of

Letting the Cat Out of the Bag: The Secret Life of a Vet by Sion Rowlands

3.5star.jpg Animals and Wildlife

Siôn Rowlands fell into veterinary science accidentally. His father was a GP and Rowlands didn't want to follow in his footsteps, particularly when he considered the strain that being on-call put on his father's life. When he was seventeen he took the opportunity of doing work experience with a family friend who was a vet and was convinced this was the job for him. Before long, he was at Liverpool University. It hadn't - as with so many students - been his dream since he was a child. If anything, he'd wanted to be a professional footballer. Full Review

1839948493.jpg

Review of

A World of Dogs by Carlie Sorosiak and Luisa Uribe

5star.jpg Children's Non-Fiction

In the interests of full disclosure, I must tell you that I'm a sucker for dogs. In nearly eight decades, I've never met one I didn't trust and I've loved most of them. I wish I felt the same about human beings. So, any book about dogs, I'm going to sit down and devour. Then I'm going to go back and read it properly. And so it was with A World of Dogs, with ninety-six pages devoted entirely to my four-legged friends. Author Carlie Sorosiak found herself the accidental owner of an American Dingo - she's learned quite a lot about dogs since then. Full Review

1783966386.jpg

Review of

Light Rains Sometimes Fall by Lev Parikian

4.5star.jpg Animals and Wildlife

If you’re a writer yourself, or an aspiring writer, or someone who pretends to write, then you know that there are unnumbered types of books. Some you read for fun, some for distraction, some for vicarious emotion, some to learn from in a random way, some for focussed research, and some because they are, broadly speaking, the kind of thing you think you might like to write. Or, indeed, are actually trying to write. Full Review

1398508632.jpg

Review of

The Wilderness Cure by Mo Wilde

5star.jpg Lifestyle

It had been on the cards for a while but it was the week-long consumer binge which pushed Mo Wilde into beginning her year of eating only wild food. The end of November, particularly in Central Scotland was perhaps not the best time to start, in a world where the normal sores had been exacerbated by climate change, Brexit and a pandemic. Wilde had a few advantages: the area around her was a known habitat with a variety of terrains. She had electricity which allowed her to run a fridge, freezer and dehydrator. She had a car - and fuel. Most importantly, she had shelter: this was not a plan to live wild just to live off its produce. Full Review

0711266204.jpg

Review of

The Secret Life of Birds by Moira Butterfield and Vivian Mineker (illustrator)

5star.jpg Children's Non-Fiction

I have recently discovered a great pleasure: I sit and watch the vast numbers of birds which visit our garden on a daily basis. An hour can pass without my noticing. I've established which species feed from the ground, which pop to the feeders for a quick snatch of some food and who settles in for a good munch but I wish I was more knowledgeable. It would have been wonderful if, as a child, I'd had access to a book such as The Secret Life of Birds. So – what is it? Full Review

Gareth steel.jpg

Review of

Never Work With Animals by Gareth Steel

4star.jpg Animals and Wildlife

I don't often begin my reviews with a warning but with Never Work With Animals it seems to be appropriate. Stories of a vet's life have proved popular since All Creatures Great and Small but Never Work With Animals is definitely not the companion volume you've been looking for. As a TV show the author would argue that All Creatures lacked realism, as do other similar programmes. Gareth Steel says that the book is not suitable for younger readers and - after reading - I agree with him. He says that he's written it to inform and provoke thought, particularly amongst aspiring vets. It deals with some uncomfortable and distressing issues but it doesn't lack sensitivity, although there are occasions when you would be best choosing between reading and eating. Full Review

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Review of

How to Love Animals in a Human-Shaped World by Henry Mance

5star.jpg Politics and Society

When we do think about animals, we break them down into species and groups: cows, dogs, foxes, elephants and so on. And we assign them places in society: cows go on plates, dogs on sofas, foxes in rubbish bins, elephants in zoos, and millions of wild animals stay out there, somewhere, hopefully on the next David Attenborough series.

I was going to argue. I mean, cows are for cheese (I couldn't consider eating red meat...) and I much prefer my elephants in the wild but then I realised that I was quibbling for the sake of it. Essentially that quote sums up my attitude to animals - and I consider myself an animal lover. If I had to choose between the company of humans and the company of animals, I would probably choose the animals. I insisted that I read this book: no one was trying to stop me but I was initially reluctant. I eat cheese, eggs, chicken and fish and I needed to either do so without guilt or change my choices. I suspected that making the decision would not be comfortable. Full Review

1786495902.jpg

Review of

The Natural Health Service: How Nature Can Mend Your Mind by Isabel Hardman

5star.jpg Lifestyle

Isabel Hardman suffered a trauma which she chooses not to share. She says that a friend who does know, burst into tears and health-care professionals' jaws have sagged in disbelief. Hardman dealt with this at the time by 'keeping going': the next day she went to work to cover the budget, next there was the EU referendum, the political party leadership contests and then it was party conference season. One night she had to be sedated and returned home to begin long-term sick leave. That was what brought me to this book: 2020 was the year when the bins went out more often than I did. Full Review

1782407480.jpg

Review of

Bird Love: The Family Life of Birds by Wenfei Tong and Mike Webster

4.5star.jpg Animals and Wildlife

I was a little perturbed when I looked at the blurb for Bird Love on a couple of on-line booksellers: exploring the sex life of birds it said. I very nearly passed over the book, but a closer examination suggested that the book is about the family life of birds, which is rather different. If the book was confined to the sex life of birds, you would be missing an opportunity to understand how birds live day-to-day, bring up their families and cope in the wild. Not only that, you have missed the treat of so many beautiful illustrations about a wide variety of birds which run through this book from the first page to the last. Full Review

1846045576.jpg

Review of

Walks In The Wild by Peter Wohlleben and Ruth Ahmedzai Kemp (Translator)

4star.jpg Animals and Wildlife

An instruction manual for the forest is how Wohlleben's publisher described the idea for this book, and that's basically what it is – although right at the end the author says that it is not intended to be a reference book, but an appetiser. Full Review

Buckingham Dawn.jpg

Review of

The Little Book of the Dawn Chorus by Caz Buckingham and Andrea Pinnington

5star.jpg Animals and Wildlife

What a treat! I really did mean to just glance at The Little Book of the Dawn Chorus but the pull of the sounds of a dozen different birds singing their hearts out was far too much to resist on a cold and rather wet February morning. I spent an indulgent hour or so reading all about the birds and listening to their song. Then - just because I could - I went back and did it all again and it was just as good the second time around. So, what do you get? Full Review

link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/Honeyborne BlueII/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21

Review of

Blue Planet II by James Honeyborne and Mark Brownlow

4.5star.jpg Animals and Wildlife

You may well remember when the sticking of a number '2' after a film title was suggesting something of prestige - that the first film had been so good it was fully justified to have something more. That has hardly been proven correct, but it has until recently almost been confined to the cinema - you barely got a TV series worthy of a numbered sequel, and never in the world of non-fiction. If someone has made a nature series about, say, Alaska (and boy aren't there are a lot of those these days) and wants to make another, why she just makes another - nothing would justify the numeral. But some nature programmes do have the prestige, the energy and the heft to demand follow-ups. And after five years in the making, the BBC's Blue Planet series has delivered a second helping. Full Review

Taylor Owls.jpg

Review of

Owls: A Guide to Every Species by Marianne Taylor

5star.jpg Animals and Wildlife

I feel like I am being watched. A huge pair of piercing orange eyes are staring right at me, locking me into their gaze. In contrast with the hardness of the deep-amber eyes, soft grey feathers fan out into the surrounding area, intricate, detailed and beautiful. An enigma; harsh and gentle at the same time, the owl is beckoning the reader to turn the pages and take a closer look inside... Full Review

link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/Montgomery Tamed/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21

Review of

Tamed and Untamed: Close Encounters of the Animal Kind by Sy Montgomery and Elizabeth Marshall Thomas

3.5star.jpg Animals and Wildlife

Sy Montgomery and Elizabeth Marshall-Thomas are best friends who also happen to be New York Times best-selling authors. They first bonded over their shared love of animals: shortly after meeting, Sy's pet ferret had given Liz a nasty bite, but Liz didn't seem to mind at all. She REALLY didn't mind being bitten by a weasel. I knew we were soul mates, recalls Sy. Tamed and Untamed is the resulting collaboration between the two friends as they share personal anecdotes and amazing stories about the animal world. Full Review

Barr Elephant.jpg

Review of

10 Reasons to Love an Elephant by Catherine Barr and Hanako Clulow

4star.jpg Animals and Wildlife

Ten reasons to love an elephant, eh? Well, personally, I've never needed ten reasons as they've always been my favourite large animal, the gentle giants of Africa and India, but it was good to find out more about them. Perhaps the most surprising fact which I discovered was that they live in herds headed by their grandmothers. Female elephants and their calves stay together and the oldest female elephant is the one in charge as she knows where to find food and water - and she knows her herd. She remembers about people too. Full Review

link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/Grindrod Outskirts/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21

Review of

Outskirts by John Grindrod

4star.jpg Animals and Wildlife

Outskirts is an interesting take on a phenomenon of the modern age: the introduction of the green belt of the countryside surrounding inner-city housing estates. John Grindrod grew up on the edge of one such estate in the 1960s and '70s, as he puts it, I grew up on the last road in London. Grindrod explores the introduction of the green belt, and the various fights and developments it has gone through over the subsequent decades, as environmental and political arguments have affected planning decisions. Within this topic, he has somehow managed to wind around his personal memories of childhood, producing a memoir with a lot of heart. Full Review

link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/Moss Wild/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21

Review of

Wild Kingdom: Bringing Back Britain's Wildlife by Stephen Moss

4star.jpg Animals and Wildlife

Wildlife has been declining in Britain over the last few decades; it is an unfortunate by-product of human population growth, which in the modern world has increased significantly. Through this book Moss suggests a few ways in which we can start to bring back some of Britain's wildlife without compromising the human way of life: we can co-exist with nature. Full Review

link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/Sewell Spot/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21

Review of

The Big Bird Spot by Matt Sewell

4star.jpg Animals and Wildlife

Recently I stood on a viewing platform at the RSPB reserve at Bempton Cliffs whilst a very helpful volunteer guided my sightline to one of the puffins who'd arrived on the cliffs in the last few days. Finally, I found one, after visually sorting through all the other birds on the precipitous cliff face. It was great fun and very rewarding. The third double-page spread in wild-life author and artist Matt Sewell's first book for children, The Big Bird Spot, shows some cliffs very like those at Bempton, but this time you're going to be looking for twenty-three Little Auks, in amongst the guillemots, puffins, herring gulls and razorbills. Oh, and you're looking for a pair of binoculars too: our bird watcher is very careless because you're going to have to find them in every picture. Full Review

Burkey Ethics.jpg

Review of

Ethics for a Full World or, Can Animal-Lovers Save the World? by Tormod V Burkey

4star.jpg Animals and Wildlife

Burkey argues that man's current practices are outside the realms of nature. He is no longer part of the ecosystem but instead exists above it through his dominating ways. He is himself distanced even further by advancement in technologies, industry, money and all the pollution that comes with them. The natural world, Burkey argues, no longer exists for man because he has altered it by such things. Indeed, global warming has caused climate change, which, if it continues, will make the world unrecognisable. For the world to become fuller, for it to be a world that seeks to provide for the needs of every living thing, then it needs to change. Full Review

Ljung Butterfly.jpg

Review of

Build a ... Butterfly by Kiki Ljung

4.5star.jpg Children's Non-Fiction

I love butterflies: they're one of the delights of my garden and it's always a pleasure when there are children there and they see a butterfly close up, possibly for the first time, as it rests on a flower. Kiki Ljung has given us the opportunity to learn about butterflies and also to build a 3D model of our own. The book is primarily aimed at the five to eight-year-old age group, but I have to confess that I had a great deal of fun building my own painted lady. I learned quite a bit too! Full Review

Jones Foxes.jpg

Review of

Foxes Unearthed: A Story of Love and Loathing in Modern Britain by Lucy Jones

4star.jpg Animals and Wildlife

As one of the largest predators left in Britain, the fox is captivating: a comfortably familiar figure in our country landscapes; an intriguing flash of bright-eyed wildness in our towns. Yet no other animal attracts such controversy, has provoked more column inches or been so ambiguously woven into our culture over centuries, perceived variously as a beautiful animal, a cunning rogue, a vicious pest and a worthy foe. As well as being the most ubiquitous of wild animals, it is also the least understood. Here Lucy Jones investigates the truth about foxes – delving into fact, fiction, folklore and her own history with the creatures. Discussing the debate on foxes, Jones asks what our attitudes towards foxes says about us, and our relationship with the natural world. Full Review

Metisola 1st.jpg

Review of

My First Animals by Aino-Maija Metsola

4star.jpg Animals and Wildlife

Get used to two simple words if you have a child, What's That? You will hear it over and over and over again. If you are lucky they are pointing at something that you actually know – chair, hat, my sense of regret. Sometimes they will point at something that is not too familiar. Here the parental practice of making something up comes into play – it's a bird type thing. Books that show images of items, colours or animals may seem a little dull to an adult, but to a toddler learning about the world, they are a who's who of what's that. Full Review

Packham Babies.jpg

Review of

Amazing Animal Babies by Chris Packham and Jason Cockcroft

3.5star.jpg Animals and Wildlife

Many children love animals, but they love baby animals even more. Would you rather watch a dog or watch a puppy? A cat or a kitten? A meerkat or a smaller meerkat? The answer is a no brainer to most children who enjoy the wide-eyed stumbling of youth that is not dissimilar to their own. However, someone needs to give them the facts about baby animals and who better than wildlife presenter Chris Packham? Full Review

PrasadamHall Pairs.jpg

Review of

Pairs in the Garden by Smriti Prasadam-Halls and Lorna Scobie

4star.jpg Animals and Wildlife

Pairs in the Garden is a fun book/game hybrid for little fingers into creepy crawlies. It's a lift-the-flap book with a difference, because not only do you get to see what's underneath, you then must see if you can find a matching pair on the same page. But beware! You cannot just use the process of elimination because there are 7 flaps on each page, but only 3 pairs to find. One poor creature is all alone with no partner. Full Review

Move on to Newest Anthologies Reviews