ireney5's review against another edition
3.0
This book has beautiful illustrations (as well as some great writing), but the descriptions were not what I expected. Rather than a consistent number of fun facts about each owl, the 50 owls featured in this book are described somewhat erratically (some focusing on appearance, some on history, some on disposition, etc.) ranging from a few short paragraphs (for the Barn Owl that opens the book) to just a couple of sentences that don't say much about the bird at all.
Here is an example:
That's the full entry. Though I love the personality present in the writing, I learned nothing about this owl. To start, where can this owl be found? Surely Sewell could have at least included which continent(s) this owl lives on. What makes this owl unique and why was it one of the 50 breeds featured in this book?
I'm giving this book 3 stars because it's a great gift book for the casual owl/bird/animal-lover (but not for people who actually want to learn more about different breeds of owls) and has some really beautiful and/or quirky descriptions about owls that made me appreciate Sewell's ability to write.
To end on a positive note, here is an example of a description I loved, about the Flammulated Owl:
Here is an example:
Short-Eared Owl: Caught in the sunny daytime after she has been up all night, with a face like thunder, mid-walk of shame, flying over open ground looking for her purse, mascara smeared, with a beast of a hangover. Don't get in her way, don't talk to her, just let her do what she's doing so she can get back to bed. She needs her shut-eye.
That's the full entry. Though I love the personality present in the writing, I learned nothing about this owl. To start, where can this owl be found? Surely Sewell could have at least included which continent(s) this owl lives on. What makes this owl unique and why was it one of the 50 breeds featured in this book?
I'm giving this book 3 stars because it's a great gift book for the casual owl/bird/animal-lover (but not for people who actually want to learn more about different breeds of owls) and has some really beautiful and/or quirky descriptions about owls that made me appreciate Sewell's ability to write.
To end on a positive note, here is an example of a description I loved, about the Flammulated Owl:
"She looks like a little wet owl who has been rolled in a dusty elixir - a potion concocted from a pinch of leaves from an autumnal, amber forest floor, which are then delicately crushed to a fiery dust and transfused with a handful of sparks, and a bit of eye of newt and toe of frog mixed in for good measure. Magic!"
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