Letters From Eden: A Year at Home, in the Woods
Reviews (128)
A delightful collection of short stories and artwork
My first copy of this book was a former library book that I picked-up at a book swap last year. It had a few dings and smudges and appeared to have been read several times; I glanced through it, and selected it. I found it to be a delightful collection of short stories accompanied by beautiful sketches and watercolors. Its format made it easy to read, for a just few minutes or an extended period, depending on the amount of time I had at the moment. I have enjoyed it so much, that I recently purchased a copy in better condition to keep. I wrote a short note explaining what I liked about the book, taped it to the plastic cover of my first copy, and donated it at our group's next book swap held earlier this month. I noticed someone else took that copy home.
lLOVE OF NATURE
This is a delightful book written by a great and enthustic lover of nature. Ms Zickefoose became a biologist with the Nature Conservancy. She decided to become a biologist as a young child and was encouraged by her parents to follow her dreams. She loves nature,the changing seasons and the wildlife. She is a marvelous artist, drawing scenes,different animals, but her favorite animal is the bird. There are drawings and water colors of birds of all colors, all sizes, beautiful birds, colorful birds, drab birds plus other animals. I bought this book because the Nature Conservancy highly recommended it on Public Radio. Julie Zickefoose has separated her book into the four seasons. Each season is presented into different years, different places where this biologist has worked. She tells of her interaction with birds and other animals,of watching and enjoying them. Ms Zickefoose is retired from the Nature Conservancy and has bought a large plot of land in the Appalachian mountains of southern Ohio. One story is about her bullfrog, Fergus, who she raised from a tadpool and placed in her pool until she found he was dining on her birds. He was exiled from her home. This one of her many stories about her animal friends. All her stories are fun. Ms Zickefoose has two kids and is enjoying working her land, watching, writing about, drawing and interacting with her animal friends. The book is delightful, informative about animals,plants, trees and nature in general. I highly enjoy it and am glad I bought it. Enjoyable.
Letters from Eden
To give this book five stars is a bit risky. It has a minor flaw or two. It raises the question of what a person can do when Julie Zickefoose writes an even better book. However, this book goes straight to a bird lover's heart. Readers of Bird Watcher's Digest have long enjoyed Zickefoose's essays and paintings. This collection of essays reminds us that she is one of the best nature writers publishing today. Almost every emotion finds its way into "Letters from Eden." There is the expectation, discovery, and excitement of going with Julie on her walks through the southern Ohio forest. The walks can also provide a quiet time. There is the humor of the essay on bullfrogs or Julie poking fun at herself because she wants some chickens. There is loss as human thoughtlessness harms an animal or bird. There is tenderness as Julie, ever the rehabilitator, nurses birds and animals to the point of releasing them into the wild. There is wonder as various wild things demonstrate intelligence beyond what humans normally expect of them. Raising young children in an area where there are copperhead snakes can lend a touch of terror. That is counterbalanced by Julie's faith in all things natural. Not least among the emotions is the reader's enjoyment in these delightful narratives. Then again, there is always balance in Julie's stories. She recognizes that predators must eat, even when it means the death of a loved bird. Weedy brush from foreign soil tries to overrun everything but provides needed shelter for wildlife. House sparrows introduced from England are a threat to native species but Julie notes that it is through no fault of their own. She is a vegetable gardener who rues the damage birds and animals do to her crops, but weighs that against the benefit they gain from her garden and the joy she gets from seeing them there. Zickefoose is a mother and her young children are ever present in these essays. Again, there is a nice balance between the love of family and the fact that they cut into the time available for studying the outdoors and writing. Julie's art is a perfect complement to the essays. There are simple pencil drawings and quick watercolors. There are also some beautifully finished paintings and ink drawings. The text is very easily read, although the field notes accompanying some of the sketches are sometimes hard to make out. The thirty-some essays were originally meant to stand alone. Julie has organized them here by seasons of the year. Therein is a minor flaw. The essays do not lead into one another easily and they jump back and forth in time. Zickefoose recognizes the problem and mentions it in her Foreword. Still, it is a flaw and leaves room for an even better book - a book that gets six stars out of five.
Letter from Eden a visual treat for bird-lovers
First saw Julie's beautiful watercolors in The Nature Conservancy's magazine. As a former field biologist, she brings years of observation to her art work. Every drawing is accompanied by a story, some stories may make you sad, some may increase your understanding of the natural world and the part we play in the survival of certain species. I bought this book as a present for my bird-loving dad and couldn't resist reading it cover to cover.
A charming compilation of essays
There is nothing exciting or particularly dramatic about this book, but Zickefoose's gentle musings on her life in Ohio and her encounters with her fellow creatures are charming, informative and life affirming. I am not a particularly visual person, so I was captivated by her prose, not her pictures, tho' I understand she is an artist of some renown. For me, the joy was in how incredibly observant and conversant she is with the natural world. She sees what most of us would simply walk past, and further, she knows a great deal about what she sees. This is a lovely book if you are interested in reading about birds (and some other animals) and their behavior but without any specific plot line or story. These are, rather, a series of essays or unconnected stories that together form a narrative of life amidst the natural world. Her other book which revolves around her life as a song bird rehabilitator is fascinating and perhaps more cohesive because it follows a single theme. I learned a great deal from that and enjoyed it immensely. She has the ability to draw the reader in and share what she knows effortlessly.
Like a walk through my backyard
I really love this book. Reading it is like walking through my backyard and visiting old friends. Although the book is mostly written from an Ohio perspective, I also look forward to the various bird and animal visitors we get each season here in New England. I look forward to that first sighting of a junco in Winter and the sound of the Wood frogs that herald spring. I have to read the chapter on the Grossbeak invasions to my wife since she told me stories of this happening in her childhood and her Dad also made a window feeder for them. The writing is down-to-earth and genuine with some sadness but a lot of humor and an obvious love of life. The Author's pencil sketches and watercolors are perfect. She has the ability to capture the personality of a bird or animal in a few pencil strokes that I wish I had. The book is actually smaller that I envisioned it - I didn't bother to look at the dimensions before ordering it - but I am glad since it is easier to carry and read in bed. I am only three quarters through the book, but I have a feeling I will be re-reading it a lot.
Beautiful book
I have enjoyed reading Julie Zickefoose's articles in "Bird Watcher's Digest" for years and also liked her earlier PBS radio segments. In addition to her down to earth observations, her art work is wonderful with all the details. She is such a caring person and this book is an extension of that. It's like sitting down with a good friend!
Beautiful
Simply gorgeous- the words and the artwork. A real treasure.
A Must for Nature Lovers
Julie Zickefoose somehow educates and amuses simultaneously. She captures details in nature trough story telling and artistry, and makes them come alive. I especially enjoyed the chapter about Fergus the bullfrog, titled Paradise Lost. Letters From Eden makes one want to get out and explore, look, and discover the wonders of nature. For that we should all be grateful. This book is to be savored slowly, bit by bit. It is a treasure.
keeping us grounded
beautiful meditations on what matters
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