Shelley J. Reeves

Received as an e-book to review. These are "vintage" stories, from about 1920. They tend to the anthropomorphic. Really hated Corbie - poor baby crow is bird-napped and raised in a human household. Crows are very sociable and to write a story that seems to encourage such a theft is cruel. The stores are interesting otherwise, as a look at various bird natural history. The Vagabonds gives a view of bird migration without the present day political hazards. A good read as long as you keep in show more mind the times the stories were written and enjoy it for the "color" of the writing. show less

I received this book as an e-book member give-away and it's taken me awhile to get to it as I have several books on my "to read" list. My apologies to the author! But I finally decided that it was time to read and review it. It wasn't quite what I expected, but that turned out to be alright, as I found the reading to be relaxing and enjoyable. The Birds is appropriately described as a collection of bird "stories". Each bird described is given a name and personality, as if they were a tiny show more "person". Children and bird lovers alike would find them enchanting. The writing is charming and reminiscent of an earlier, more innocent age. The photographs are beautiful and enhance the reading experience. As mentioned by another reviewer, the story of the baby crow is a bit disturbing, as he was literally stolen out of his nest so that a human family could raise him as a pet. This might have been acceptable behavior in 1920 when the original story was written, but is certainly not today. But overall, I liked the stories very much and could imagine giving this book as a gift to a bird lover or a child. show less

A quick read of six simplistic bird stories with beautiful photography.

would have like to read this book, but never rec'd it.