From School Library Journal
Grade 2-4–This readable account focuses on a short period in the famous naturalist's youth. Audubon, who was born and raised in France, was sent to America at age 18 to avoid service in Napoleon's army. Living in his father's farmhouse in Pennsylvania, he roamed the countryside and observed nature. His interest in birds and their migration habits led him to watch a family of pewee flycatchers (Eastern Phoebes) that nested in a limestone cave nearby. In order to determine whether the same creatures returned each year, he banded the young birds with silver thread before they flew south in autumn, providing a means of identification when they returned in spring. Davies relates how the self-taught painter and ornithologist combined his artistic talent and keen skills of observation to produce detailed, life-sized portraits of birds "alive and moving." Sweet's extensive research is evident in her carefully crafted, mixed-media artwork, which includes photos of found objects, re-created pages from a nature sketchbook, maps, and watercolor paintings of young Audubon in the rolling Pennsylvania countryside. Students writing reports can find further information in Peter Anderson's John James Audubon: Wildlife Artist (Sagebrush, 1996). The Boy Who Drew Birds is a wonderful and accessible introduction to a man who made a great impact on the science of ornithology.–Susan Scheps, Shaker Heights Public Library, OH Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.


From Booklist
Gr. 2-4. The story opens with 18-year-old French naturalist John James Audubon roaming Pennsylvania countryside in search of birds. In an effort to determine whether individual birds return to the same nests in the spring, he uses silver thread to band some fledgling peewee flycatchers. He observes them as they grow through the summer, leave for the winter, and return the following year. An appended historical note explains that Audubon was the first person in North America to band a bird and that Audubon became "the greatest painter of birds of all time," while a source note details which parts of the story are based on speculation, and an illustrator's note comments on research, inspiration, and technique. Sweet's mixed-media collage artwork includes sensitive pencil sketches and ink drawings washed with watercolors and gouache, as well as elements such as photos of bird nests and bones. A good companion to Jennifer Armstrong's picture-book biography Audubon (2003), which relates several incidents in the painter's later life, this handsome book makes a beguiling introduction to the painter. Carolyn Phelan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved


Review
Sweet's relaxed watercolor style and skillful incorporation of collage, plus a lively narration that illuminates Audobon's passion for observation and sets his pivotal insight into context, make this appealing vignette a fine introduction to his work.


Book Description
John James Audubon was a boy who loved the out-of-doors more than the in. He was a boy who believed in studying birds in nature, not just from books. And, in the fall of 1804, he was a boy determined to learn if the small birds nesting near his Pennsylvania home really would return the following spring. This book reveals how the youthful Audubon pioneered a technique essential to our understanding of birds. Capturing the early passion of America"s greatest painter of birds, this story will leave young readers listening intently for the call of birds large and small near their own homes.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

John James Audubon was a boy who loved the out-of-doors more than the in. He was a boy who believed in studying birds in nature, not just from books. And, in the fall of 1804, he was a boy determined to learn if the small birds nesting near his Pennsylvania home really would return the following spring. This book reveals how the youthful Audubon pioneered a technique essential to our understanding of birds. Capturing the early passion of America's greatest painter of birds, this story will leave young readers listening intently for the call of birds large and small near their own homes.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

The Boy Who Drew Birds: A Story of John James Audubon by Jacqueline Davies, illus. by Melissa Sweet, tells of the naturalist's lifelong study of his feathered friends. Author and artist portray Audubon as a curious and dedicated young adult who meticulously studied birds, their sounds, characteristics and behavior. Sweet uses a combination of pencils, ink and watercolors overlaid on several different types and textures of paper, and often incorporates photographs of fossils, feathers and more. A handsome presentation of this influential man's life. Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Children's Literature - Ken Marantz and Sylvia Marantz

Audubon is famous for his paintings of the birds of America. Davies takes us back to his youth in France in the early 19th century, where on walks with his father his interest in birds began. At eighteen he came to America. As he walks through the late snows of April in Pennsylvania, he notes the return of the pewee flycatchers. He wonders whether these are the same birds that built the nest last year, where they spend the winter and if they will return next spring. Nowhere does he find the answers to these questions. He begins a study of the birds, including drawing them. He then devises a way to mark them before they fly south. He has banded them, the very way birds are banded now, so he can tell that they do return to the same nest each year. There's a delicacy to the visual content as Sweet's mixed media and collage pages create scenes that are filled with the things the curious naturalist might have collected and drawn. There are also sketchy landscapes, buildings, and images of the young Audubon providing a context for his story. The book ends with additional information about Audubon, notes on the sources used by the author and illustrator, and a bibliography. 2004, Houghton Mifflin Company, Ages 6 to 10.

Kirkus Reviews