Alison’s Fishing Birds

Illustrated by: Sheryl McDougald

Beautifully illustrated children’s story about Canadian wildlife by famed Canadian conservationist and Governor General Award-winning author, Roderick Haig-Brown. First published as a limited edition in 1980 by Colophon Books, Alison’s Fishing Birds by BC’s acclaimed author and conservationist Roderick Haig-Brown is the story of a young girl’s encounter with some of BC’s most intriguing river birds. Alison’s favourite bird, the Dipper, lives along the river by her house. She spends many hours watching the “fierce and splendid” bird as it fishes for dinner, “bob, bob, bobbing” as it skitters and dives below the surface, always emerging with a tiny fish. Farther up the river bank, Alison catches a glimpse of the Belted Kingfisher hovering above the water, just waiting patiently for the perfect moment to “drop like a stone, headfirst in the water” only to emerge a few seconds later with a tiny wiggling silver fish in its beak. Alison encounters many other birds on her adventures and, true to Haig-Brown’s other stories, every bird, whether it is the Osprey, the Heron, or the Merganser, all have a lesson to share about their life and the natural world around them. For almost a century, Haig-Brown has been teaching children and adults alike to explore, learn, and respect our forests, oceans, and rivers. As one of Haig-Brown’s lesser-known stories, Alison’s Fishing Birds is a gem that is long overdue on the shelves of popular children’s fiction. Alison’s Fishing Birds is richly illustrated by acclaimed and talented artist Sheryl McDougald, and includes a preface by Valerie Haig-Brown.

Reviews

“The gentle text invites re-reading, as the lessons provided on the natural world and its need for conservation are pondered […] Stunning drawings and paintings reveal aspects of the wildlife mentioned in the text and provide a beautiful extra facet. Combined with the pleasing dimensions and layout, the illustrations add to the physical attractiveness of the title […] this singular book has several layers of appeal as literary history, environmental delight, charming story for children and as an artistic pleasure.”

—Sandra O’Brien, The Canadian Children’s Book Centre


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Excerpts & Samples ×

“Any engagement with wildlife—whether listening to the chatter of river otters, hunting grouse or watching a black bear denude an apple tree—restored human meaning and brought us back to the point of things: there is no end to wonder and joy when you care about a place. Alison’s Fishing Birds passes that joy onto another generation.”

—from the foreword by Andrew Nikiforuk, award-winning journalist and author

Reader Reviews

Details

Dimensions:

48 Pages
10.20in * 7.20in * .40in
320.00gr

Published:

February 22, 2017

Publisher:

Caitlin Press

ISBN:

9781987915198

Book Subjects:

JUVENILE FICTION / Science Fiction / General

Featured In:

All Books

Language:

eng

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