What an enchanting and illuminating book! How lucky for us that Amy Tan has turned her genius, her deep empathy and insight, her keen eye for what is telling, to birds. Every page of these chronicles radiates warm curiosity, wonder, and delight * Jennifer Ackerman, author of The Genius of Birds * Anybody even mildly interested in birds, or thinking about getting interested in birds (which are, after all, the indicator genus for the health of the planet), will want this book perched on their shelf, if only for the gift of Amy Tan's eye and the example she gives us of how to pay attention. What a treasure * Robert Hass, Pulitzer Prize-Winning author of Summer Snow: New Poems * Amy Tan's bird journals can change the way you see the world. They show that stories, mysteries, humor, and beauty are all around us if we take the time to pay attention. They remind us that we never stop learning and growing, and if we put in the work, we can learn and master new skills. These journals invite us to look out of our own windows with fresh eyes and wonder * John Muir Laws, author of The Laws Guide to Drawing Birds * Backyard Bird Chronicles is fun reading. It shows how we can become engaged emotionally, literally and artistically with the natural world--to joyfully learn about the most accessible and yet wild animals, the often rare and beautiful birds that choose to come and live near and sometimes with us * Bernd Heinrich, author of Mind of the Raven * If you really want to understand something, draw it. That's the conclusion I've reached in witnessing how much Amy Tan has learned about the bird community in her back yard. No matter how much you think you know about birds, you are guaranteed to learn something surprising and inspiring from this charmingly illustrated and creatively-conceived book * Michael J. Parr, President of American Bird Conservancy *
