Review: Sylvia and the Birds: How The Bird Lady saved thousands of birds and how you can, too
Reviewed by: Alex Eagles
Authors:
Johanna Emeney & Sarah Laing
Publisher:
Massey University Press
ISBN:
9780995140783
Date Published:
22 September 2022
Pages:
176
Format:
Hardback
RRP:
$39.99
All books bought via this link help us to review more books from Aotearoa — thank you for supporting local books and authors
In an eggshell, Sylvia and the Birds pays homage to Sylvia Durrant, who looked after 140,000 New Zealand birds during her 35 years as a bird rescue volunteer, as well as including information and activities to encourage younger generations to follow her lead and protect our native birdlife.
The large hardback book is filled with a collage of styles: graphic novel storytelling; journal-style blogs with photos from Sylvia's own album dating from as far back as 1939; 'how-to' instructions including what to do if you find a baby bird and identifying predators; activities like 'match the baby birds to the adults'; mātauranga Māori; a wildlife restoration case study; a smattering of artwork from other contributors and even a poem by C. K. Stead.
Authors Johanna Emeney and Sarah Laing undertook an ambitious task when deciding to put what amounts to several books in one in a way that would appeal to audiences ranging from children to grandparents. Somehow, they succeeded. A published poet and tutor in creative writing at Massey University, this book is quite a different genre for Emeney who came up with the initial concept.
As it is aimed at ‘young readers and their whanau,’ I recruited a range of reviewers to aid in my assessment. The first was my mother-in-law, who herself cared for native birds for more than 20 years in the Bay of Plenty.
I actually met 'The Bird Lady' when I tagged along on a visit with my mother-in-law in the early 1990s when Sylvia was just starting her native bird rescue endeavours. My overarching impression from the encounter was of a person committed to her role and of so many pens and cages in her small yard housing feathered patients that there was barely space to stand!
Until reading the book, my mother-in-law had no idea about Sylvia's early life and found it an inspiring tale of one woman making the most of life despite adversity from a young age. In the words of a Year 6 reviewer, "Even though she had lots of sadness in her life, she chose to care for others, first nursing people and then birds.”
All of my multi-aged reviewers enjoyed Laing's illustrations and comic-style storytelling. Award-winning author Laing has written novels, short stories and graphic books for adults. Although this is not the first children's book she has illustrated, she commented it was a new experience to transform large blocks of information-filled text written by another author into comic strips for children. Laing's obvious talent is key to making Sylvia and the Birds such a successful compilation.
All of the readers expressed surprise when the style abruptly changed part way through to blocks of text with sepia photos. While most agreed that they found Emeney's conversation-style prose highly readable and the story of Sylvia's life interesting, some confessed to skim reading through these parts.
I asked a couple of Year 6-8 teachers for their thoughts on the potential for the book to be used as a teaching resource. Both were enthusiastic about using The Problem with Predators, How to be a Backyard Bird Hero and Activities' sections. The school-aged reviewers were particularly animated about these sections too and eagerly matched the bird beaks to berry or bug eating.
The overall consensus was that Sylvia and the Birds would make a great Christmas present for the whole family to explore together during the summer holidays, a useful addition to any library or as a gift for a 10+ year old interested in nature.
My mother-in-law was keen to have the last word to stress that looking after native wildlife in New Zealand requires a permit from the Department of Conservation. Anyone finding a sick or injured native bird should either phone 0800DOCHOT (0800 362468) or visit wrennz.org.nz for a local list of the Wildlife Rehabilitators Network of New Zealand.
Reviewed by Alex Eagles
