07 December 2015

A review of Matt Sewells book, Owls: Our Most Charming Bird



        As a young child, I used to look through my mother's bird book with her. I chose to read Mr. Sewell's owl book partly based on those early experiences, and partly because of a comment I'd made to my husband shortly before discovering the book. "It's funny..." I'd said to my sweetheart. "When the owl craze first started, I thought it was hideous; now I see something with owls on it, and I think, "Look at those cute little owls."" It's scary how being inundated by something can change your opinion over time, without you thinking about it.

        So here I've gone from eagerly awaiting the end of all things owl to reading a book alleging that owls are our most charming bird.

Here are some of my thoughts about this book:

This is not your Mama's bird guide. This book does not contain standard entries for the birds habitat, diet, and gestation. It's more like a cross between an art journal, personal commentary, and random facts. This is not a scholarly book, though that is not to say it is unresearched. If you're already an owl buff, this book is probably funnier to you. Mr. Sewell waxes very poetic, uses hyperbolic and evocative imagery, and throws in a few humorous remarks here and there.

The art is gorgeous. Mr. Sewell's format is a one page illustration, faced by one page of text, sometimes only a paragraph. I loved looking at the pictures, and enjoyed the "Spotting and Jotting" section at the end, where Mr. Sewell provides an illustrated checklist for all the owls in his book. Although, I must say, some of his pictures disappointed me from a learner's standpoint - like how he only drew the head of the Burrowing Owl (p.104) and then talked about the owl's super long legs that make it a great sprinter.

This book is, surprisingly, a good bonding opportunity. My children sat on, or next to, me for an unexpected length of time listening to me read the descriptions and trying to say the scientific names of the owls, while they looked at the pictures.

If you really want to know if you'd like this book, I can show you in one page - two really, since the illustration is a page by itself:


Flammulated Owl, Psiloscops flammeolus




"I was a bit disappointed when I looked up 'flammulated' in the dictionary; it doesn't mean 'flammable feathers,' nor is it a fancy phrase for a forest fire. It just means 'a reddish color,' which, if you ask me, is a bit of a dull moniker for one of the oddest and smallest owls in America - especially when you factor in a coat of feathers as incredible as hers. She looks like a little wet owl who has been rolled in a dusty elixir - a potion concocted from a pinch of leaves from an autumnal, amber forest floor, which are then delicately crushed to a fiery dust and transfused with a handful of sparks, and a bit of eye of newt and toe of frog mixed in for good measure. Magic!" (pp. 68 & 69)

        Did you like it? If you did, you'll like the book. If it was too flowery and didn't contain enough facts and figures to suit your taste, pass. Check out a more scholarly tome from your local library.

        I fall somewhere in the middle, which is why I'm going to give this book 3 out of five feathers. Did I enjoy the book? Yes. Would I buy it? No. Would I check it out from my local library? Probably.

Who should buy this book?

Dentists and Doctors. This would be a great waiting room book for those of us who didn't bring our own reading material, but don't care who broke up with who, or who forgot to put on their makeup this morning. I don't mean this facetiously; if you are a dentist or a doctor, particularly one with long wait times, I actually highly recommend this book.

Avid bird/owl lovers. You'll like the pictures and I'm sure you'll enjoy all the stuff we laymen missed out on.

People shopping for strangers. If I needed a gift for you, dear stranger, I'd consider picking this up. It is beautiful, and not too highly technical, and doesn't scream impersonal, or worse, too personal.

Want to know more about Matt Sewell? Try www.mattsewell.co.uk

I received this book from Blogging for Books in exchange for my review. This is my honest opinion about the book.