Letters From Eden: A Year at Home, in the Woods [Hardcover]

Julie Zickefoose (Author), Sy Montgomery (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 4, 2006

A frequent commentator on NPR's All Things Considered, Julie Zickefoose has painted nature virtually all her life. At the age of seven she knew that she wanted to paint birds for a living, and her lifelong dedication shows in her paintings, which are meticulously accurate as well as beautiful. The paintings used here, of scenes from her beloved home in southern Ohio, illuminate well-crafted essays based on her daily walks and observations. Wild turkeys, coyotes, box turtles, and a bird-eating bullfrog flap, lope, and leap through her prose. She excels at describing and exploring interactions between people and animals, bringing her subjects to life in just a few lines. Her husband and young children make appearances, presenting their own challenges and pleasures. The essays are arranged by season, starting with winter, providing a sense of movement through the year.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Zickefoose finds [a connection with nature] often and documents it in words and paintings in her beautiful new book.
Cleveland Plain Dealer

About the Author

Julie Zickefoose began illustrating natural history subjects as a college freshman in 1976. Since then, her writing has been featured in Bird Watcher's Digest, on NPR's All Things Considered, and her book of illustrated essays Letters from Eden.

Sy Montgomery is an author, naturalist, newspaper columnist, scriptwriter, and radio commentator who writes award-winning books for children as well as adults. She lives in Hancock, New Hampshire. Visit her website at www.authorwire.com 

 

Sy Montgomery and photographer Nic Bishop won the Sibert Medal in 2011 for their collaborative work on Kakapo Rescue: Saving the World's Strangest Parrot, another Scientist in the Field title.  

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (October 4, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0618573089
• ISBN-13: 978-0618573080
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 8.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #181,687 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #72 in Books > Science & Math > Nature & Ecology > Natural History

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Letters from Eden, September 23, 2006

By 

Janet M. Wilson - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Letters From Eden: A Year at Home, in the Woods (Hardcover)

The stories in Letters from Eden are a shimmering blend of humor and heartbreak as the author shares the gifts, loss and lessons that come from an intimate relationship with nature. I find myself savoring each story and taking time to digest each one. The writing is exquisite, the field drawings are a treat, and the watercolors express the vibrancy of the life they portray. I love this book!

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Letters from Eden, January 13, 2007

By 

Barney Considine (Missoula, Montana USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Letters From Eden: A Year at Home, in the Woods (Hardcover)

To give this book five stars is a bit risky. It has a minor flaw or two. It raises the question of what a person can do when Julie Zickefoose writes an even better book. However, this book goes straight to a bird lover's heart. Readers of Bird Watcher's Digest have long enjoyed Zickefoose's essays and paintings. This collection of essays reminds us that she is one of the best nature writers publishing today.

Almost every emotion finds its way into "Letters from Eden." There is the expectation, discovery, and excitement of going with Julie on her walks through the southern Ohio forest. The walks can also provide a quiet time. There is the humor of the essay on bullfrogs or Julie poking fun at herself because she wants some chickens. There is loss as human thoughtlessness harms an animal or bird. There is tenderness as Julie, ever the rehabilitator, nurses birds and animals to the point of releasing them into the wild. There is wonder as various wild things demonstrate intelligence beyond what humans normally expect of them. Raising young children in an area where there are copperhead snakes can lend a touch of terror. That is counterbalanced by Julie's faith in all things natural. Not least among the emotions is the reader's enjoyment in these delightful narratives.

Then again, there is always balance in Julie's stories. She recognizes that predators must eat, even when it means the death of a loved bird. Weedy brush from foreign soil tries to overrun everything but provides needed shelter for wildlife. House sparrows introduced from England are a threat to native species but Julie notes that it is through no fault of their own. She is a vegetable gardener who rues the damage birds and animals do to her crops, but weighs that against the benefit they gain from her garden and the joy she gets from seeing them there.

Zickefoose is a mother and her young children are ever present in these essays. Again, there is a nice balance between the love of family and the fact that they cut into the time available for studying the outdoors and writing.

Julie's art is a perfect complement to the essays. There are simple pencil drawings and quick watercolors. There are also some beautifully finished paintings and ink drawings. The text is very easily read, although the field notes accompanying some of the sketches are sometimes hard to make out.

The thirty-some essays were originally meant to stand alone. Julie has organized them here by seasons of the year. Therein is a minor flaw. The essays do not lead into one another easily and they jump back and forth in time. Zickefoose recognizes the problem and mentions it in her Foreword. Still, it is a flaw and leaves room for an even better book - a book that gets six stars out of five.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Painting with brush and pen, October 13, 2006

By 

Swami (Ohio) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Letters From Eden: A Year at Home, in the Woods (Hardcover)

Seldom does one person serve as both writer and illustrator of a book. Julie Zickefoose proves that she is adept at both. She paints with brush and pen (or keyboard) pictures of what life can, and should, be like if we only take the time to appreciate it. Her 80 acres seem even larger, for all that occurs on them.

After reading her book it will be the rare person who will not look at the world around them more carefully and enjoy it more fully. While she is no swami, she imbues her words with magic.