Synopses & Reviews
Celebrating the powerful role of birds in human customs and traditions from around the world and throughout history, this sourcebook explores the delightful stories surrounding some of the worlds best-known birdsincluding the eagle, owl, pelican, falcon, dove, swan, and raven. With topics including folklore, literature, music, dance, and spirituality, this eclectic and enchanting encyclopedia of avianhuman relations is an ideal companion for any bird-lover. Brilliantly illustrated and filled with intriguing research, it illuminates many astonishing aspects of bird life, including their dazzling colors, intricate nest-building habits, finely structured feathers, amazing feats of migration, and breathtakingly beautiful song and movement.
Review
"Leave it to the English to draw together, in one slim, delightful volume, nearly all that need be said about birds and humans and their long, complex relationship in history, folklore, and literature." —Wall Street Journal
Review
"An almanac-like, slightly eccentric avian anthology, gathering poems, scientific oddments, myths, learned observations, and trivia . . . Readers who enjoy books of bird folklore will find these tales . . . a pleasure." —Washington Post Book World
Synopsis
Winged Wonders celebrates the powerful presence of birds in art and language, in legends and myth, in the sacred books of the ancients and in spiritual symbolism, in proverbial sayings, in nursery rhymes and poetry, in visual imagery and heraldry, in music, dance, and folk customs around the world and throughout history.
About the Author
Peter Watkins is an Anglican vicar and the author of several books, including A Book of Animals. Jonathan Stockland is a former deputy director of education at Oxfam and a former consultant to the United Nations.