Interesting and fun book, more for the beginner bird enthusiast and bird artist. Plenty of drawings and suggestions as to what to look for when out birdwatching, whether what kind of birds are seen in flocks, or what the silhouette of a raptor overhead looks like.
I am sure this would be a great gift and would suit teens to adults.
I read an e-ARC from Net Galley. This is an unbiased review.

Proving that the guide to birdwatching is obviously more of a personal thing than I might have thought, this book is apparently what its creator would have loved to have had back in her junior days – and yet I found it awkwardly unlikeable. I really didn't take to the sketchy, transposed-field-notes and scratchy style of a lot of it. I can't quibble that it is North America-centric, with its chickadees and bobolinks, but again that doesn't help me here in the UK engage with this book.

I think the sturdiest hurdle to me liking it is the jarring contrast between the sensible details and the visuals. There's fine stuff here about how every birder started from a position of knowing nothing, and slowly built their expertise up spot by spot and sighting by sighting, and how if you can't identify something from its speed and flightiness at least capture some of its colour, or habit, or size or flying style or context – anything that might help. But for all that the logic is met by a very scratchy, heavy-on-the-ink portrait, with handwritten notation, and it all proved to look anathema to the much younger me whose tastes I vaguely remember. I can only hope it does inspire interest in the hobby, but my mark has to suggest how convinced I am that it would have failed with me.

This is a bit of everything bird, from identification, drawing, lifestyle, habitats, how to spot and appreciate, simple evolutionary biology of bird origins, etc.

I loved how this is a quick scope of many paths/ways we can use to understand birds better. The drawings throughout the book are beautiful and sometimes silly (like birds are silly). I thought it was very helpful to have profiles for many common species across most of North America (so most people in the USA that pick this book up have at least a few easy birds to start identifying and learning about.)

This is an amazing resource for young people and new naturalists who are wanting to explore birding, but need something more concise and instructional to start than a regular old identification paperback field guide. with this you get the jumping off point to create,foundational knowledge and, understanding.

I highly recommend picking up this book.

I received an arc of this title from NetGalley for an honest review. This book is excellent for kids and some adults who are just learning about birds and how to characterize them. Excellent information and illustrations help teach kids what to look for on each bird to tell them apart and what makes them unique.

I loved this book! It offers beautifully illustrated simple advice for beginning birders. It's a very quick read, with most topics just taking up 2 pages. Although I'm not artistic at all, even I was inspired by the author's advice on getting started with drawing birds.

WHAT’S THERE TO LOVE? What a delightful book! The illustrations alone are captivating, but the story of how she first became entranced with our feathered friends is charming.
I agreed to receive a complimentary copy of this book because I too am quite obsessed with birds. My father took the time to take me out in nature, our camp chairs and binoculars in hand, and teach me about each breed and the sounds they make. I never forgot it.

I enjoyed teaching my own how to identify them by their coloring and shapes. When we lost our son recently, the "legend" of the cardinal intrigued me, and the hubs and I now have what I call our little bird sanctuary.

This book, in its rustic, adorable way, reminded me of facts I'd forgotten and taught me so many things I didn't know. Don't hesitate to pick this one up for yourself and the nature lovers in your circles. It's absolutely wonderful!

MY RATING 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 This released on February 6, 2024.

☕📚 Thanks to Storey Publishing and NetGalley. I received a complimentary ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. ☕📚

"How to Look at a Bird: Open Your Eyes to the Joy of Watching and Knowing Birds" (Storey Publishing, 2024) is artist-author Clare Walker Leslie's newest contribution to the nature writing and birding worlds. Her lifelong birdwatching dovetails with her keen attention to detail and generous nature.

With careful consideration, Leslie opens her sketchbooks and shares the dreamy, lush watercolors of birds in their natural habitats, where she first captures their likenesses. Some sketches are from her city apartment window in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and others from nearby street corners, medians, shorelines, and Mount Auburn Cemetery.

A few steps beyond a nature book, "How to Look at a Bird," is part introductory bird guide, part art lesson, and part meditation on attention to our surroundings. As Leslie recommends how to spot more birds in the wild, she highlights our senses: Look up! What shapes do you see? Are there variations in the color and size of plumage? What do you hear? Did you know there is a difference between a bird call and a birdsong?

I don't know the author, but I wish I did because this book kept kicking me in my weepy little heart! (For clarification's sake, the book was not sad in the least. If you are a sensitive soul? Have kids or family members that enjoy birdwatching? Teach a bird unit? You may become a tad choked up!)

I highly recommend "How to Look at a Bird." An excellent resource for families (multi-generational, too), Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, art and science classrooms, wildlife centers, arboretum gift shops, and science museums, especially since this is hands-on, exploratory fun!! (It's also a fabulous gift idea.)

Thank you to Clare Walker Leslie, Storey Publishing, and NetGalley for my eARC. I do appreciate it.

Incredible! This is one of the most well executed field guides I have ever read.

What makes this field guide stand apart from all others is that it is personal. Between the plethora of hand drawn observations and the anecdotal stories of how the author got into birding, this guide really adds a layer of passion to itself. Most field guides are just that, guides, but this book really made me want to read more.

Each chapter is later expertly laid out to address a certain bird watching topic in a way that is both detailed and simple to digest. Each section also includes pages of bird species, how to identify them, and some natural history about them. I really enjoyed that these were interspersed throughout each section instead of listed one after the other - it broke them up enough that I didn’t get overwhelmed.

I HIGHLY recommend this guide and will certainly be purchasing it to go along with the education I provide at the nature center I work for.

Thank you NetGalley and Storey Publishing for an ARC of this guide.

Wonderful book on not only how to look at and identify birds, but also how to capture them on your nature journal. You would actually be killing two birds with one stone! I loved how everything is organized on every aspect of a bird and what to look for. I have no patience for bird-watching but if I were to get a book on the subject, this would be one of them. For sure!

5 stars.

In my family's personal journey towards 1000 Hours Outside and nature journaling, this book is an invaluable addition. Not only does it teach about birds and journaling, but it also teaches how to sit and observe and use those observations to create something. I would never have thought about breaking down these observations in the way that this book does, and I am so glad to be able to use this book as an amazing resource because of that. I'll be purchasing a physical copy to add to my children's library.

I didn’t realise this was very focused on American birds but a brilliant book for dipping into and for sharing. The illustrations are simply beautiful.

"How to Look at a Bird" by Clare Walker Leslie is a beautiful book full of hand-drawn sketches giving it the warmth of a friend sharing their personal nature journal. Tailored for the beginner bird watcher, the approach is informal and never patronizing. Although the birds reflect the authors home in the eastern US, the content is relevant to bird watching anywhere in the world.

The author encourages simple activities like observing, listening and even drawing. And I was delighted to find a short section on drawing birds at the end. This book is perfect for anyone looking to deepen their appreciation of nature and engage in mindful bird-watching. And no, that doesn't mean you have to spend hours out in the countryside, many of Clare's sketches are drawn from her apartment window, or as she sits in a parked car.

Thank you to Storey Publishing and NetGalley for letting me read the early version of this book in exchange for my honest review.

What stands out with this bird watching guidebook:

The actual notes and original sketches from the author’s journal.

Yes. You can actually go for this reason ONLY.

BUT this guidebook has actually lots more to offer! The colourful high quality pages, the amazing illustrations, accurate descriptions of different birds and the actual guide on how we can gather information about different birds from watching them. I specifically love the information on the flight patterns of different birds. Oh, the facts given are mind blowing too!

Just go for this one if you are thinking of gifting this book to a younger someone who’s interested in birds and nature.

Thank you, Storey Publishing, for the advance reading copy.

Loved this. There's a comfortable feeling to it, if that makes sense. Almost as if the author is huddled up near you chatting softly as you scan the surroundings for birds. She offers easy to grasp hints on how not just to find and identify birds, but how to sketch them, too. I'm no true birder but have noticed that the more serious among them keep detailed records and sketches of what birds they've spied, so that made sense. While most bird books offer pictures/photos, the ones she offers are genuinely quick sketches, meant to capture basic traits as well as the moment. In other words, something most of us can grasp and utilize on whatever level we are. She calls it bird contouring, btw.

Along the way, you'll learn how to attract birds to your own little piece of the world. I grinned when she noted that, yes, that may mean squirrels, too, as my own bird feeder was like a magnet to the local squirrel, which I've dubbed Nemesis for my dog's running feud with it's mere existence. Oddly enough, she doesn't bark at the birds. But, anyway.... While every possible bird in the world isn't shown, that would involve a much longer, less fun read for novices, it does do an excellent job of capturing types I've seen frequently in my own yard and then some. There's a white raven in neighboring community, so I definitely looked upfront to see if ravens were included and, yep, they are. Lots of fun facts about bird types, too.

More importantly, it's a fun, easy read. I highly recommend it to fledgling birders or those, like me, who simply enjoy watching them in random moments. It'd also make a great gift. Thanks #NetGalley and #StoreyPublishing for reminding me/us of the marvels as close as our own front windows

This is an amazing, deceptively simple, beautiful book. If you are an educator who keeps a feeder on your classroom window, or on the yard, this is a book to add to your classroom library. I will be getting one for my office, which has a window feeder, and many people who stop by to check out "bird TV".

Instead of the standard field guide approach, this is set up as a book that will grow with a learner. The author, Clare Walker Leslie, begins with information around the ways we are drawn to birds, and her own journey to becoming a birder. Her sketches, of both birds, and the places she has found them, are part of what makes this such a stunning book.

Rather than provide the usual pages of different bird profiles, Leslie asks the reader to think about what they are seeing, and to get used to categorizing what they see. How big is the bird? What does it look like in flight? What are the features that might help you differentiate different types of the same bird. The section on field marks is remarkable and hugely helpful, especially if you regularly see "little brown birds" (sparrows), and aren't sure how to tell them apart. She also includes a section on what you might be hearing, which is something many birders want to know more about.

This book is one that would be brilliant to pair with a set of decent binoculars and a small sketch kit for any budding ornithologist in your life, no matter how old they are. Huge thanks to Storey Publishing and NetGalley for a review copy.

Lovely quick and easy read with many of the author’s sketches of birds. This book is meant for the very beginning bird watcher. Although it does contain an extremely short section on how to sketch birds near the end, the primary focus is to talk about bird basics, with examples of the most common birds in the US. Read curtesy of NetGalley.

A very nice, simple guide to the joys of birdwatching for beginners. I enjoyed the simplistic, often very pretty, drawings. The author finishes by showing us how to draw birds simply ourselves. The basics of understanding and identifying birds are more or less the same the world over, I’m sure. However, as this book is written about North American birds, the finer detail was not relevant for me. I am thankful, mind you, that I don’t have to worry about bears stealing from my feeders at night! A very enjoyable read.

Like many others, I have become more and more interested in birds the older I get. Combine that with being home during the pandemic, and that interest grew into a slight obsession. That’s why this book caught my eye.

This is a wonderful introduction to bird watching for beginners. A combination of memoir and handbook, with beautiful sketches and paintings, there is much to inspire anyone who has begun to notice the world of our avian companions.

The basics of bird watching are explained, along with general information about birds, fun trivia and fascinating details. This book is especially interesting for anyone wishing to sketch, draw or paint birds, and Clare Walker Leslie includes a section on how to begin. Almost every page in this lovely book includes art, from basic sketches to more refined paintings. It is a treasure trove of tips and advice on how to approach and befriend our feathered friends. Thank you NetGalley and Knopf for letting me read this in exchange for an honest opinion.

If you have ever had any inclination to become a birder, even a dabbler in the birding world, this book is for you. A down-to-earth approach, not only to how to outfit yourself to maximize your birding endeavors, but also to how to think about, look at, and live around birds. The author talks you through general pointers and bird information, but they also give you a glimpse into a very personal side of their own birding journey. Of particular pleasure to me was how they cataloged their sightings: sometimes these were full descriptions, with names and technical specifics, but often they were sketches and impressions, more like poetry than categorization.

Ultimately, this book won't make you into a bird aficionado. It won't teach you every migratory pattern and birdcall. It probably won't even help you all that much when it comes to figuring out which bird you happen to be looking at or hearing at any given time. What it will do, though, is perhaps more valuable. It will encourage you to appreciate the avian life in your everyday surroundings in a different and more intimate way. It will help you articulate what you want to take away from your experiences with birds and assist you in finding the tools to achieve that experience. Best of all, it will cast birding in a light that makes it accessible, something everyone can do: a simple pleasure that doesn't require expensive trappings or the privilege of large amounts of free time and education. All you need is interest and a bird or two.

I've wanted to host a nature club online for kids, and it's been hard to find books they could use to complete actual assignments. This book makes it easy. Now to find a few more!