Review by Booklist Review
Harriet had "a great big ostrich of a problem." Ladies in the late 1800s wore spectacular hats festooned with massive bird feathers. Harriet loved her hats, but when she and her friend Minna discovered that more than 5 million birds were killed every year for fashion, they were determined to stop the slaughter. They convinced 900 Boston women to boycott the wearing of feathered hats. With the help of influential people, they formed the Massachusetts Audubon Society, and by 1898, even President Teddy Roosevelt was on board. Today, this national organization has helped create conservation legislation that protects habitats for wildlife and important ecosystems. The writing in this fictionalized biography, sprinkled with bird metaphors, sparkles: "Minna kept chirping until she was ninety-two," while Harriet "twittered all the way to her one hundred and third birthday." Pastel watercolors depict ladies in fashionable hats and dresses, the glorious plumage of many birds, and realistic natural environments. Back matter gives information about the Audubon Society, provides instructions for making pretend binoculars, and encourages children to become citizen conservation scientists and environmentalists.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Bird puns abound in this origin story of the National Audubon Society, focusing on the efforts of Boston socialite Harriet Lawrence Hemenway (1858--1960) to stop the killing of birds for hat plumes. Flying into action with cousin Minna, Hemenway first organized informative tea parties, then rallied "powerful, influential people" to form the Massachusetts Audubon Society, which quickly spread to other states. McCullough's prose maintains a playfully vintage flavor: "To think this bird should be deprived of its own finery for someone else's hat! A passion for fashion was one thing, but this was featherbrained!" Light-hued watercolors by Galotta combine delicate lines with simple figures of various skin tones, intricately rendered fashions, and near-realistic birds in this buoyant portrait of an early female conservationist. Back matter includes an author's note. Ages 4--8. (Mar.)
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Horn Book Review
Harriet Lawrence Hemenway "loved a hat," especially ones with "grand glorious feathers." That is, until she read a Boston Daily Globe newspaper story in 1896 about the millions of birds that died for fashionable hats such as hers. With help from her cousin Minna B. Hall, Hemenway began a boycott of feathered fashions, promoting her views at tea parties held for society ladies and via leaflets and lectures, persuading more than nine hundred Boston women to join the cause. That same year the two cousins helped found the Massachusetts Audubon Society, dedicated to the protection of birds; by its second year, the organization was in more than ten states and soon was influencing laws and leaders. Back matter explains how today the National Audubon Society "has more than four hundred local chapters across the country" and "reaches millions of people each year." This inspiring story of one woman's ability to enact change (despite not yet having the right to vote) is well served by McCullough's succinct, playful storytelling style, featuring lots of avian wordplay. Galotta's delicate and colorful watercolor illustrations are highly detailed; defined lines help accentuate both high-society refinement and beauty in the natural world. Appended with a bibliography and tips on "How to Bird-watch like Harriet," "How to Make Your Own (Pretend) Binoculars," and "How to Be a Conservationist." Cynthia K. Ritter March/April 2022 p.(c) Copyright 2022. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
