A Sparrow’s Life’s as Sweet as Ours: In Praise of Birds and Seasons

A Sparrow’s Life’s As Sweet As Ours is a collection of articles that began life as Bird of the Month columns in The Oldie magazine written by Oldie co-founder John McEwen and illustrated by renowned wildlife artist Carry Akroyd. In this beautifulnew book, Carry Akroyd presents a sequence of screenprints of birds full ofvariety and colour that illustrate British birds in all four seasons of theyear. These stunning prints give full rein to Akroyd’s knowledge ofwildflowers, trees and the modern landscape of Britain. Her deft capturing ofeach bird’s characteristics set beautifully in relation to its habitat shinesout from Akroyd’s dynamic designs. John McEwen’saccompanying text is written with elegance and concision, and many of hisoriginal columns from The Oldie have been expanded and updated for thisnew collection. McEwen’s light, eclectic approach connects snippets ofornithology, history, etymology and cookery, all expressed with wit andknowledge. His writing is spiced with poetry – from Chaucer to the present – aswell as facts and stories, while personal and other anecdotes are included toinform and, above all, entertain