This Strange Wilderness: The Life and Art of John James Audubon

Birds were “the objects of my greatest delight,” wrote John James Audubon (1785–1851), founder of modern ornithology and one of the world’s greatest bird painters. His masterpiece, The Birds of America depicts almost five hundred North American bird species, each image—lifelike and life size—rendered in vibrant color. Audubon was also an explorer, a woodsman, a hunter, an entertaining and prolific writer, and an energetic self-promoter. Through talent and dogged determination, he rose from backwoods obscurity to international fame.

In This Strange Wilderness, award-winning author Nancy Plain brings together the amazing story of this American icon’s career and the beautiful images that are his legacy. Before Audubon, no one had seen, drawn, or written so much about the animals of this largely uncharted young country. Aware that the wilderness and its wildlife were changing even as he watched, Audubon remained committed almost to the end of his life “to search out the things which have been hidden since the creation of this wondrous world.” This Strange Wilderness details his art and writing, transporting the reader back to the frontiers of early nineteenth-century America.

• Under a Wild Sky: John James Audubon and the Making of the Birds of America
• John James Audubon: The Making of an American
• Into the Woods: John James Audubon Lives His Dream
• Audubon, On The Wings Of The World [Graphic Novel]
• John Audubon: Young Naturalist (12) (Young Patriots series)
• Audubon's Birds of America Coloring Book
• The Boy Who Drew Birds: A Story of John James Audubon (Outstanding Science Trade Books for Students K-12)
• Mother Culture ®: For a Happy Homeschool
• Sibley's Birding Basics: How to Identify Birds, Using the Clues in Feathers, Habitats, Behaviors, and Sounds (Sibley Guides)
• LAUGHING AT MY NIGHTMARE