Overview
When the American poet and naturalist John Burroughs opened his door to observe the world around him, his written findings became an inspiration to people all across the country. His published work was both widely read and acclaimed, and Slabsides, his home in the Catskills, became a favorite meetinghouse for such illustrious visitors as Theodore Roosevelt and John Muir. The only biography about Burroughs available for young readers, this abundantly illustrated book is replete with historical anecdotes and engaging details, and offers an intimate look at the life and work of an environmental pioneer.
A photobiography of the naturalist, ornithologist, author, poet, teacher, and pioneer of the conservation movement who lived and worked in his rustic cabin in the Catskill Mountains.
Synopsis
When the American poet and naturalist John Burroughs opened his door to observe the world around him, his written findings became an inspiration to people all across the country. His published work was both widely read and acclaimed, and Slabsides, his home in the Catskills, became a favorite meetinghouse for such illustrious visitors as Theodore Roosevelt and John Muir. The only biography about Burroughs available for young readers, this abundantly illustrated book is replete with historical anecdotes and engaging details, and offers an intimate look at the life and work of an environmental pioneer.
Children's Literature
One of the pioneers of the conservation movement, Burroughs was a prolific writer whose favorite subject for his essays was the natural world surrounding his home in New York's Catskill mountains. His friends and contemporaries included John Muir, Henry Ford, Walt Whitman and Teddy Roosevelt. Though not a saint, (he talked his wife into adopting a son he had sired with a housemaid), he inspired a whole generation of schoolchildren to develop a passion for the outdoors. Now, his name graces an annual award for nature writing. This biography is liberally illustrated with photographs of the man and his surroundings, including his cabin, Slabsides, which lends this book its subtitle.
Editorials
Children's Literature -
One of the pioneers of the conservation movement, Burroughs was a prolific writer whose favorite subject for his essays was the natural world surrounding his home in New York's Catskill mountains. His friends and contemporaries included John Muir, Henry Ford, Walt Whitman and Teddy Roosevelt. Though not a saint, (he talked his wife into adopting a son he had sired with a housemaid), he inspired a whole generation of schoolchildren to develop a passion for the outdoors. Now, his name graces an annual award for nature writing. This biography is liberally illustrated with photographs of the man and his surroundings, including his cabin, Slabsides, which lends this book its subtitle.School Library Journal
Gr 5 UpA pleasant look at the life of a well-known naturalist-writer. Beginning with endpapers decorated with a leaf pattern, the book is attractively designed, featuring nearly as many black-and-white photographs as there are pages. The pictures are mostly informal and candid, taken from personal collections, with a few studio portraits interspersed. Written with a familiar, almost intimate tone, the text is liberally sprinkled with quotes from Burroughs's publications. Burroughs is portrayed as a man more interested in nature and its conservation than in his marriage. His relationship with his wife is unconventional, yet quickly passed over, leaving a generally negative impression of her. The many renowned people with whom he shared his interest in nature make an impressive list, from President Theodore Roosevelt to John Muir. Although there is an extensive index, this biography seems more suited to pleasure reading than to research.Marilyn Fairbanks, East Junior High School, Brockton, MAKirkus Reviews
Wadsworth (John Muir, 1992, etc.) pays tribute to an icon of the environmental conservation movement, a popular nature writer of the last century and friend to the likes of Walt Whitman, John Muir, and Teddy Roosevelt.An inveterate keeper of notebooks, Burroughs seems to have recorded his every deed and thought, and while he's not quoted extensively here, included are somewhat trivial details: the name of his cow, the kinds of books he bought on a particular occasion, how many barrels of butter his father once sold. Nonetheless, Wadsworth offers a good sense of Burroughs's gregarious personality (he particularly enjoyed the company of younger women) and almost sensuous writing style: "The apple . . . I toy with you; press your face to mine, toss you in the air, roll you on the ground, see you shine." His personal life is sketched but not idealized, his influence on his own and succeeding generations clearly laid out, and a generous selection of black-and-white photographs captures his shaggy-bearded presence, benevolent but magisterial. Burroughs's work remains a landmark of environmental awareness and much of it is still being reprinted: Back this capable biography up with the compilation John Burroughs' America (1997).