Guide to the Birds of Alaska

Average customer rating:

Guide to the Birds of Alaska

Guide to the Birds of Alaska

Loved having it

Guide to the Birds of Alaska

A truly beautiful book but not necessarily enough

Guide to the Birds of Alaska
Robert H Armstrong
Manufacturer: Alaska Northwest Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Birdwatching | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books
Reference | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books
Ornithology | Zoology | Biological Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books
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Alaska Birds (Pocket Naturalist - Waterford Press)

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Birds of Alaska Field Guide

Roadside Geology of Alaska (Roadside Geology Series) (Roadside Geology Series)

ASIN: 0882404628

Book Description

This popular field guide offers the most authoritative and comprehensive information on all 443 species of Alaska's birds.

Customer Reviews:

Guide to the Birds of Alaska.......2007-10-04

This is a comprehensive guide to the birds that inhabit Alaska. I would like to see range and distibution maps of the birds and more than one or two pictures of a particular species.

Guide to the Birds of Alaska.......2007-01-18

Was an invaluable reference on my Alaska trip. The pictures are wonderful. Easy to use.

Loved having it.......2006-08-16

We've traveled to Alaska more than once, and both times enjoyed having this guide book along to help identify birds, especially those not seen in the lower 48 states.

From sooty shearwaters and bald eagles to horned and tufted puffins, one can find all sorts of sea and birds of prey here, as well as wood and grassland birds.

A wonderful source to carry along and help identify species one has previously never seen.

Guide to the Birds of Alaska.......2006-07-27

This guide help me to eliminate some of the birds that are not in Alaska. The pictures are not real clear, so it was difficult to use for identifying purposes. The script did suggest possible other bird that are similar, and was helpful it that way.

A truly beautiful book but not necessarily enough.......2005-08-15

Armstrong's book is filled with beautiful photographs and covers all the regular species that you will see in Alaska. It is a great introduction to the birds that inhabit the area. Every Alaskan birdwatcher should have a copy.

But, if you are a beginning birder, or new to the Northwest you might need a different field guide. Animals are illustrated with one, two, or three photographs. Unfortunately photographic guides are often deceiving in the field. I recommend you take another good field guide with you.

Each species has 90 to 100 words to cover field marks, similar species, voice and habitat. In some cases like the Black-Backed Woodpecker, only 56 words are used. The writing is great, but the scope of the book does not allow in-depth coverage of each species.

Range finding is limited to a chart with six rows for regions and four rows for seasons. In Alaska, six regions are equal to six average states in the lower forty eight and saying Common, Uncommon or Rare in a region doesn't help pinpoint the species much. A map would do better to give an idea of locations (at least pointing out a species as coastal, or centered on mountain ranges in a given area etc.)

I wouldn't talk anyone out of getting this book, it is beautiful and well written, but if you are planning a birding trip and need to find locations - try West's A Birders Guide to Alaska, and if you are unsure of your ability to indentify birds in Alaska, at least augment this book with the Sibley or National Geographic Guides. If you going to one of the shorebird festivals, definitely get a specialized guide like Paulson's Shorebird Guide.

Average customer rating:

Bird of Alaska Field Guide - not a useful guide
Birds of Alaska Field Guide
Good enjoyable guide
A Great Stocking Stuffer or Gift for anyone interested in Alaska Birds

Birds of Alaska Field Guide
Stan Tekiela
Manufacturer: Adventure Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Birdwatching | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books

Reference | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 1591930960

Product Description

Learn about and identify birds using Stan Tekiela's state-by-state field guides. The full-page, color photos are incomparable and include insets of winter plumage, color morphs and more. Plus, with the easy-to-use format, you don't need to know a bird's name or classification in order to easily find it in the book. Using this field guide is a real pleasure. It's a great way for anyone to learn about the birds in your state.

Customer Reviews:

Bird of Alaska Field Guide - not a useful guide.......2006-07-29

My wife and I are amatuer birders and bought this book to help us identify birds during our two week trip to Alaska. The only positive thing I can say about the book is that the photos are of good quality. We found that it included only about half the birds we attempted to identify during our trip. The organization by bird color proved inefficient for field identification. After a few days, we only used the book to help confirm identifications we had made using other guide books (if the bird was actually in the Alaska Field Guide). We came to refer to it as the "worthless" book, as in "Let me take a look in the worthless book".

Birds of Alaska Field Guide.......2006-07-27

As an avid birder I should have known better than to order this book. Any Field Guide that is divided by color should be questioned. I found that very few of the birds that I saw in Alaska were even in this Field Guide, and it was of little help in identifying the new birds that I added to my life list.

Good enjoyable guide.......2006-06-19

I kept this guide handy during an 8-day trip to Alaska (Denali first, then the Kenai peninsula). Using the guide I was able to locate nearly every bird I saw, approx 20 birds total. The photos are very clear and the information helpful and lively. One flaw is the absence of a slot describing the "voice" of each bird. But Stan does mention songs and calls in many of his blurbs. I also would have appreciated a slot for "status" (i.e. common, rare, etc). But few guides provide that info. It's also strange to have the birds arranged by color rather than species groups. But the guide is aimed at amateurs.

The writing is lively and not overly scientific. It's refreshing to read the genial prose and the occasional touch of humor. Many popular guides (Sibley, Audubon) are too dry and clinical. Overall: very good book, and recommended for amateur to intermediate level bird fanciers. I checked out 3 different Alaska bird guides (I believe only 3 exist), and Stan Tekiela's is the best.

A Great Stocking Stuffer or Gift for anyone interested in Alaska Birds.......2006-06-05

This is a great little book (definitely pocket sized). Great images, good information, good design. Do be careful though, this is not an advanced field guide. If you are looking for a field guide to take on a serious Alaskan birdwatching trip, look at getting the Sibley's Western or National geographic.

The book would be good for a casual or novice bird watcher or feeder watcher. The book is organized by bird color which would make more sense to a novice when compared to the family organization found in other guides.

If nothing else, it would make a great gift. Any birdwatcher would appreciate the quality of the photos. Especially good for daydreaming about that once in a lifetime Alaskan Birding trip.

Alaska Birds (Pocket Naturalist - Waterford Press)

Average customer rating:

Alaska Birds Field Guide
Alaska Birds

Alaska Birds (Pocket Naturalist - Waterford Press)
James Kavanagh
Manufacturer: Waterford Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Travel | Subjects | Books

Birds | Field Guides | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books

General | Birdwatching | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books

Birdwatching | Outdoors & Nature | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books

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Birds of Alaska Field Guide

ASIN: 1583551220

Book Description

Alaska Birds, An Introduction to Familiar Species, is a must-have, reference guide for beginners and experts alike. Whether you're on a nature hike or in your own backyard, you'll want to take along a copy of this indispensable guide. The Pocket Naturalist(tm) series is an introduction to common plants and animals and natural phenomena. Each pocket-sized, folding guide highlights up to 150 species and most feature a map highlighting prominent sanctuaries and outstanding natural attractions. Each is laminated for durability.

Customer Reviews:

Alaska Birds Field Guide.......2007-10-04

This is a decent field guide for quick reference. But there is only one example for each species and the birds are in their breeding plumage. Good if you are in Alaska during the spring time and only looking for one gender.

Alaska Birds.......2006-07-05

I have several of these for my class. Great for bird identification for kids!

Arctic Wings: Birds of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge

Average customer rating:

A Beautiful Book that Covers a Place that May Not be here long.
Beautifully done, very interesting
Birds of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
Arctic Wings
Birds of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge

Arctic Wings: Birds of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge

Manufacturer: Mountaineers Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Nature & Wildlife | Photography | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

General | Birdwatching | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books

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Arctic National Wildlife Refuge: Seasons of Life and Land
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A Naturalist's Guide to the Arctic

ASIN: 0898869757

Book Description

A celebration in word and image of the birds who return each year to the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to nest—and how they link every point on the globe • 200 color photos from award-winning nature photographers Subhankar Banerjee, Steven Kazlowski, and Arthur Morris • Essays/text contributions by noted writers, biologists, and conservationists including David Allen Sibley, Debbie Miller, Kenn Kaufmann, and President Jimmy Carter, CD Audio by birdsong recordist, Martyn Stewart • Life histories of individual bird species from every major group including shorebirds, songbirds, and raptors plus dramatic stories of migration and strategies for survival A Buff-breasted sandpiper running along a barrier beach in the Carolinas is only mid-way in an annual journey of incredible magnitude—one that takes it from its nesting ground in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to its winter quarters on the pampas of South America. The Yellow wagtail begins life in a willow thicket in the Arctic but winters in Indonesia, where its return each year signals rice farmers to begin their spring planting. The ecosystems of the world are linked by birds, and nowhere is that more apparent than the Arctic Refuge, where more than 180 species converge from six continents and all fifty states to nest and rear their young. The unique habitats of the Arctic Refuge and the intense Arctic summer produce a rich diet that makes the incredible migrations worthwhile.

Essays include DAVID ALLEN SIBLEY on the grand dance of avian migration and the sense of time and place on the earth that it provides; DEBBIE MILLER tells of how the incredible journey of songbirds from the Arctic Refuge and back connects the world's habitats—and its people—together; biologist MARK WILSON shares his story of discovery canoeing down the Refuge's Canning River; STANLEY E. SENNER, Vice President of Audubon Alaska, explains the ecological importance of the region and how oil development has impacted the North Slope; and ROBERT THOMPSON, an Inupiat wildlife guide, reveals the relationship between birds and native culture.

Three photographers contributed to this project: SUBHANKAR BANERJEE, author of Arctic National Wildlife Refuge: Seasons of Life and Land, has had his images featured in major museums such as the Smithsonian Institute of Natural History and in magazines such as Vanity Fair; nature photographer STEVEN KAZLOWSKI was a finalist for Wildlife magazine's 2004 Wildlife Photographer of the Year award. Among his previous books are Alaska Wildlife Impressions and Bears of the North; ARTHUR MORRIS specializes in bird photography and has had more than 11,000 of his photos published in magazine such as American Bird, Audobon, National Geographic, Outdoor Photographer and many more.

Arctic Wings is produced jointly by The Mountaineers Books and Manomet Center for Conservation Science. It is published in the tradition of Seasons of Life and Land—a book (photography by Subhankar Banerjee) that has won critical acclaim and has helped inform the debate over opening the Arctic Refuge to oil drilling.

Customer Reviews:

A Beautiful Book that Covers a Place that May Not be here long........2006-10-19

This beautifully illustrated book is written by a collection of authors who have a love affair going with the birds of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). Their writing, each on a different subject is filled with amazement, wonder and love for the area and its birdlife.

On the other side is a whole series of comments about protecting this environment and the thrust for development being urged by the oil companies and the Bush administration. Unfortunately, in the long run, I think that the environmentalists will lose. The 'God given rights' of the people to have inexpensive gasoline for their SUV's leads to power by the voting booth.

The book itself is of large format, printed on a very heavy paper with a printing quality that rivals photographs themselves. It is a beautiful book. There is also a CD included with the book that has recordings of 67 bird boices. This can be played as a single 60 minute recording, or you can select individual tracks of bird species.

Beautifully done, very interesting.......2006-08-31

Absolutely beautifully done with brilliant colors and well-composed pictures this is a great joy to just look through for all bird lovers or fans of the Arctic Refuge area. But it does not stop there. The writers share their experiences in an excellent educational yet highly readable treatise on their particular subject. Together they introduce the fascinating world of Arctic birds to the reader in a way that is both informative and fun. So, how to you finish off such an excellent book? They added a CD in the back with various bird calls, songs, and peeps. Arctic Wings: Birds of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is highly recommended and a real joy to have around even just for the pleasure of picking it up once in a while and enjoying the pictures.

Birds of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.......2006-08-15

If you love: a)nature photography, b)the Arctic, and c)birds - this book is for you. It is over-sized and filled with beautiful colored photographs of birds who come to breed in the Arctic. Plus, there are migration maps and essays telling you how the birds got to the Arctic. And there is a CD with sounds of the Arctic and many of the birds pictured in the book. It is a wonderful feast for the senses.

Arctic Wings.......2006-08-12

This gorgeous book on the birds of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge combines writing by a variety of authors, from birding luminary David Sibley to local Native American residents, with many outstanding photographs. Overall, it provides a considerable amount of information on the bird species appearing in the ANWR and the effects that oil drilling might have on them. While some segments are more gracefully written than others, all are interesting.

Along with the book is a CD of birdsongs and ambient sounds of the region.

Birds of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.......2006-08-07

Pacific, Central, Mississippi and Atlantic North American Flyways converge on the North Slope of Alaska and Yukon Territory. The area encompasses many ecosystems - river deltas and coastal wetlands, tundra, mountains, boreal forest; inshore waters, barrier islands, beaches and spits and coastal lagoons. Diverse and complex spread over 7.89 million square hectometers (19.5 million ac). The North Slope is a soundshed, viewshed, and the temporary annual residence for at least 194 birds - who visit, but not stay. Some fly almost 29,000 kilometers (18,000 mi), each year, for the round trip. The area is also home to moose, caribou, wolverines, arctic fox, bears and wolves.

US automobile companies and related industries have effectively been on welfare for most of the 20th and the 21st centuries - dependent on "cheap" oil. Perverse subsidies that function as disinvestments threaten to leave the arctic environment and US economy worse off. As pointed out by Hawken, Lovins and Lovins (1999) in Natural Capitalism and von Weizsacker, Lovins and Lovins (1997) in Factor Four: Doubling Wealth, Halving Resource Use, if you want to cut your costs by one-half or double your profit, then double your efficiency. The North Slope sustainably functions best as wilderness.

Rather than getting close to the Arctic tundra by "sitting behind an internal combustion engine pick up truck in midtown traffic," this is about minimizing human impact on the North Slope by becoming better informed about some of the wild visitors. A CD provides from a few seconds up to 14 minutes (60 minutes of continual play) of the sounds of 67 different birds of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The large 28 x 28 cm format helps bring the North Slope alive, everything but cool wind in your face and crisp smells wafting off the tundra.

After the introduction, the book is organized according to Loons and Waterfowl; Hawks, Eagles and Falcons; Shorebirds; Gulls, Terns and Jaegers; Owls; Land Birds and Winter Birds. President Jimmy Carter provides the Foreward. Multiple authors and photographers provide Cultural Reflections, Landscape of the Future, After an Arctic Season and Birders in the Scope.

Recognizing there is a direct connection between local birds throughout North America and the North Slope, this reinforces the need for efficiency and use of renewable energy, and brings you one giant step closer to an "aha" moment.

Average customer rating:

Intriguing and Intensely Detailed Story of the Far North
flight of the soul.....
Two Tin Tallin's Fly Away
A beautiful, well-written story
Beautiful & Moving Story ....

Flight of the Goose
Lesley Thomas
Manufacturer: Far Eastern Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Native American | Earth-Based Religions | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

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A Deeper Sleep: A Kate Shugak Novel (Kate Shugak Novels)

ASIN: 0967884217
Release Date: 2005-02-12

Book Description

In a remote Inupiat Eskimo village in 1971, the friendship and love between a young female shaman, a traditional hunter and a draft-dodging ecologist leads to tragedy.

Customer Reviews:

Intriguing and Intensely Detailed Story of the Far North.......2007-09-30

Lesley Thomas detailed this book so intricately that it seems real. I was most especially fascinated by the character of Kayuqtuq "Gretchen" Ugungoraseok, who is an orphan Native American adopted by the Inupiat, which means real people.

Kayuqtuq is a young woman living in a subsistence culture with roots that extend thousands of years into the past. Her observations of people, including naluagmiu (white man) Leif Trygvesen, are from the perspective of her culture. I was completely fascinated.

Though Kayuqtuq is already a young woman in this story, which is set in 1971, emotionally she is dealing with trauma from her childhood; perhaps she is also dealing with the continuous trauma of harsh life in the Arctic. The result is that Kayuqtuq's story is frequently more like a coming of age story than the story of a person who has already reached adulthood.

Part of Kayuqtuq's coping strategy is to become an angutkoq, or shaman. Regardless of whether Kayuqtuq has shaman powers or is incredibly intelligent, her insights and visions of events are remarkably accurate and frequently prescient. Unfortunately, her visions and insight fail to give her enough clarity to prevent tragedies.

This novel is primarily the story of Kayuqtuq "Gretchen" Ugungoraseok and Leif Trygvesen. The story is partially about the clash of cultures, but also about how Kayuqtuq and Leif react differently to the situations around them because of their cultures. Kayuqtuq and Leif's perspectives allow us to see how Inupiat culture views various situations in comparison to European culture.

Shading and complicating the cultural differences between Kayuqtuq and Leif is that each is multicultural in their own way. The Inupiat adopted Kayuqtuq, but she is Native American. European and Viking culture strongly influenced Leif's mother and father, but Leif is from the United States. Adding even more complexity is that each is an outsider in their culture. Kayuqtuq is trying to learn to become an angutkoq, which Inupiat elders forbid, and Leif is an environmentalist and against the war in Viet Nam, neither of which made him popular with "The Establishment" in 1971. It was probably inevitable that the two outsiders found kindred spirits in each other and came to love each other. Perhaps the tragedies that followed were just as inevitable.

Lesley Thomas's writing reminds me of the detail that Charles Dickens put into his novels. I like Dickens' writing very much and I am unable to recall any modern author to whom I have been exposed that writes with such intricacy and precision. However, Lesley's writing is so clear and organized that even with the complexity of the story I never got lost or had to re-read a section. This book is such a literary achievement that it has received awards from The National Federation of Press Women, The Alaska Press Women, and The Washington Press Association.

This book is neither a light read, nor is it a book that you will forget any time soon. I will admit that my eyes were moist as I finished Lesley Thomas's story of Kayuqtuq and Leif. Lesley's writing pulled me so deeply into the characters that they seemed real to me. Just as in real life, what happened to them can not be undone, no matter how we might wish otherwise. Even now, several days after finishing this novel, I wish I could undo what happened, but then Lesley's message would have been diluted, and I, and future readers, would have been less affected.

The awards this fictional novel has won are well-deserved. This book is one of the best modern novels I have read. It is truly a great novel. If you enjoy stories about the conflict in cultures, if you have ever liked Dickens, if you want to read about the effect modern culture has had on the Inupiat and the environment of the far north, or if you just want to read an incredibly well written book, get this one.

I hope you enjoy this book as much as I did.

flight of the soul............2007-08-26

I'm happy to recommend this intricate and poetic novel to those looking for more than a quick read or an easy story: looking for something more soulful, something that leaves the heart transformed.

Much has been written about the hundreds of cultures destroyed by Christian missionaries, whether they carry bibles or rifles or deeds or broken treaties. The setting of this drama is a small Alaskan village trying to hold itself together in the aftermath of partial colonization. But Lesley Thomas does not return preaching for preaching. Instead, she draws upon her own life experience to show the reader exactly what life there looks like detail by detail one conversation at a time, all of it set against an Alaskan landscape so searing and mysterious that it too becomes a character.

In this setting two people try to find each other: an Indian woman whose English name is Gretchen, and the biologist she calls the Birdman. Again and again they miss each other, only to be brought back together by a passion deeper than words: a fine demonstration of how much hurt can be inflicted on a budding romance to the extent lovers try to protect themselves from each other. There is a lovely byplay in which Gretchen sneaks into the biologist's camp to read his very personal journal, which he conveniently leaves under his pillow. How badly these two want to talk to each other, and how hard they find it to do so, is a tension behind the subplots playing out between Inupiat villagers, visiting whites, orphaned Gretchen, and a very confused but sensitive scientist suddenly exposed to a wider world than was dreamed of in his philosophy.

A complication: Gretchen is a practicing shaman who does not fully understand what she's doing. Her struggles are consistent with how other cultures understand shamanism (as opposed to New Age workshop "neoshamanism" bent to the agenda of self-improvement), including her spells of dissociation and the terrifying images she encounters. It's gratifying to read an author who has done her homework on this topic, especially at a time when so much Native lore has been appropriated, adulterated, and sold to people who don't know any better.

As a reader who teaches a graduate-level myth class, I appreciated the mythological references, quotes, stories, legends, all lightly touched on without interfering with the pace of events. A good question for the reader to wonder about while reading: What myth are the lovers caught up in, and what are their options for finding each other from within it? (The old Norse saying that starts the Prologue puts it well: "How can anyone know what is possible for those in love?")

Another dimension to this novel is the ecological, particularly as people on the scene (including the biologist) note the climate changes and business decisions that threaten the Alaskans. The ultimate fate of everyone in range--and nowadays we are all in range--is clear: "The animals are sickening and we are told not to eat them, nor nurse our own babies. Soon we must leave our home, retreating from the rising waves. We will join the saddened animals and wander, hoping for mercy from strangers." It would seem to be a law of history and psychology too that those who experience themselves as perpetually angry exiles and outcasts tend to inflict displacement on other creatures unless a way is found to bind up the original wounds and find a sense of homecoming.

Many poignant episodes appear throughout the story. One occurs about two-thirds of the way through when Gretchen, who thinks of herself as ugly, is finally able to experience some of her own inner and outer beauty by trying to retrieve the soul of the man she loves and yet torments.

Mental health professionals in the U.S. have been slow to realize that not all psychological anguish arises from within. What happened to both Gretchen and the Birdman to make them both so guarded and so easily injured has roots in the shadows and pathologies of their cultures. Part of the difficulty of healing and connecting involves their attempts to shoulder what are actually historical-colonial legacies of wounding playing out in personal relationships.

To end these terrible legacies: how to do that? What will it take to make the dominant culture less lethal to itself, to Earth, to people it regards as Other? The myths of many times and this novel offer a hint: the story must be rewritten from within it, starting with many small and large acts of sacrifice carried out in love strong enough to fly like the goose into the heavens.

Two Tin Tallin's Fly Away.......2007-08-22

What a cosmic, karmic, seismic shift the elders in Lesley Thomas' excellent epic, centered in the 1971 Alaskan Arctic, have endured in their lifetimes. This haunting book is a love story, a paean to survivors, an ode to a land and civilization literally melting - disappearing while the Bush/Cheney/Coleman Global Big Oil Band plays on.
Lesley's lovely book is wonderfully written, but yet, at least for this reviewer, sometimes difficult to read. I find myself feeling like Billy Jack in the ice cream store: 'I try. I really try' not to let the [bad guys] get me down and 'then I think of ... this idiotic moment of yours and I Just Go Berserk.'
Please read this book, and pass it on to all your sane friends and relatives and maybe, just maybe, if enough of us on this Group W Bench (listen to Alice's Restaurant again) band together, we can stop the insanity!
... cue Jinx Dawson and Coven o/~ One Tin Soldier Rides Away o/~
/TundraVision, Amazon Reviewer

A beautiful, well-written story.......2007-08-17

I can't pretend and say that I know a whole lot about shamanism and indigenous culture in general because I don't. When I read Lesley Thomas' FLIGHT OF THE GOOSE, I initially thought she was part of the indigenous culture that she writes about in her novel. Lesley really dives into every minute detail about the daily lives of the indigenous people in Alaska and their culture including their language. I was wrong. Judging by the text, the author really did her research on the language, spirituality, and the mundane every day life of the indigenous natives in Alaska. There is even a glossary of Inupiaq in the back of the book that defined certain words that she used in her story. The authenticity of Lesley's novel alone gets major kudos from me.

The story of FLIGHT OF THE GOOSE is told from two different perspectives...Gretchen, a young solitary Inuit who is teaching herself to become a shamaness, and Leif, a biologist who is trying to avoid the draft. Their romance certainly plays a big role in Lesley's novel but the author also addresses other issues like war, the environment, and the clashing cultures of the older and younger Inuits without coming off as preachy and sanctimonious.

I am normally not a big fan of romance novels. I find them rather unrealistic and phoney but Lesley Thomas's novel is anything but unrealistic. What I really liked about the book was the authencity of the book. The amount of research that Lesley invested into her book really shines through especially when she describes the uneventful daily lives of Gretchen and her people.

I loved reading FLIGHT OF THE GOOSE. Lesley Thomas has a wonderful gift for storytelling. She has made a new fan out of me who rarely reads fiction nowadays.

Beautiful & Moving Story ...........2007-08-09

I just finished this book five minutes ago and scores of thoughts and images are floating through my mind right now. It is hard for me to figure out what to say in a review that hasn't been said already and how to convey the thoughts I'd like to share. It is an incredible book and one that I would not hesitate to recommend to any book club or anyone else to read.

First off, it's very lyrical. I can actually see the tundra and the sea breaking loose from the ice after a long hard winter. I can actually see the tent in the middle of the marsh. I can see the love shining in a young Indian's eyes, the fear and the impotent rage. I can see how love triumphs over bitterness and the very humanness of being human and scared. It is also a very lush novel ~~ lyrical and lush, my two favorite types of descriptions when it comes to reading. It is not a book to put down at a whim ~~ no, it's a book to savor and re-read over and over simply because of the beauty of language and description.

Secondly, I have always loved reading about different cultures. Perhaps it's because it's so different from my own life (which seems to be very much a white-bread and butter type in comparison to this novel's people). Whatever the reason is, I enjoy reading about it. Thomas does a great job of carrying me across the whole nation into a different world ~~ a world of ice and beauty, fraught with danger and redemption. It is not just a love story, it is about a disappearing way of life that makes your heart sad because once a way of life is gone, there is no way of reclaiming it.

Thirdly, it is one of the most beautiful love stories I have ever read. It's not your typical bosom-heaving type novel ~~ no, it's about a real love story of two star-crossed lovers. It's beautiful and real. A young man lost in the anger of his failed relationship with his father, grieving over the death of his brother, avoiding the Vietnam war finds love with a young girl, who is an orphan and a shamaness, wild at heart and unable to give away her heart. This book shows that love conquers all, even death.

In all honesty, you cannot pick this book up and read it, then forget about it. There are too many rich details in this book that throughout the course of the day, you'll be doing something, then you'll be reminded of something else in the book. This is a book that you will want to read again in a few years. And again. It is one of the most beautiful story you'll ever want to read.

Pick up this book and soar into a world of beauty that you will never forget.

8-9-07

Exploring Alaska's Birds (Alaska Geographic)

Average customer rating:

Filled from cover to cover with gorgeous color photography

Exploring Alaska's Birds (Alaska Geographic)

Manufacturer: Alaska Geographic Society
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Nature & Wildlife | Photography | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

General | Birdwatching | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books

Reference | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 1566610540

Book Description

Alaska Geographic is an award-winning series that presents the people, places, and wonders of Alaska to the world. Over the past 30 years, Alaska Geographic has earned its reputation as the publication for those who love Alaska. The series boasts more than 100 books to date, featuring communities from Barrow to Ketchikan, animals from bears to dinosaurs, history from the Russian explorers to today, and natural phenomena from the aurora to glaciers. Written by leading experts in their fields, these books are illustrated throughout with world-class photography and include colorful maps for reference.

Customer Reviews:

Filled from cover to cover with gorgeous color photography.......2002-09-08

Exploring Alaska's Birds: Alaska Geographic, Volume 28, Number 1 is filled from cover to cover with gorgeous color photography of Alaska's wild birds, ranging from ospreys to three-toed woodpeckers. Packed with insightful articles on these colorful and diverse feathered friends, their migration patterns and navigation systems, adaptations to Alaskan winters, as well as their relationships to people, Exploring Alaska's Birds is a remarkable and highly recommended addition to personal, school, and community library ornithological reference collections.

Bird Girl and the Man Who Followed the Sun

Average customer rating:

Two stories in one
Wonderful Folklore
Bird Girl and the Man Who Followed the Sun
Two Athabaskan legends become one great story
Two Athabaskan legends become one great story

Bird Girl and the Man Who Followed the Sun
Velma Wallis
Manufacturer: Harper Perennial
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Folklore & Mythology | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Two Old Women: An Alaska Legend of Betrayal, Courage and Survival
Raising Ourselves: A Gwich'in Coming of Age Story from the Yukon River
Tisha: The Story of a Young Teacher in the Alaska Wilderness
Cold River Spirits: The Legacy of an Athabascan-Irish Family from Alaska's Yukon River
Shadows on the Koyukuk: An Alaskan Native's Life Along the River

ASIN: 0060977280

Book Description

With the publication of Two Old Women, Velma Wallis firmly established herself as one of the most important voices in Native American writing. A national bestseller, her empowering fable won the Western State Book Award in 1993 and the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association Book Award in 1994. Translated into 16 languages, it went on to international success, quickly reaching bestseller status in Germany. To date, more than 350,000 copies have been sold worldwide.

Bird Girl and the Man Who Followed the Sun follows in this bestselling tradition. Rooted in the ancient legends of Alaska's Athabaskan Indians, it tells the stories of two adventurers who decide to leave the safety of their respective tribes. Bird Girl is a headstrong young woman who learned early on the skills of a hunter. When told that she must end her forays and take up the traditional role of wife and mother, she defies her family's expectations and confidently takes off to brave life on her own. Daagoo is a dreamer, curious about the world beyond. Longing to know what happens to the sun in winter, he sets out on a quest to find the legendary "Land of the Sun." Their stories interweave and intersect as they each face the many dangers and challenges of life alone in the wilderness. In the end, both learn that the search for individualism often comes at a high price, but that it is a price well worth paying, for through this quest comes the beginning of true wisdom.

Customer Reviews:

Two stories in one.......2007-04-24

We follow the life's of Bird Girl and Daagoo. Both try to break with tradition and do what they want, on their own, without being controlled by their family or tribes. They try to run away from the roles that their people try to force onto them. In the end they find out that individualism and being their own person is just wrong.
Women should marry who their parents want them to, have babies and work about the camp till they die from old age. And Men should become hunters, working day and night, to keep the people in food and furs, then die an early death. Unless they are tossed out because nobody needs them anymore.
In other words, everything has a price, even being your own person.

Wonderful Folklore.......2007-03-12

This is a wonderful book. It ebbs and flows with a rhythm of its own. I read both of Velma's books and they are both wonderful.

Bird Girl and the Man Who Followed the Sun.......2005-09-28

The book was obviously well cared for, and it was very nicely packaged. There is not one single mark in the book or even one bent page. It's a wonderful book.

Two Athabaskan legends become one great story.......2003-08-31

Bird Girl and Daagoo are from different bands of the Gwich'in tribe and have one chance meeting when they are young. The story follows as each go separate ways, Daagoo to the "Land of the Sun", and Bird Girl as she is kidnapped and enslaved by an enemy tribe. Their stories mirror each others through their struggles for independence, and the great tragedies they endure.

A wonderful story from which I learned a great deal about the Native Alaskan people... Beautifully written story.

Two Athabaskan legends become one great story.......2003-08-31

Velma Wallis, an Athabaskan Indian woman from Alaska, was set on codifying some of the legends that her mother had told her about their people. Her first endeavor, Two Old Women, became a bestseller. Her second project was the mingling of two legends she had heard. Each of the stories were similar because they focused on "loners" or people who do not fit into the norm of society. Bord Girl and Daagoo are from different bands of the Gwich'in and have one encounter when they are young. The story follows as each go separate ways, Daagoo to the "Land of the Sun", and Bird Girl as she is kidnapped and enslaved by an enemy tribe. Their stories mirror each others through their struggles for independence, and the great tragedies they endure.

A wonderful story from which I learned a great deal about the Native Alaskan people... Beautifully written.

Status and distribution of Alaska birds (Studies in avian biology)
Average customer rating:
Status and distribution of Alaska birds (Studies in avian biology)
Brina Kessel
Manufacturer: Cooper Ornithological Society
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

General | Birdwatching | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B0006X18PC

Alaska's Birds: A Guide to Selected Species (Alaska Pocket Guide)
Average customer rating:

Nice Book, Nice Pictures, Nice Tourist Souvenir

Review of Alaska's Birds A Guide to Selected Species

Alaska's Birds: A Guide to Selected Species (Alaska Pocket Guide)
Robert H Armstrong
Manufacturer: Alaska Northwest Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Birdwatching | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books
Reference | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books
Ornithology | Zoology | Biological Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

Guide to the Birds of Alaska

Birds of Alaska Field Guide

Alaska Trees & Wildflowers

Alaska's Mammals: A Guide to Selected Species (Alaska Pocket Guide)

Alaska Birds (Pocket Naturalist - Waterford Press)

ASIN: 0882404555

Book Description

In-depth portraits of 61 representative species, including information on unusual behaviors, habitats, and seasonal adaptations.

Customer Reviews:

Nice Book, Nice Pictures, Nice Tourist Souvenir.......2006-06-04

This book was created to fill a niche in Gift Shops more than to be a field guide for Alaskan Birds. It is nicely laid out and well illustrated, but it is just something of an abridged version of Robert Armstrong's Birds of Alaska. If you are a birder and are looking for a book about Birds of Alaska, get the full version. But see my review of that book before buying it. I recommend getting Birds of Alaska, but not as the only field guide you take with you.

I'm not knocking this book, it is nice, but not complete enough to satisfy serious birders.

Review of Alaska's Birds A Guide to Selected Species.......2005-08-08

This is another one of those field guides which list too few species and doesn't give enough information about them to be of much practical use. We tried using it in the field on a trip to SE Alaska and found it useless. If you need a field guide, get a comprehensive one.

Ron Stoessell
Londi (Yolanda) Moore

Alaska 1899: Essays from the Harriman Expedition

Average customer rating:

Alaska 1899: Essays from the Harriman Expedition
George Bird Grinnell , Polly Burroughs , and Victoria Wyatt
Manufacturer: University of Washington Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

North America | Travel | Subjects | Books

Look Inside Travel Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
Similar Items:

The Harriman Alaska Expedition Retraced: A Century of Change, 1899-2001

ASIN: 0295973773

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