Wild & Wacky Birdhouses and Feeders: 18 Creative and Colorful Projects That Add Fun to Your Backyard (Fox Chapel Publishing) Bear, Rooster, Wishing Well, Football Helmet, and More Whimsical Designs

by Paul Meisel

Make your backyard more exciting with a unique bird or squirrel feeder or a birdhouse that will be sure to attract the attention of backyard critters, not to mention that of your neighbors.  In Wild and Wacky Bird Houses and Feeders, you’ll find colorful and creative projects meant to bring out the fun in building birdhouses.  Whether it’s the birdhouse cleverly designed to look like a security camera, or the player piano squirrel feeder that will turn your resident animals into musicians, readers are sure to find a project that will delight and amuse.  Complete with detailed patterns for each house and feeder, this book ensures that woodworkers of all levels will be able to create a backyard masterpiece.  And if you’re self-conscious about building a birdhouse with moose antlers, invite your kids or grandkids to join in the fun.

    Wild and Wacky Bird Houses and Feeders also includes helpful hints on squirrel control, bird seed, perches and sizing birdhouse holes, as well as fun facts and trivia that will turn each woodworking project into a uniquely enjoyable experience.

152 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2012

About the author

I'm the author/illustrator of 15 books with more on the way. Here's a link to a review in the New York Times Book Review of MY AWESOME SUMMER BY P. MANTIS (Holiday House). AAAS/Subaru SB&F Prizes named MY AWESOME SUMMER BY P. MANTIS a 2018 finalist for best books of the year in the Children's Science Picture Books category. MY HAPPY YEAR BY E. BLUEBIRD, MY STINKY SUMMER BY S. BUG, and MY TINY LIFE BY RUBY T. HUMMINGBIRD are three other titles in the Nature Diary series. YOU POOP HERE is a simple, humorous potty training book which I authored and illustrated, available also as a board book. BOOM! is a Holiday House I Like to Read Comics book for emerging readers about a dog who’s scared of thunder and his cat friend who’s not.

I wrote and illustrated GOOD NIGHT, BAT! GOOD MORNING, SQUIRREL! and ANNA AND SAMIA: THE TRUE STORY OF SAVING A BLACK RHINO.

To date I have illustrated more than 90 books, including early readers, picture books, eight books in the HarperCollins Let's-Read-And-Find-Out Science series (LIGHT IS ALL AROUND US, ENERGY MAKES THINGS HAPPEN, FORCES MAKE THINGS MOVE, and others), and a number of mass market books. Two chapter books written by my son, Peter, and illustrated by me, are STINKY SPIKE THE PIRATE DOG and STINKY SPIKE AND THE ROYAL RESCUE.

I graduated with a BA in Fine Art from Wesleyan University, where I also played on the squash team. I studied in Rome at the Tyler School of Art my Junior year. I received an MFA in Graphic Design from Yale University and worked briefly as a graphic designer before becoming a full time illustrator and author.

In addition to children's trade books I also work in editorial, educational and advertising illustration. I illustrate traditionally and digitally, and use a combination of both.

When not illustrating and writing or spending time with the family I like to play tennis, pickleball and garden. Coco, our labradoodle seen in the picture above, is no longer with us but she was an avid runner and digger and the inspiration for a number of my books.

Reviews

[Ryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you like to have a little creativity in your yard, and something to really attract winged life forms then this is the book for you. This book comes with patterns and ideas to make these fun homes. Many designs are not for the novice wood worker, but even those who have not intention of actually making these habitats, will find this an interesting book to flip through.