The Book of Cranes

by Clare Cooley

For Cooley the cranes are something beyond curiosity, perhaps familiar, yet inexplicable. To learn about the cranes, she went to the International Crane Fdn. in Wisconsin (the only place where all 15 species exist). There she walked among them & interacted with them. For 60 million years, cranes have flown over practically every continent. They can fly at altitudes of up to 30,000 ft. & can migrate over 5,000 miles. This book shares the magnificence of these creatures & helps their survival. For each species of crane, Cooley offers a page of poetic description accompanied by a watercolor illustration. A beautiful work of art with a gorgeous slipcase.

Genres: Birds, Art

32 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1993

Reviews

[GoldGato]

In this beautiful accordion book, artist Clare Cooley looks at cranes from around the world, providing wonderful artwork with explanatory text for each grouping. Although I love the book for its artwork, the facts I learned about these stunning birds were interesting, too.

A. In Chinese lore, an enlightened being will be transported to the "Heaven of the Highest Clarity" on the back of a crane.

B. The first known picture of a bird, painted 6,000 years ago in the Tajo Segura cave in southern Spain, featured a crane.

C. The Romans noted the changing of the seasons by the raucous trumpeting of migrating cranes.

D. The Christians believed that resting cranes avoided sleep by holding a stone in a raised foot.



Gorgeous.

Book Season = Year Round (crane dances)

[Scott Meadows]

I’ve had this on my bookshelf for years so decided to walk through it’s short meditation this morning. Though its text is often brief and hardly descriptive, the artwork included is all quite beautiful. The reason that it ever caught my eye was the “accordion” binding of the book, allowing one to pull it out of the cover and read it in two directions.

The Book of Cranes is a gorgeous little book to simply have on your bookshelf and add beauty and diversity.

[Amrita Jheeta]

What a beautifully illustrated book! An unusual but fun little read.

[Ashley H]

I'm a sucker for an unusually formatted book and the illustrations are beautiful.

[Ellie]

an illustrated accordion book about cranes? hell yeah.

[Alaina]

Beautifully designed.