The Story of John J Audubon

by Joan Howard

“He stared into the fire, wondering why on earth he had such a poor memory for places and faces, for almost everything except birds.” A French orphan named Fougère is fortunate enough to be welcomed into a loving home with a doting mother, sweet sister, and proud father during the French Revolution. Throughout his childhood he is drawn again and again to the study of birds. While confounding his father, who has other plans for him, his obsession with accurately drawing every bird he sees leads him on many adventures throughout his life. Eventually, Fougère changes his name to John J. Audubon, after whom an entire society devoted to the study of birds is named—The Audubon Society of America, which still exists today. Follow along as Audubon, supported by his steadfast wife and children, transforms the world of ornithology in The Story of John J. Audubon.

Genres: Biography, Chapter Books

133 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1954

Reviews

[Eben Holwick · Rating 5 out of 5]

We loved reading this for our family read-aloud! What a persistent man with such a patient and encouraging wife. I love learning about the variety of interests and passions people have.

[Addie · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a sweet story about a boy who grew into a man, and never lost his love for birds! This is the story of Audubon and how he became not only a great artist, but a great naturalist, and eventually an author. This book was originally written in 1954 and definitely has that air of language which adds to the sweetness of the story. Audubon had grit and perseverance, and lots of love for nature. He kept his eye on what he loved. Even when things seemed discouraging he always found a way to continue onward towards his dream.

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this aloud to my kids, and we all loved it. They begged for more at the end of each chapter. The story was told in a language rich, captivating way. The mystery of who Jihn James really was was fascinating. I would set a copy of Audubon's birds out to consult a we read. It was an amazing companion also to Okay for Now by Gary D. Schmidt. Wonderful experience to share in our homeschool!

[Principled Academy · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Story of John J. Audubon is an engaging story. In the beginning, it touches lightly on French history during his boyhood. As the story progresses, we learn about his life in America and how he preserved America's bird history through his paintings.

In our literature lessons with this book, we highlight God's Principle of Individuality as the overarching principle. There are several opportunities presented throughout the story to discuss internal-to-external qualities of characters and cause-to-effect.

[Steve · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story of John J. Audubon is a very good book to read. The story starts out dering the French revlosen. John is adopted by a French navy capten and his wife, know one noes who John really was there are some people who believe that he was the son of the king of Fanes but we don't really know for sreten. From the time that he was really little he just loved birds, he loved to draw them but he could never get them to come out right. As he grows up his father tries to get his interesed in something besides drawing but he can not so he sens him to America where he speneds most of his time watching the birds. he meets this really nice Engles girl who he mareys. For a while he and a friend tries to start a store but he just can't stop stoding the birds, so after a while he quits and decis to trey to get his bird pantings published time after time things go wrong and some times he just wants to quit but his wife keeps his hop alive, finally he goes to England where his pantings are while resheved.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like many books of this era, his life was romanticized a little too much, in my opinion. For example, the book made it appear that he might have been the prince of France, which is not true (as far as I can tell). The book was helpful in getting me oriented to and interested in him, but as far as learning the true details of his life, other sources are probably better.

[Drennan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I LOVE Audubon!! I love his paintings. It was wonderful learning about this man. The whole family enjoyed reading this book. We studied his paintings and bought AudubonOpoly... like Monopoly but with Audubon's birds.

[LaWindes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book. Lots of interesting info. Some speculations about his birth origins. Advocates following your true interests and passions in life.