Originally appearing at: Booklist
In this companion to the popular Winter World (2003), Heinrich provides an in-depth study of summer and the earth’s rebirth. As to be expected, his descriptions of the creatures around him are awesome in their detail. From mud daubers and bald-faced hornets to hummingbirds and woodpeckers, Heinrich shares his enthusiasm for nest-making skills and further delights readers in portraits of animals reawakening from quiet hibernation, including the wood frog, which appears dead in its winter state. His observational skill is unsurpassed, but it is his excitement for his subjects that makes him so appealing to such a broad range of readers. Heinrich also considers the work of a variety of fellow nature watchers, beautifully making the experiences of desert naturalist Raymond Cowles, the eighteenth-century Royal Society of London secretary, and two World War I geologists relevant both to the season under scrutiny and the times we live in. Backyard naturalists will find a quiet champion here, someone who does his work sitting quietly with paper and pen, watching, listening, and breathing the life around him. Heinrich’s hallmark elegant prose is matched by his fine illustrations.
