In the Belly of an Ox: The Unexpected Photographic Adventures of Richard and Cherry Kearton - Hardcover

Bond, Rebecca

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0547076754 ISBN 13: 9780547076751

Publisher: Clarion Books, 2009

Synopsis

Raised in the moorlands of Yorkshire, Richard and Cherry Kearton developed a boyhood fascination with nature that fostered their great desire to photograph it.  Together the brothers invented ingenious camouflage "hides" (including one inside the belly of an ox) in order to get closer to their subjects of birds. After three years, the brothers published the first natural history book entirely illustrated with photographs; it changed the way people view birds and their nests, inspiring them to protect them rather than plunder them.

About this title

About the Author:

REBECCA BOND grew up in the tiny village of Peacham in northeastern Vermont. When she is not having fun painting and writing, Rebecca is busy fixing up her new (to her) old house in a neighborhood in Jamaica Plain, Boston.

From School Library Journal:

Grade 1–4—The cover illustration of a young man carrying an ox on his head should draw children to this picture-book biography of two late-19th century nature photographers from Yorkshire, England. Raised in the countryside, Richard and Cherry Kearton were brothers who produced the first photographic nature book. They worked in London but often escaped with a camera to take pictures of birds, and their nests and eggs. Highly adventurous, the men hid in animal skins and haystacks and climbed, crawled, and waded through bogs to get their shots. Bond's writing is often poetic and captures a sense of wonder: "They especially marveled at the architecture of living things: The structure of nests. The lattice of webs." Sepia ink and watercolor artwork features pale skies and soft-edged hills. A closing spread of photos gives credence to the highly unlikely images of the ox on Cherry Kearton's head and of the brothers standing on a ladder precariously placed on a thin branch in a tall tree. End matter includes quotes and notes on the naturalists' lives following the publication of their groundbreaking work. The book has pleasing prose, attractive illustrations, and a message on early environmentalism. Its popularity is limited only by the obscurity of its subjects.—Ellen Heath, Easton Area Public Library, Easton, PA END

About this edition

• Publisher: Clarion Books
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 0547076754
• ISBN 13: 9780547076751
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 32
• Illustrator: Bond Rebecca