Peter Costello
Naturama: Open Your Eyes to the Wonders of Irish Nature
by Michael Fewer, with illustrations by Melissa Doran
(Gill Books, €22.99)
Now that summer has come (hopefully), here is an ideal book for the young reader – and some older readers too I suspect.
Author Michael Fewer is an architect who has written several country walking guides, among other books. This book is filled with an enthusiasm for nature and an urge to impart it to children who live mostly in the city these days.
Arranged to cover the seasons one by one in turn, he introduces the typical animals and birds that can be seen by a careful observer of any age. It is a large format book with a very generous page spread, not for carrying into the fields and woods, but for enjoying at home.
He does not neglect the fact that for many children their back garden and the local park may well be the only real glimpses of nature they get. He even finds room, among all that can be seen in the city of birds and beasts, for the city fox, a creature which I struggle hard to raise any regard for – but that is a failing in myself.
The illustrations by Melissa Doran, are just that, illustrations, they evoke the seasons and creatures in an entirely appropriate and appealing way – the shops are already filled with photographic handbooks that can be grown into. They provide a step to looking at nature as other artists have presented it.
This book is intended to introduce the broad subject and to inspire a lasting enthusiasm which many children will be grateful for as they grow older. I would have liked to have a couple of pages devoted to the changing nature of clouds and what they mean for the weather, and also something about the stars at night. But perhaps the energetic Mr Fewer will go on to write these.