Saving Jemima: Life and Love with a Hard-Luck Jay by Julie Zickefoose
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
What a lovely book – in every sense. It is a compact, colorful, beautifully produced object: just a comfortable size to hold and read, on classy paper stock, and illuminated throughout with Zickefoose’s elegant paintings and drawings, plus charming photos of Jemima the blue jay and members of her human foster family. I so often wish that art-type books I’ve read recently had some decent illustrations; this one was a joy.
Those of us who follow Zickefoose on Facebook or through her blog already know some of this story, but here she gets room to expand on the year she spent nursing, coaching, watching, cheering, photographing, drawing and loving the tough little blue jay she had rescued as a sickly 11-day-old fluff nugget. In warm-hearted prose, she tells us all about the intellectual and emotional ride you get when you do what she does: devote your life to saving and releasing wildlife in need… and having to say good-bye. The tale of Jemima – a delightful, charismatic, demanding little character – is woven through other strands of Zickefoose’s life: her near-adult children who are themselves preparing to leave the “nest,” her marriage, her aging dog, her own enmeshment in relationships with wild animals – some of which made my heart ache. This all adds up to more than just another human + wild animal story. For birders, there is a wealth of information to be relished about feeding, behaviors, and personalities (Brown Thrashers are described as “catlike and comical” – perfect!). A recipe for “Zick Dough,” her own particular brew for winter feeding, is provided. A particularly gorgeous plate is a circle of portraits of the individual jays she knew by sight, depicting the subtle markings and hues that made each one unique.
A wonderful mix of birds, humans, arts, words, and love.
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