Dancers in the Garden

Rating:
Summary: A Beautiful Nature Book
Review: This is a lovely book, a perfect union of text and illustrations. Ryder deftly turns child-suitable prose into poetry: "lyrical" is simply the best word to describe it. As befitting a Sierra Club publication, she is ornithologically accurate in her portrayl of the Allen's hummingbird, and includes a useful discussion of hummers in general at the end of the book. Lopez's watercolors are every bit the author's equal. Each two-page spread is a delight to the eye, accurate in the details and evocative in feeling. And for those of us east of the Mississippi, there's something of a bonus. Since our local hummer is the ruby-throat, not the Allen's, and our flora and fauna are a world apart from the book's San Francisco locale, there's a bit of the exotic in this work. All in all, Dancers in the Garden is a very fine nature book for children and parents to enjoy together.