Crow Planet: Essential Wisdom from the Urban Wilderness

I was anticipating this book to have a slough of cool scientific facts and interesting stories about crows but it was just wordy mental dialogue about the tenuous connections the author makes about humans and crows and their role in urban ecosystem. While there was some grounding knowledge, the book is about how to observe crows from a pompous and arrogant birdwatcher. Was a tedious read and extremely boring.

I ordered the book on the recommendation of a friend and am more than happy with the selection. This is the kind of book that friends will be telling their friends about for years to come. Though I finished the book months ago, I keep turning the ideas and questions it raised over and over in my head. What is nature? What does it mean in relation to my very urban surroundings? And just what *are* those crows up to anyway? The author takes us along on an urban naturalist's journey and through it we gain insights into the web of living things in which we are all enmeshed. Grim environmentalism this is not. If you're looking for the harsh statistics and glum forecasts of doom that pervade our media, look elsewhere. If you're looking for a dry and dusty reference manual to the genus Corvus, keep browsing. If however you hunger for a celebration of nature (and crows!) and something to bring the joy back to caring about and living in our environment, then this is the portable feast you need.

I enjoyed Crow Planet thoroughly. The author has a perceptive eye, an open heart, and a writing style that is both graceful and crisp. I had the good fortune of a long ride and read the book in one sitting, with time to ponder. Crows are reputedly about as intelligent as dogs, and it was certainly interesting to learn something about the complexity of their behavior. The crow is representational, of course, and the parallels of their urban existence and ours are illuminating. I'll likely read it again once it is returned to me--the book is making the rounds of family and friends who have found it very pleasant reading and are looking forward to more of Haupt's work.

Haupt has written a much needed book for today's busy lifestyle. We all hear about nature and how we need to respect it, but often we don't know how, or even where to begin. Haupt tackles this problem by simply focusing on one animal, the crow. It's a bird common to most people and easy to spot, unlike most songbirds that stay in the trees and are hard to study. Crows are out in the open and, being members of the corvid family, are intelligent and lively. Crows and other corvids are problem-solvers; they enjoy manipulating items and seem to think about what they are doing. Haupt uses the crow as a communication tool to open the reader to the world of nature and observation. The book is filled with interesting stories about crows, and is solid with information on crow behavior, ecology, and general biology. Haupt has done her homework, not just on crow ecology, but also how to relate this ecology to philosophy and everyday thinking about global issues. In the book we see the journey crows take between life and death, and how we should relate to these concepts in our own lives. Haupt brings up a topic about which I have strong feelings. There seems to be a void in the lives of our children regarding nature. It seems that young folk would rather stay indoors and fi ddle with electronic devices than venture outside and poke around in shrubbery and trees or lift rocks to discover the small worlds within. My daughter is two years old and is allowed, under supervision of course, to freely explore nature. As we pull weeds in the back yard, or work in the garden, she observes insects and toads, and I teach her that these things are alive and interesting. With this sort of exposure at a young age, I hope she will grow up to be an optimistic steward of the planet, doing her part to give nature the respect it deserves. Haupt concludes with a meaningful thought. Instead of being wholeheartedly melancholy over the ecological state of the earth, she chose to dwell in possibility, as Emily Dickinson suggested, "...we cannot predict what will happen but we make space for it ... and realize that our participation has value." Haupt explains that this is grown-up optimism, "where our bondedness with the rest of creation, a sense of profound interaction, and a belief in our shared ingenuity give meaning to our lives and actions on behalf of the more-than-human world."

This book is a rare and winning combination of science writing, memoir, and meditation on the human place within the natural world. With her uncommon gift for language, Haupt uses crows to explore the human relationship with nature in the places that we live,often cities and suburbs. Reading this book, I learned a great deal about these common, intelligent birds, while deepening my own sense of connection with wild nature. A beautiful book that I was sorry to finish. This is one I'll be keeping on my nightstand to return to over and over, and giving often as a gift.

An inspired choice for any bird lover or reading group, Crow Planet is the author's personal journey to better understand nature in the urban landscape in which we live. Her work is a conversation with the reader pondering questions like: What is nature? How do we effect it and it us? And how can we better understand the ecology of the neighborhood surrounding us? Crows are the gateway into her growth as an Urban Naturalist and we are invited along to wonder at their intelligence and adaptability. There is a breezy style to Haupt's prose that is thought provoking, wistful, comforting; like reminiscing with an old friend late into the night. In Crow Planet Haupt is equal parts Environmentalist, Biographer and Naturalist, inspiring us to discover more about our own corner of the world. A Great Read!