Birds of Happiness Aren’t Blue and 85 Other Very Funny and Somewhat Educational Nature Essays by regular New York Almanack contributor Paul Hetzler merges nature education with water skiing, except you don’t need a lake. Or a boat. And you’ll probably laugh a lot more and fall down less.
A series of fast, zany rides into the wild and weird natural world around us await the reader. The essays are teeming with nifty – occasionally gross – facts about photosynthetic animals, worms with copper teeth, trees that bleed blue, woodpeckers that compulsively decorate with acorns, and lots more.
Here and there you’ll find issues like the dire effect of climate change on maple trees, how invasive species threaten forests, and the upsurge in tick-borne illnesses, but it’ll be less painful than learning about that stuff from the news.
Plus, you’ll get handy advice on things such as how to prevent oak wilt, ways to help native pollinators, and tips on planting trees so they’ll live long and prosper. You might even learn to speak pine.
Each entry is stand-alone and can be read in any order. At about four minutes a pop, these essays are a perfect quick read for when you’re in a queue and want to buck the phone-gazing norm. The phone might or might not have captivating content right when you want it – this book always will.
If you’re a nature-lover, you’ll devour this book. If you’re not a big fan of nature, well, you’ll still get a kick out of it.
Hetzler says: “It’s all-natural, uncommonly humorous, fully portable, and one size fits all. Plus, you can read it first and no one will know. In other words, a great holiday present!”
This is Hetzler’s third volume of humorous nature essays, including Head Of The Class: Smarter than a Slime Mold – Nature’s Funny Bone Revealed (2021) and Shady Characters (2018).
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