Into the Words: John James Audubon Lives His Dream #28
Robert Burleigh
Wendell Minor, Illustrator

Burleigh, Robert. (2003). Into the woods: John James Audubon lives his dream. New York: Atheneum.

Awards: CBC/NSTA Outstanding Science Trade Book

Grade Level: 3-6

Content Area: Social Studies

Standards: Explain the importance of supporting certain beliefs, values, and principles.
(History, Civics, Economics)

Summary: This extraordinary biography is about the life of John James Audubon. It is about an imaginary letter written to his father explaining why he has chosen his way of living. His father thinks that he does not know which life path to choose, so he is always telling him what he should do. Audubon always knew what he wanted to do, which was to be in the woods. He wanted to explore, record, and to paint all species of birds that he could find. The topic of living your dream is an excellent one to use for this book.

Author’s Credibility: Quotations in script were taken from Audubon’s journal, which further emphasize the profound worldview of this remarkable man. Burleigh was fascinated with Audubon's life.

Illustrations: Watercolors. Each one captures a very special moment for Audubon. The illustrations invite you to look at them first, before you read the text. Some of them showed very up-close images of the wildlife that Audubon painted.

Access Features: The author’s note in the front gives an brief overview of the story. There is also a brief biography about Audubon in the back.

Response: This book is appropriate for independent reading in grades 3-6. It is a wonderful read aloud for grades K-2.

This book reminded me of Barbara Kerley’s biography about Walt Whitman. Both books are about stories of great men who followed their dreams. This book also reminded me that Whitman and Audubon both took pride in their work. Watercolors were also used in both books.
Text Structure: I liked the way the text was written. It was very easy to read. The cursive text gave very vivid details about Audubon’s journey. Some of the text was written in a style like poetry. The different styles of texts grabbbed your attention and made you want to read on without stopping. That's what I want for all children!