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Discover a powerful, evocative and urgent new young voice in nature writing
*WINNER OF THE SOMERSET MAUGHAM AWARD 2023*
'Birdwatching has never felt like a hobby, or a pastime I can pick up and put down, but a thread running through the pattern of my life.'
Meet Mya-Rose - otherwise known as 'Birdgirl'. Birder, environmentalist, diversity activist. To date she has seen over five thousand different types of bird: half the world's species.
Every single bird a treasure. Each sighting a small step in her family journey - a collective moment of joy and stillness. And each helping her to find her voice.
Since she was young, she has visited every continent to pursue her passion, seeing first-hand the inequality and reckless destruction we are inflicting on our fragile planet. And the simple, mindful act of looking for birds has made her ever-more determined to campaign for all our survival.
This is her story; a journey defined by her love for these extraordinary creatures. Because large or small, brown, patterned or jewelled, there is something about birds that makes us, even for just moments at a time, lift our eyes away from our lives and up to the skies.
Birdgirl is the perfect read for fans of H is for Hawk, Diary of a Young Naturalist, and any young or aspiring environmentalists.
About the author
Mya-Rose Craig, also known as Birdgirl, is a 21-year-old British-Bangladeshi birder, environmentalist and diversity activist. She campaigns for equal access to nature and to end the climate and biodiversity loss crises, issues that she believes are intrinsically linked, whilst promoting Global Climate Justice. She is an Ambassador for Survival International and fights for the rights of indigenous peoples; she has previously written a book amplifying their voices.
At the age of 14 she founded Black2Nature to engage minority ethnic teenagers with nature and at 17 she became the youngest Briton to receive an honorary Doctorate, awarded by Bristol University for this pioneering work. Also at 17 she became the youngest person to see half the world's bird species and shared a stage with Greta Thunberg, speaking to 40,000 protestors. In September 2020 she held the world's most northerly Youth Strike, travelling with Greenpeace, for whom she is an Oceans Ambassador, to the melting pack ice of the high Arctic.
Summary
Discover a powerful, evocative and urgent new young voice in nature writing
*WINNER OF THE SOMERSET MAUGHAM AWARD 2023*
'Birdwatching has never felt like a hobby, or a pastime I can pick up and put down, but a thread running through the pattern of my life.'
Meet Mya-Rose - otherwise known as 'Birdgirl'. Birder, environmentalist, diversity activist. To date she has seen over five thousand different types of bird: half the world's species.
Every single bird a treasure. Each sighting a small step in her family journey - a collective moment of joy and stillness. And each helping her to find her voice.
Since she was young, she has visited every continent to pursue her passion, seeing first-hand the inequality and reckless destruction we are inflicting on our fragile planet. And the simple, mindful act of looking for birds has made her ever-more determined to campaign for all our survival.
This is her story; a journey defined by her love for these extraordinary creatures. Because large or small, brown, patterned or jewelled, there is something about birds that makes us, even for just moments at a time, lift our eyes away from our lives and up to the skies.
Birdgirl is the perfect read for fans of H is for Hawk, Diary of a Young Naturalist, and any young or aspiring environmentalists.
Report
Lyrical, poignant and insightful. Margaret Atwood, author of THE HANDMAID'S TALE
