Kathryn Lasky tells the beautifully-illustrated, true story of two women’s efforts to save birds. (Submitted photo)

BY BARBARA RADEBAUGH

I was going to write about children’s book illustrators, but then I came across my favorite children’s book, “She’s Wearing a Dead Bird on Her Head!” and decided to focus on this particular book because of the splendid writing and the flawless illustrations.

It is a true story. Written by Kathryn Lasky, and illustrated by David Catrow, it was published in 1995. Kathryn Lasky is author of over 100 books in fiction, nonfiction, fantasy and picture books for children. David Catrow is an American artist and cartoonist, and has illustrated over 70 children’s books.

Bird lovers, prepare to be aghast when you read the next sentence. In case you didn’t know, in the mid – late 1800s, huge populations of birds were being slaughtered so women could wear them on their hats. Feathers at first donned the hats, then wings, and, yes, eventually entire birds. Egrets, owls, warblers. EGADS! In an era when women had no power, that didn’t stop Harriet Hemenway and her cousin, Minna Hall, from creating a campaign to stop this madness. And, they did.

You can’t help but embrace Harriet and Minna with Lasky’s saucy dialogue. They did not mince words with the bird hat wearers. “Revolting!” “Disgusting.” “Nauseating!” “Vile!” were a few of the words they tossed out to the women. Then they decided to get down to business and converse with all of the fashionable ladies of the day to convince them that it was immoral to wear slaughtered birds on their heads. They were successful and formed a club to protect the birds.

Catrow’s illustrations were a big “draw” for me. Upon seeing a hat with a dead bird on it, the outraged expressions of anger and shock on the portraits of Harriet and Minna are captivating – raised eyebrows, bulging eyes, pursed lips and arms folded. The color palette and detail on every page are exquisite, from the pinched, snooty expressions on the “fashionable” ladies, the shadows on fences, the avenues with people meandering along, the books on the parlor shelves, the teapot, the period cloths, and the birds. The birds are perfection, right down to the colors, sizes and beauty. Part caricature and part realism, there is so much detail for the eye to scour on every page.

The Club? It wasn’t the first of its kind, but the most successful and still stands today – The Audubon Society. Harriet and Minna named their club after John Audubon, the famous painter of birds. In fact, there had been other Audubon Societies, but Harriet and Minna’s was the first that lasted and had impact. In a day when women had little influence, Harriet’s husband was very supportive of her efforts, bringing men into the club to increase its credibility.

Today, the National Audubon Society is an American non-profit environmental organization dedicated to the conservation of birds and their habitats. Located in the United States and incorporated in 1905, Audubon is one of the oldest of such organizations in the world.

I just discovered this book is out of print, but multiple copies are available on eBay.

You can reach me at radebaugh.studio@gmail.com.