Cover Image: Birdgirl

Birdgirl

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Member Reviews

Mya-Rose Craig had had to deal with so many difficult issues in her young life but admiringly managed to maintain her passion and enthusiasm for birding and this is her story; a journey defined by her love for these extraordinary creatures. Such a thought provoking inspirational read.

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Mya-Rose is a Muslim environmental activist and passionate birder. Her memoir covers her shared love of bird-watching with her mum and step-dad, her mum’s mental illness, her work into making nature and bird-watching more inclusive, and how a love of nature developed into a way of life.

What is most astounding is that by the time she wrote her memoir, she was only 20 years old and had achieved so much.

There were issues with my download from Netgalley which made the book unreadable, so I ended up borrowing the audiobook from my library.

An informative and enjoyable read.

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I felt inspired by this book and a little jealous as I have realised what I could have done with my childhood! Mya-Rose is inspirational. but she has had it difficult as well dealing with her mother's mental health. It can't have been easy dealing with that. I still can't believe she has managed to go birdwatching in so many places all over the world, something that is my dream! I wish her luck with the rest of her career and I'll be watching her adventures closely

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Craig is a fascinating young woman. She writes well and emotively about her upbringing, interests, and subsequent activism. From a teacher's perspective, she is someone that I would happily share with my classes as a tangible and inspiring example of drive and passion.

From an enjoyment angle, this book feels a bit dry. The information is interesting, but it's clear this is written from a desire to share this information, as opposed to a developed writer.

However, her enthusiasm is infectious and I'm sure will compel others to revel in the natural world in general as well as its birds.

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This isn't just a book about birdwatching. There are strong themes about conservation, environment, climate change, diversity, mental health, family and travel. In fact I enjoyed the travel aspects as much as the constant drive to see new species of birds.

As a regular viewer of programmes such as Springwatch and Countryfile, I'm sure I have seen Mya-Rose Craig aka Birdgirl on one of these programmes. So, I knew a tiny bit about her before reading her memoir. But the passion for her hobby and associated causes comes through so strongly in what she has written. I am sure that she will forge a successful career in conservation/nature/activism. I think she writes well - all the years of practicing on her blog (make sure to look at that too). She is a very inspirational young person.

I can't sum up this book any better than Mya-Rose herself. At the end of the book she says '..to all activists everywhere with their own untold stories: keep believing in and fighting for a better world.'

Thank you to NetGalley for an early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I wish I had read it sooner!

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I've been reading Birdgirl for some time now and while enjoying it a lot I have been wondering why it has taken me so long to finish it!

The theme is a personal journey which takes Mya all around the world with her father and mother, adding newly sighted birds to her list. But at the same time she is trying to come to terms with her mothers' bipolar illness. The travel and the birding helps but sometimes there are crises for the family which make life - whether at home or in the Amazon basin - difficult.

Mya is growing up - she is learning about herself, her family, the world of birds and about life in general. It is a fascinating read.

So why am I reading so slowly? I think the book is too long, and sometimes gets repetitive as we travel to yet another exotic place and see more new birds and feel for the family dealing with the stress of the mothers illness.
So I have become bogged down and am waiting for something new to happen. I like the Mya who speaks to us about her joys and her struggles but I am also nudging her to move forward a little faster.
The nature of birding is of course slow and requires patience. There are early starts, long walks, frustrated hours and no guarantee of a successful sighting. Reading the book perhaps I am experiencing a little of this?

But overall I enjoyed the book and I especially love the illustrations and the way Mya describes her growing maturity, going beyond ticks on a list, to a deep sense of awe at Nature.

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I enjoyed this book and admire the way that Mya-Rose has dealt with all of the issues she has faced and yet maintained her passion and enthusiasm for birding, breaking down the colour barrier in nature and also for conservation.
At times I found the choice of words repetitive which did pull me out of the book a little and her style of birding/nature watching isn't for me but her passion and love for her family shine through

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I was so looking forward to reading this book - however - there were so many missing words, words spelt incorrectly or with letters missing that I found it impossible.

If the publishers would like to send me a CORRECTED PDF for the book I would be very grateful.

Rony

rony.erg@outlook.com

This is a book of great importance in the bird world.

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A thought provoking book exploring the twitcher’s world of bird watching, Mya is from an unconventional birdwatching family and weaves an interesting story of growing up with her mum’s mental illness (undiagnosed bi-polar) with her birdwatching travels around the globe .

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1925. Among the ancient honey-coloured walls of the tiny island of Malta, strangers slip into the shadows and anyone can buy a new name. Rosalie Delacroix flees Paris for a dancer’s job in the bohemian clubs deep in its winding streets.

A sister with a secret

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Thanks to Net Galley and the publishers for my free e-copy. This was such a different type of book that I would normally read that at the start when I realised this was a memoir rather than a fiction book I almost thought about not starting....but I am so glad that I did. I really loved Mya as a narrator and in fact it did tell a story of her and her families lives from a young age when she started birdwatching and a hobby turned into a full time passion and led to lots of amazing and exciting opportunities for her at such a young age.
My Dad is and always has been a keen birdwatcher and some moments really resonated with me, he is always driving way too slow with his eyes in the sky instead of the road! The book was also very descriptive and I loved the nature and forests and jungles that she got to travel through to see these incredible and sometimes rare birds. Mental health is also spoken a lot through out the book as her mum has struggled to manage sometimes through her lives and the trips away and focus on birds really seems to help them and keep them going as a family. I loved how many countries and continents they travel through and it keeps the book exciting, I really enjoyed reading this and will recommend to others.

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A captivating glimpse into the life of Mya-Rose Craig, the 20-year-old passionate ornithologist and environmental activist. British-Bangladeshi Mya-Rose first appeared on screens in BBC 4’s 2009 documentary ‘Twitchers’, which followed her bird-loving family’s quest to see 300 birds in one year. This new book allows Mya-Rose to share her own life story, including her mother’s battle with mental health crises, her father’s shepherding of his family around the globe in pursuit of even more bird sightings, and the deep love of nature that’s embedded in all their lives. Mya-Rose is thought to be the youngest person ever to see over half of the world’s species of birds: the exceptional dedication and laser-like focus required to surpass this milestone is now being applied to larger issues such as equal access to nature, the climate crisis and loss of biodiversity. Captivating reading for environmentalists of all ages, though bird-lovers may be left envious of her family’s extended avian adventures around the globe.

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Mya, a Bangladeshi environmentalist, gathers views on climate change around the world. What an interesting girl, who has travelled across all seven continents to view rare birds. Very inspirational with a very clear message.

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Mya-Rose Craig, AKA Birdgirl, is well known within birding and conservation circles, having become the youngest person in history to see half the world’s bird species at just seventeen years of age. She has since established a global reputation as a leading birder, environmentalist and diversity activist. In this book, Craig explores how she – and her family – became so devoted to birds, making multiple, extended journeys around the world to see them.

I approached this book as a lover of nature and birdwatching – albeit my local nature reserve is just about the furthest I will travel to see anything. As such, the birdwatching elements of the book held my interest, but I’m not entirely sure they would do so for anyone sitting outside of the hobby. This book is so much more than a nature journal, however. Craig provides a frank account of the solace birdwatching provided for her during her teenage years while her mother was hospitalised with bipolar disorder. The author also explores the issue of diversity in conversation, which remains an extremely white and decidedly male domain.

A fascinating read. Recommended.

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I requested this one because it was described as a nature and social justice memoir by a young woman (19 when she wrote it) of a dual Bangladeshi-British heritage who explains the solace gained from birdwatching. It is all that, but it also really could do with some trigger warnings as a lot of the content of the book is around her mum's pretty severe mental health issues, including some fairly strong stuff around sectioning and also mentions of two drugs, one not helpful to many, one helpful to many but sort of made out to be dangerous with no redress on how it helps others, a bit dangerous in itself.

So although I did enjoy the descriptions of a very different kind of birding to my preference, fairly advanced twitching as a family, following bird alerts all over the country and then going to all seven continents before she's 15, picking off life-list species, describing them briefly (with a concentration on a particular bird in each chapter, loosely based on each trip) and twitching overseas, too, the mental health content was quite distressing to read.

There is good stuff about the very decent social justice efforts she's made, running camps for what she calls VME (visible minority ethnic) people (she points out that using BAME can mean that White minority ethnic groups get counted in statistics, meaning VME people still don't get to see themselves represented), creating a conference on increasing diverse people's access to the countryside when aged 14, and founding a charity to support those efforts (Black2Nature). She also credits the work of Indigenous peoples in particular in making efforts in conservation and some good, positive examples, as well as pointing out that you can see common local species of bird through new eyes, too. There's some stuff about racial bullying when her blog became famous and the sensible way she has dealt with that, and interesting points on being a teenager with a fairly middle-aged-perceived hobby.

So not quite what I expected, a bit more distressing in the mental health content than you might want, and does descend into lists at times (but then who else has seen over 5,000 bird species: not me!) but an interesting read.

My full review here https://librofulltime.wordpress.com/2022/07/02/book-review-mya-rose-craig-birdgirl/

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I had never heard of Dr Mya-Rose Craig prior to reading this book and, after reading it, I wondered how I had managed to miss her and her contribution to climate change forums and nature writing. A young environmentalist, still aged only 20, she initially began with a blog chronicling her bird watching adventures with her parents called appropriately enough ‘Birdgirl’. It began to have a reach beyond birdwatching and soon she was working with Chris Packham and Greta Thunberg on the urgent issues of climate change and deforestation.
The author is from a Bangladeshi background, referred to as Bangla in the book, and her mother was often the only Bangla woman within local birdwatching circles So there was a family introduction to the largely white, male dominated perceived image of birdwatching. Dr Craig became a birdwatcher from only a few days old, as she puts it, as she accompanied her parents on their own birdwatching exploits.
Dr Craig discusses the competitive nature of birdwatching; the determination and almost obsession to travel, often long distances, to see a particular bird, and to able to cross it off her list. ‘Twitching’ is apparently British obsession. I consider myself a very amateur birdwatcher, compared to Dr Craig but, as a photographer, I do like to be identify a bird.
She and her parents have explored 7 continents and over 40 countries in their search for birds and their targets. I was surprised to learn that there are species of birds that can only survive in one particular habitat – if it goes then they go too.
I felt that there was an element of stamp collecting in Mya ticking off species that she had seen from her list but that isn’t meant as a criticism. The book also discusses other important issues such as her mother’s bi-polar mental health condition and how being involved with bird watching and nature in general calms her and allows her to feel part of the world. Although Mya and her father have to keep an eye on her to be alert for the triggers. Like them, I have found that nature can often take you out of yourself.
I felt that at times, the birds names did read like a list but the vivid and vibrant descriptions of nature, told in the first person, far outweighed this. The description of the Standard Wing’s mating dance was particularly memorable as was the description of Magellanic Penguins as ‘oversized humbugs’.
Conservation initiatives, such as ecotourism amongst indigenous people as an alternative to say, cash payments for logging, were also touched upon and how they can support and empower these communities.
The author also seeks to bring diversity into birdwatching by attracting more VME, or Visibly Majority Ethnic, people into the pastime. As she says in the narrative, ‘they may not want to take part, but they should have the opportunity’.
However, there is another side to her work with birds and nature. As the blog, ‘Birdgirl’ takes off and its audience grows, she is faced with ‘aggressive teasing’ at her secondary school and I sympathised with her self consciousness as a teenager. This is often the time when you don’t want to stand out from your peers. She also has to deal with online trolls and the split between her everyday life and friends and her increasing recognition as an eco-activist. You may well be addressing political leaders and organisations and organising conferences but you still have homework and chores to do.
An important book in its desire and success in bringing several strands together through her love of birdwatching. I also enjoyed the colourful illustrations of birds that featured in the chapter.
I had one quibble in that my Kindle edition kept missing letter sand figures from word and sentences which at times meant that I would have to stop and really concentrate on what I was reading.
After finishing the book, I was left with the uncomfortable impression that, if Dr Craig decides to have children and they follow in the family tradition then they may never see some of the birds that she has seen which is a very sobering thought. It could have become a worthy book but due to the quality of Dr Craig’s writing and descriptions, it became a lively book chronicling her encounters with birds.
My thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for an ARC.

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I find it strange that, when so much of Birdgirl is concerned with how to include people outside the dominant ‘white male’ domain of both extreme bird-watching and environmentalism, that the blurb makes no mention of Mya-Rose’s Bangladeshi heritage, because she certainly does! With ‘diversity’ being a ‘big issue’ it’s good to know that people like Mya are welcomed by nature organisations. But it is down to Mya herself that they realised they actually have to change to involve people of different cultural backgrounds. Mya herself uses VME – visual minority ethnic – as a catch-all term, eschewing BAME (Black, Asian, and minority ethnic) as she feels it segments the problem incorrectly.

Like Mya-Rose, birdwatching has always felt part of me. But not like Mya’s family does it! I know people who go everywhere in search of the next bird, who drop everything to see a rarity arrived on a British rock, but that’s not me. You don’t have to be a twitcher to enjoy this book. But it does open your eyes to the immense variety of our avian wildlife, and the threats they are under because of demands on their habitats. Her description of Rwanda is particularly vivid.

I was astounded and enthralled by Mya’s activity and devotion to the cause. Admittedly she was enabled to do some of her community awareness-raising by several dynamic aunties and her parents, but it was her own ideas and passion that got people involved in climate change and wildlife action. All this while trying to keep a low profile among her schoolmates!

The third strand of this extraordinary memoir is the relationship with her parents, and especially the struggle with her mother’s mental health. Eventually diagnosed as bipolar, Mum’s swings from mania to depression sound horrific, as they undoubtedly were.

Birds, and birding, came to the rescue. I already know that when I’m birdwatching, I don’t think of anything else. For this family, going birding – twitching- brought them closer together, dropping all the other stresses apart from how to get the next bird on their list. The British Trust for Ornithology knows how important birds are to our mental health, and encouraged many new people to become birders during lockdown, watching and noting the birds from their windows. I hope more young people, and especially those with a VME background, find connecting with birds and their local wildlife an enjoyable and healing experience, as a result of reading Mya-Rose’s book – or her blog, Birdgirl.

I’m not sure that many readers will enjoy the frenetic chase from country to country after different birds, but I did. The scope of Mya-Rose’s attention to the environmental problems she found and the insight into the role of indigenous people in solving climate change prompted me to give this five stars. She’s inspirational.

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As a young girl of Bengali descent on her mum’s side, Mya-Rose Craig doesn’t exactly fit the profile of your usual birder. Which makes her first book, publishing as she’s just 19 years old, all the more important. In Birdgirl (Jonathan Cape), Mya-Rose shares the story of her uncommon birding family. It’s her dad who passed on his passion first to his wife, then to Mya-Rose’s older sister and finally to her. Recounting their travels all over the UK and around the world, she explains how birding has been a huge help in her mum’s struggle with bipolar disorder, and opened her own eyes to environmental issues as well as to inequalities of access to nature in the UK and to the rights of indigenous peoples elsewhere. And that’s all while being a constant source of joy. An inspiring book both for adults and teenagers.

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There is much to admire and enjoy in this well written, passionate account of a life in birding. Mya-Rose’s passion shines through from when she was first old enough to recognise birds, and has continued as she develops into a thoughtful and intelligent young woman. Whilst her passion for birds and conservation in general continues undimmed, the list format in the book of her search to spot as many of the world’s bird species as possible became a little off putting at times. Her life story is told with insight and compassion and she comes over as a woman with a great future ahead of her, in both her writing and her passion for birds and conservation.

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I loved this! Mya has been going on birdwatching holidays with her parents and sister since a young age, and has seen half of the world's species of birds before reaching her twenties. Now at university, she's an environmentalist and diversity activist - and has been doing important and inspiring work in the field for years. Her 'self-titled' (ish) book charts her life up to now chronologically - taking us to all corners of the world on birdwatching adventures through childhood and her teenage years, giving us an unfiltered view of campaigning and family life, through all the ups and downs of her mum's bipolar diagnosis.

Partly inspired by reading another of our brilliant young environmentalist's books (Dara McAnulty's 'Diary Of A Young Naturalist'), I've been birdwatching for around a year and a half now. I've explored my local patch and ventured to a few different counties, and can only imagine the time that Mya and her family have spent basically living abroad for weeks or months at a time, focused solely on birding. I can however relate to Mya's reflections on how much the experience impacts their mental health individually and as a family entirely relatable.

Thank you to the publishers for my advanced reading copy of a book I've been looking forward to since seeing it announced by Birdgirl herself a year or so ago. Can't wait to get this into store and be recommending it.

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