By the Chicago Daily Tribune, 14 Aug 1903, p. 7.
“The Song of the Cardinal” has the true Spirit of Nature.
“The Song of the Cardinal,” by Gene Stratton-Porter (Bobbs-Merrill Co.), is as pretty a story as
may be found among nature books. Not only is the bird romance full of beauty, the rich beauty of the field and swale, but the imaginative has been so artfully blended with the real that the result is unusually satisfying.
The Cardinal was the son of the king of the swamp and the loveliest of mothers. Pippins the first egg, which was of marvelous size, he emerged into an admiring world, a gladsome place, indeed. Fed to repletion with the fattest slugs, the choicest berries, and the finest tidbits of the forest, he grew to sturdy manhood. His fond father taught him how to find his food, to fly gracefully, to bathe, to sharpen his glossy beak between polished stones, to live the glorious life in the open. Every day new things appeared unto him, and joys innumerable rose in his path. One day he met love, and then the little ones came. Life was full then. And a white haired man, with a cheery mate and blooming child, came to know the Cardinal, who delighted them with his “See here! Wet year! See here!”
The true spirit of nature is in this book. It is written con amore, from a wide knowledge of the
bright plumaged song bird it portrays, breathing of the blithe creatures of the air. The
illustrations are exceptional, being made from photographs obtained by adroit use of the
telescopic lens, reproduced with excellent results.
Note: This is one of the early book reviews that Gene Stratton-Porter received on her first book “The Song of the Cardinal.” Gene received praise across the country for her first work that was inspired at a place called Rainbow Bottom in Geneva Indiana. The 231 acres in Rainbow Bottom along the Wabash River is owned by the Friends of the Limberlost and is open to the public.
“The Song of the Cardinal” has the true Spirit of Nature.
“The Song of the Cardinal,” by Gene Stratton-Porter (Bobbs-Merrill Co.), is as pretty a story as
may be found among nature books. Not only is the bird romance full of beauty, the rich beauty of the field and swale, but the imaginative has been so artfully blended with the real that the result is unusually satisfying.
The Cardinal was the son of the king of the swamp and the loveliest of mothers. Pippins the first egg, which was of marvelous size, he emerged into an admiring world, a gladsome place, indeed. Fed to repletion with the fattest slugs, the choicest berries, and the finest tidbits of the forest, he grew to sturdy manhood. His fond father taught him how to find his food, to fly gracefully, to bathe, to sharpen his glossy beak between polished stones, to live the glorious life in the open. Every day new things appeared unto him, and joys innumerable rose in his path. One day he met love, and then the little ones came. Life was full then. And a white haired man, with a cheery mate and blooming child, came to know the Cardinal, who delighted them with his “See here! Wet year! See here!”
The true spirit of nature is in this book. It is written con amore, from a wide knowledge of the
bright plumaged song bird it portrays, breathing of the blithe creatures of the air. The
illustrations are exceptional, being made from photographs obtained by adroit use of the
telescopic lens, reproduced with excellent results.
Note: This is one of the early book reviews that Gene Stratton-Porter received on her first book “The Song of the Cardinal.” Gene received praise across the country for her first work that was inspired at a place called Rainbow Bottom in Geneva Indiana. The 231 acres in Rainbow Bottom along the Wabash River is owned by the Friends of the Limberlost and is open to the public.
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