Scan barcode
it_mittens's review against another edition
5.0
This book is absolutely wonderful! Not only does it contain beautiful, professional photographs of various breeds of chicken, but it also provides a fair bit of information about each breed. It begins with an essay by Ira Glass and leads into The World of Championship Chickens, with quotes from poultry fanciers, a listing of chicken breeds, and a handful of diagrams on physical features of a chicken that can make or break their championship career.
There is also an entire section on the American Standard of Perfection, what is considered the bible of show chickens. The rest of the book consists of elegant portraits of chickens against complimentary backdrops. Alas, this is no ordinary "coffee table" book, as it provides the name and description, the origin, standard weights, feather pattern, color pallet, AND the date of admittance to the Standard of Perfection for each bird. HIT ME WITH THAT KNOWLEDGE! Please find below a selection of a few of my favorite show chickens from this book:
The New Hampshire Bantam Cockerel:
The Dominique Large Fowl Cock:
Bearded Buff Laced Polish Large Fowl Hen:
Beautiful. Just gorgeous. I thoroughly enjoyed flipping through this book and learning the life of a poultry fancier. I have taken notes, and I look forward to the day I own a piece of suburbia large enough to accommodate a healthy brood of beautiful chickens to delicately care for and present at the admiration of those who appreciate the magnificence of this bird.
In closing:
Dat. Ass.
There is also an entire section on the American Standard of Perfection, what is considered the bible of show chickens. The rest of the book consists of elegant portraits of chickens against complimentary backdrops. Alas, this is no ordinary "coffee table" book, as it provides the name and description, the origin, standard weights, feather pattern, color pallet, AND the date of admittance to the Standard of Perfection for each bird. HIT ME WITH THAT KNOWLEDGE! Please find below a selection of a few of my favorite show chickens from this book:
The New Hampshire Bantam Cockerel:
The Dominique Large Fowl Cock:
Bearded Buff Laced Polish Large Fowl Hen:
Beautiful. Just gorgeous. I thoroughly enjoyed flipping through this book and learning the life of a poultry fancier. I have taken notes, and I look forward to the day I own a piece of suburbia large enough to accommodate a healthy brood of beautiful chickens to delicately care for and present at the admiration of those who appreciate the magnificence of this bird.
In closing:
Dat. Ass.
moonpie's review against another edition
5.0
Chickens! Let me show you them.
The Fairest Fowl is a collection of photos of championship chickens, taken by Tamara Staples; each chicken is accompanied by a page devoted to its breed's vital stats and info about the judging process, and there are some general photos from poultry shows mixed in there, too. At the very end is my favorite part, an essay (which was originally a bit for "This American Life") by Ira Glass about Staples's chicken-photography process.
I initially checked this book out to see if it would help me figure out what kind of chickens we have, but it wasn't really useful for that, since most of the chickens in The Fairest Fowl are more interesting breeds than ours: feathered feet! Chickens that look like boxers! Chickens that look like piles of silky wigs!
The chicken photos are definitely worth a look, and I really enjoyed the smart sense of humor evident throughout the book. Who knew a book solely about chickens could be pretty AND funny? I liked this one.
The Fairest Fowl is a collection of photos of championship chickens, taken by Tamara Staples; each chicken is accompanied by a page devoted to its breed's vital stats and info about the judging process, and there are some general photos from poultry shows mixed in there, too. At the very end is my favorite part, an essay (which was originally a bit for "This American Life") by Ira Glass about Staples's chicken-photography process.
I initially checked this book out to see if it would help me figure out what kind of chickens we have, but it wasn't really useful for that, since most of the chickens in The Fairest Fowl are more interesting breeds than ours: feathered feet! Chickens that look like boxers! Chickens that look like piles of silky wigs!
The chicken photos are definitely worth a look, and I really enjoyed the smart sense of humor evident throughout the book. Who knew a book solely about chickens could be pretty AND funny? I liked this one.