If you have not yet heard of Andrew Zuckerman, let me please enlighten you. Zuckerman is a renowned photographer and film maker, winning an award for the best short narrative at the Woodstock Film Festival in 2007. The thing that Zuckerman is becoming well-known for is his photographs of animals, which he shoots in studio in front of a white backdrop. As a photographer myself, I find Zuckerman’s ability to photograph animals amazing. If you are a mother of a young child, you know how difficult it is to give your child behavior instructions to capture a photograph of them. Imagine working with animals, with whom there is no discussion to be had! Not only does he get what he wants, but what he gets is fascinating.

Bird is Zuckerman’s latest book and it is filled with 200 photographs of birds. Birds from the front, the back, their heads alone, in full flight and in a manner that clearly shows of the beauty of the design and colors God gave to these beautiful creatures. He captures the unique attributes of the Palm Cockatoo, the Greater Flamingo, the Southern Great Hornbill, a Northern White-Faced Owl and others. Each one is shown off in such a way as to show it’s own beauty, strength and grace. (My hands down favorite photograph is a picture of a Scarlet Macaw in full flight, shown from the back.) Truly, this piece of work is a masterpiece. You do not have to enjoy birds to enjoy this book. Especially not if you have the foggiest idea of the skill required to capture animals on film in this fashion.

Perhaps more fun for curious little children, and awe-inspired adults, is Andrew Zuckerman’s Creature in which he explores the animal kingdom. Again, using the white backdrop, Zuckerman captures lions, hippopotamuses, giraffes, bugs, frogs and a grand host of other animals. This book is just amazing and can hardly be described. I simply do not have enough positive adjectives at my disposal. Stunning. Magnificent. Anyone, at any age, with any type of interest in the world around them could spend hours pouring over the photographs in this book.

Both of these books are large and hefty, with huge page spreads that compliment his work. These books are works of art. Zuckerman uses his skills well and focuses on topics of interest to young and old alike – the animal kingdom. It is a marvelous, breath-taking (got anymore adjectives for me?) way to earn a living and the rest of us merely get the benefit of enjoying his labors.

As a final note, you might be interested to note that Zuckerman’s Creature has been reformatted a bit and make more toddler friendly in Creature ABC (click on the title to read my review of Creature ABC over at Reading to Know). Learn more about Andrew Zuckerman! Familiarize yourself with his work! It’s inspirational to budding photographers and delightful for anyone. I couldn’t be more impressed if I tried to be (can you tell?)!

Chronicle Books, the publishing house for Zuckerman books and products, have very, very generously offered one copy of Creature and one copy of Bird to one of our readers. These books are valued at $60 each!) Must be a U.S. Resident to win. Leave a comment below to enter the drawing and check next week’s column to see if you won.

THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED.

The winner of Lit: A Memoir is #23 LaVonne.

Carrie comes by her book obsession honestly, having descended from a long line of bibliophiles. She blogs about books regularly at 5 Minutes for Books, Reading to Know and Reading My Library.

*Disclosure: Chronicle books provided copies of these books to review.