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.
This would make a great coffee table gift for my daughter. The book looks exquisite. Thanks for the giveaway.
Those look like gorgeous books! I love realistic books about animals for children.
P.S I am a U.S resident despite where I lay my head these days. 🙂
Would love to win this!
kateh12783(at)hotmail(dot)com
These books look great! Our family would love them. Thanks for the chance.
These books look beautiful!
We posted about this giveaway at Winning Readings: http://winningreadings.blogspot.com/2009/12/zuckerman-books.html
janemaritz at yahoo dot com
The illustrations are amazing! We would love these fun, educational books! Thanks for the chance!
Both books sound fab and I love that there’s Creature ABC for toddlers.
They both look like beautiful books.
These books look amazing! My son just caught a glimpse of them on the screen and asked me to see more photos! He is animal obsessed and would love to look at these with me!
I would love to give these to my mother as a gift
oh! We would love these books! Absolutely love these books! Sure hoping we’re lucky…
zenzart at hotmail dot com
I’ve seen these — they look phenomenal. Thanks for the chance…
Please count me in. What fun!
Both books sound amazing. Stunning. Magnificent. Beautiful. Breath-taking. Spell-binding. Infused with talent.
I’d love to win.
{Did I use enough adjectives?} 😉
These books look amazing! I would love to have one of them…thanks!
These look like amazing books!
These books look absolutely gorgeous. I know several people in my family who would love them.
wmmahaney(at)att(dot)net
What a super giveaway. A truly magnificent pair of books that we all would love.
wonderful looking books.
Jen VG
cressida4@hotmail.com
These look wonderful!
Great coffe table book with 8 grandchildren coming in and out
These books would be a great addition to our bookshelf with all the wonderful pictures
I subscribe to the newsletter
Oh too cool!
Photography ranks right up there with architecture as the most fascinating art forms to me. The ability of an artist like Zuckerman to capture the essence of the creatures he photographs in an indelibly unique fashion is unparalleled to me. The time and patience involved are mind-boggling.This is a very fine giveaway. Thanks and Happy Hols to you and yours.
I rarely enter book giveaways, but I love the look of these two books – esp the Creatures one. I’ve seen some of Zuckerman’s photos, but not the books themselves.
I just saw something about these books and Zuckerman and have been wanting one of his books ever since!! I think they look awesome!
justpeachy36@yahoo.com
I would love to win a copy of either book!
Please enter me in the giveaway!
I subscribe…thanks for the great giveaways!
maureenruble@yahoo.com
These books are amazing. I homeschool my 3 little ones and this would be great! Thanks
maureenruble@yahoo.com
These look like fabulous books. My fingers are crossed.
bgcchs(at)yahoo(dot)com
Great books – great giveaway!
pbclark(at)netins(dot)net
These sound like interesting book! I can see my son and daughter going through them together and discussing the pictures! Thanks for the giveaway!
I absolutely love animals.
these would be great to add to my library.
lkish77123 at gmail dot com
subscriber by email
Happy Holidays
gahome2mom/at/gmail/do/com
I thought I was too late when I saw winners names listed. lol
Happy Holidays
gahome2mom/at/gmail/do/com
these look amazing!
I LOVE LOVE LOVE his photography! These books have benn on our wish list for a long time!
These look like wonderful books that would be enjoyed by the whole family!
These look fabulous!
My family and I went to 52 Zoos in 52 Weeks last year. We love animals, and his photos are AMAZING.
These look amazing! I think I’ll get it, even if I don’t win.
Wow, that looks really interesting!
My son is a huge animal lover and would love this!
Great! I would love to share these with my kids. It really opens up their eyes to see how big the earth is and how varied. Thanks!
Thank you for enlightening me ~ these are gorgeous!
Roo and Jasper would love these!
I have been eying these books every since you brought the book Creature ABC to my attention.
I would love to win one of the books. If I do not, I know that I will be purchasing them for our home especially now that I know that you like them.
Thanks.
Our whole family would love looking at the books
I would absolutely love a copy of either book! So amazing! Thanks!
this is a good idea – the real question is:how much christmas shoppping did you get done in nyc!!