40 Painting Birds：The Life of John James Audubon

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Painting Birds The Life of John James Audubon by Steven Otfinoski Table of Contents Introduction page 2 Chapter 1 The Artist page 4 Chapter 2 Success page 8 Chapter 3 From Birds to Other Animals page 11 Conclusion page 14 Glossary/ Index page 15 Comprehension Check page 16

Introduction John James Audubon loved all kinds Of birds. He studied birds. He used what he learned to paint all the birds of North America. John made the birds in his paintings look real. He was the first artist to show birds in their real size. He painted every detail of the birds. This is a painting by John James Audubon. His paintings are in museums all over the United States. John James Audubon as a young man.

Chapter 1 The Artist John was born in Haiti in 1785. When he was a young boy, he moved to France with his family. His father owned a farm in America. When John was 18, his father sent him to the United States. He wanted John to take care of the farm. But John didn't want to do that. He wanted to hunt, fish, and draw birds. John lived in Haiti, then France, and then the United States. John drew lots of pictures of birds. He was very careful to make the birds look real. John painted birds eating. He painted birds nesting. He painted them looking for food. The more he painted, the more lifelike the birds looked. In 1808 John married Lucy Bakewell and they moved to Kentucky. John and a friend opened a store. But John didn't like working in the store. He liked to walk through the woods to hunt and draw. Soon the business failed. Lucy Audubon, John's wife John Audubon's drawings made each bird look real.

John wanted to paint full-time. Lucy helped. She got a teaching job to support the family. They had two young sons. John went to New Orleans. He arrived in a pitiful condition. He earned some money by painting portraits. But he also painted birds. Audubon painted portraits to earn money. Language DETECTIVE Clue: The word pitiful has the suffix —ful, which means "full of." It is added to the end of the base word pity. Can you find another word with a suffix on page 5? John wanted to make his bird paintings into a book, but he couldn't find a publisher. He thought he'd find one in England. So he taught art to make money for the trip. In two years he had enough money. John found someone to publish his book. It cost a lot of money to make it.

Chapter 2 Success Many people wanted John Audubon's book. He was now a success. But John wanted to do more. He wanted to show every kind of bird in the United States. In 1829 he left England. He went home to his family. Then he went to find more birds. John James Audubon John went to many different places to find birds. band John walked through the woods, swamps, and tall grasses. Often he'd crouch and wait for hours to see a new bird. John wanted to learn as much as he could about birds. He watched everything they did. Sometimes John put bands, or small pieces of material, on young birds. This helped him know if the birds returned to the same place the next spring. Some birds did return. crouch: to sit near the ground with your knees bent close to your body