This delightful true story is that of the author, his wife, a colorful group of rescued animals, and most of all Alfie. It is a charming and sometimes sad but more often reassuring antidote about two wonderful people that often put their lives on hold to tackle the daunting task of raising injured animals for release back into the wild. Alfie is a tiny hatching owl found with no sign of a mother or nest who would have been a casualty of nature if not for her adopted family of humans who give her every chance to grow and thrive. In spite of her harrowing beginning and a set back with the growth of he feathers she does go on to have a full and happy life, one of the few situations where humans have been a genuinely positive factor in the life of a wild creature. I loved the way the book was written. It never seeks to either anthropomorphize the central being now does it fail to acknowledge her spirit, her intelligence, her extreme perseverance or her curiousness. All credit due is given to Alfie with much interesting background and history included. I hope this book inspires many people to see beyond civilization and appreciate the animals and nature.

This is truly a COVID book, by which I mean we all became more introspective during the pandemic, and Carl Safina turned it into a beautiful counterpoint between the story of a rescued screech owl and a history of human thought around the relationship between humanity and nature. Although I feel some of his thoughts about philosophy, world religions and indigenous beliefs may have been somewhat simplified, I appreciated the scope of his overview. The crystal clear truth is that he loves this little owl and the natural world he lives in and that shines through every sentence of the book. I would recommend this to anyone who loves reading about the natural world.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book!

Thank you to NetGalley and W. W. Norton & Company for approving my request to read an arc of this book.

A lovely story about how an owl and a couple of humans helped change each others life.
The story often went off in tangents or switched to different time periods with little warning, but other than that, it was easy to follow,

I know it’s very annoying when people comment on how you raise your own animals, but I just want to point out to anyone who might not know and reads this book- there is a line early on that mentions a squirrel they had also rehabilitated and how they’d bonded it with their dogs and would feed them all the same treats- peanuts and grapes- please know that you should *Never* feed your dogs grapes as they’re highly toxic and can cause harm to your dogs.