The Doctor Bird

Based on the true story of 19th-century naturalist Philip Henry Gosse's study of Jamaican wildlife, this picture book illustrated by a Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe Award-winning artist, inspires empathy for the natural world and all its inhabitants. 

Isaac loves watching the long-tailed hummingbirds, known as Doctor Birds, that are native to his home island of Jamaica. It’s bad luck to hurt them, as his grandmother says. But that doesn’t stop an Englishman named Mr. Gosse from trapping these marvelous creatures for research.

While his cousin Samuel helps with Mr. Gosse’s work, Isaac vows to set his beloved Doctor Birds free. What follows leads to a stirring change of heart and a trailblazing, more humane approach to the scientific study of nature.

This richly illustrated picture book about the pioneering British naturalist Philip Henry Gosse (1810-1888) includes afterwords by the author Matthew Olshan and the artist Shadra Strickland, with notes on sources, recommendations for further reading, and photographs of Doctor Birds in the wild.