Beautiful and informative and # 17

Of the 50 species this new book from the University of Kentucky Press, I have only seen two: whooping cranes and red-headed woodpeckers. At the rate things are going, I may never see any of the others that are in Kentucky at least part of the year. Since 1970, 3 billion birds have been lost in the US and Canada. The author writes that that means nearly 30% of the birds that used to live in the two countries have disappeared. 😥 Many of these are very colourful. The bill was very intesting. I just hope it doesn't become a historical catalogue. The bird on the cover is a painted bunting. I've heard of them, at least, but many of the others were new to me, so I learned a lot from it.

Citation: Williams, Matt. Endangered and Disappearing Birds of Appalachia and the Southeast. Lexington: University of Kentucky Press, 2024. 248 pp.

Oh, and that's book 17 for 2024!

Speaking of the Times

I don't agree with everything in this op-ed piece by Nicholas D Kristof, as it does contain quite a bit of stereotyping, but...there's quite a bit of truth, too, and it's an interesting read.

Profiting From a Child’s Illiteracy

This is what poverty sometimes looks like in America: parents here in Appalachian hill country pulling their children out of literacy classes. Moms and dads fear that if kids learn to read, they are less likely to qualify for a monthly check for having an intellectual disability.

Many people in hillside mobile homes here are poor and desperate, and a $698 monthly check per child from the Supplemental Security Income program goes a long way — and those checks continue until the child turns 18.

“The kids get taken out of the program because the parents are going to lose the check,” said Billie Oaks, who runs a literacy program here in Breathitt County, a poor part of Kentucky. “It’s heartbreaking.”

Via Bibliofuture on LISNews.org.