He could name every flower and every bird

As a child, all kinds of birds could be seen everywhere: the budgerigars kept on a stand, growing from tiny little things into magnificent big birds, arguing furiously with the birds passing by outside the window;

the owl standing all night on the treetop outside the window, its shadow cast into the room by moonlight like something from a fairy tale, printed on the quilt, warming many, many childhood dreams;

and those sparrows that quietly visited the kitchen, the geese that passed over the city every spring and autumn, those calls, after so many years, still seem to linger in the years of many people's lives...

The city gradually filled with traffic and exhaust fumes, and the beautiful birds that accompanied our lives seemed to have quietly gone astray. Sometimes I really want to indulge in nostalgia, run out to the countryside to listen to bird calls again, but I'm always held back by work and trivial matters, putting it off again and again.

Over time, those bird calls that linger in old memories seem more and more like a naive, distant dream.

But did you know, the birds of the world are far more than just the few kinds you've seen? They soar freely, or dive into water, they are found all over the world, perched under the eaves of your home, or wandering in distant uninhabited lands... Their world is both far from us and very close, fantastical yet utterly ordinary.

/ Afascinatingbirdworld /

Do you know which penguin is on the logo of Penguin Books?

//The Humboldt penguin. The designer spent an entire day at the London Zoo observing this penguin in order to design the publisher's logo. Perhaps there's a Penguin Books book (Humboldt penguin) sitting on your bookshelf right now.

Did you know an owl can turn its head completely upside down?

//All owls have fourteen vertebrae in their long necks, twice as many as humans. So if you see an owl's head upside down, don't mistake it for a broken neck.

The blue tit tasted the deliciousness of blackberries even earlier than humans did!

//The prickly bushes are full of blackberries and raspberries. After the blue tit burrows into the bushes and eats the juicy berries, it leaves the berry seeds behind, helping these bushes colonise more forest space.

/ Possibly the artist who understands birds best in the world /

Matt Sewell, a passionate ornithologist and a hugely popular British artist. He has drawn for The Guardian, Barbour, Levis, and Helly Hansen, and his work can be seen almost everywhere in the UK:

from Royal Society for the Protection of Birds underpasses to street graffiti.

Street graffiti

A series of T-shirts, posters, mugs and more themed around "Matt Sewell's Birds."

Barbour-themed T-shirt

A jigsaw puzzle of bird illustrations

The Isle of Man Post Office even released exquisite stamps based on his bird illustrations.

Exquisite stamps released by the Isle of Man Post Office

Because of this, the media have called him "the Banksy of the bird world."

Matt Sewell

/ A "paper museum of birds" /

Matt Sewell has been obsessed with bird books, paintings and postcards since childhood. Drawn to the colours, features and forms of birds, he often can't resist personifying them and assigning them roles. In his daily life, he loves nature activities, hiking, travelling, cycling, birdwatching and outings with his family, drawing inspiration from them all.

Only someone who loves birds as much as Matt could paint every bird so vividly and endearingly, and capture each bird's unique character and "soul" with light, amusing words.

What makes this series different from the bird guides we know is that it divides the world's little birds into distinct volumes: "Our Garden Birds," "Our Songbirds," "Our Woodland Birds," "Our Brilliant Birds," and "Penguins and Other Sea Birds."

Starting from the birds' living environments, it showcases the birds found in gardens, in woodlands, and even dwelling in the vastest uninhabited lands on Earth.

You will see from it that the great tit can attract the birds around it and make them listen to it sing; the bullfinch is playful and shy; the northern lapwing has a melancholic song; the oystercatcher is a born romantic;

the white-throated dipper's song is crystal clear; the blue tit knew the taste of blackberries before we humans did; the red-backed shrike likes to skewer its prey like kebabs.

At the same time, you will also see penguins and other sea birds from all over the world, as well as the adorable and much-loved owls of every kind...

As a set of illustrated popular-science books for both adults and children, the process of reading is a double delight of little facts and little pleasures.

At the back of each book there is a big gallery of bird illustrations, gathering all the lovely birds together.

/ A gift book for every child and adult /

This is an exquisite leisure gift book, a collection of fun illustrated popular-science writing (and drawing) for adults and children, letting adults return to the innocent childhood days of birdwatching and play, and letting children discover and understand the fascinating world of birds, growing close to nature through the book and learning to love every kind of life.

This is also a book you can take travelling with you. With its small format, it's perfect for this pleasant, body-and-mind-refreshing, fun-filled read at any place and in any spare moment, or just pop it in your bag and turn otherwise dull, hard-to-bear time on a train, bus or plane into something wonderful.

"Birds of the World"

Written by Matt Sewell [UK] / Translated by Su Chengyu and Zhou Yingqi

Produced by Purui Culture and Hunan Fine Arts Publishing House

--THE END--

"Flowers, Fields and Nature"

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