Mei Ling Discovers Jack Miner

Steve Pitt is a Toronto-based freelance writer and an award-winning journalist. He has written many young adult and children's books, including Day of the Flying Fox: The True Story of World War II Pilot Charley Fox.

John is a young boy who used to live on a farm in southwestern Ontario.
Mei Ling is a young immigrant girl recently arrived from Hong Kong. Both
of them now live in Windsor, Ontario. When their teacher asks them to
work together on a biology project, John and Mei Ling pick the Canada
goose as the subject of their presentation. After studying all the books
they can find on the Canada goose in the school library, John suggests
that they visit the Jack Miner Bird Sanctuary in Kingsville. During
their visit, John, Mei Ling, and her family learn about Jack Miner and
Canada geese; John also learns about Mei Ling’s former life in Hong
Kong.

This book, however, is really about Jack Miner, a turn-of-the-century
nature enthusiast who pioneered many of the bird conservation programs
operating across North America today. Miner was the first to capture and
band wild birds to track their migration patterns. Thousands of winged
and wheeled visitors visit his bird sanctuary each year.

The text is supported by sketches and period photographs of Miner and
his sanctuary. Jane Buttery’s prose is competent but occasionally
sounds like an overly earnest documentary. An interesting minor fact is
that Miner used to put Bible scripture on his goose bands. Buttery uses
this fact to make one small pitch for Christianity but, given Miner’s
career, it is not out of place with the narrative. Recommended.