Humans have always had a natural desire to collect and group things together. It works well for domesticated animals, where people are used to talking about a herd of cows, or a flock of sheep. But how do you collate wild animals and birds? Should they all be flocks and herds? Thankfully human imagination has gone to work on this and come up with a whole host of rich and interesting names for all species of animals.

Matt Sewell has collected together all the collective nouns for all manner of animals who inhabit land, sea and air. As well as the titled, A Charm of Goldfinches and the well-known Murder of Crows he introduces to us the less common quarrel of sparrows, a quiver of cobras, a harem of seals and deceit of lapwings. Alongside each collective noun is a delightful watercolour of the animals and a little explanation of the origins of the noun.

I really liked this enchanting little book with its colourful bold artwork and Sewell’s charming prose but if there was one minor flaw was it too brief. ( )

Another charming and beautifully illustrated book, I was a bit disappointed at first with the writing, until I quickly figured out it's geared towards a much younger audience. And as such, it's perfect.

A small selection of land, sea, and air animals and the collective nouns we use to describe them, each blurb is written in a very friendly, chatty style that is sure to appeal to kids. The illustrations should appeal to everyone. There's a checklist at the end of the book, encouraging kids to look out for the different types of animals, some of them presumably at their local zoos, as I'm not sure many are going to see a camel walking down their street in the normal course of their day. ( )

I didn't realize until I got this book from NetGalley that I'd read and reviewed another one of Matt Sewell's books, Owls: Our Most Enchanting Bird. This follows a similar format to that one, and to a bunch of other Sewell books. This one in particular takes a look at the fun and amusing names there are for groups of different kinds of animals, for example, a murder of crows or a parliament of owls, and it also has some descriptions and thoughts about the names and animals.

I felt pretty much the same about this book as that one: it's a whimsical book with cute illustrations. While it does have some scientific information about the animals it portrays, I wouldn't take most of it to the bank. It's not meant to be an informational book, really.

I do like the way Sewell illustrates the eyes of some of the animals. Eyes and facial expressions are one of the hardest things to illustrate (as well as human hands!), in my opinion, and I think he does a good job. ( )

This book was very cute and charming. The watercolor illustrations are engaging and sweet. There's more than just bird groups in the book as well-- seals, cobras and foxes are just some of the other animals. Each of the group names are given a short etymological backstory next to an illustration. Overall, this is a delightful coffee table book. Between a charm of goldfinches or a ostentation of peacocks, you'll be sure to learn a new collective noun. It became a guessing game between my family and we all adored the art style.
I received a copy of this book via Blogging for Books in exchange for an honest review.

http://www.bloggingforbooks.com/reviews/view/94727 ( )

I had so much fun with Matt Sewell's "A Charm of Goldfinches and Other Wild Gatherings." As a bit of a grammar-nazi and a nature lover, I enjoyed learning new words/collective nouns for animals. The book itself is very well presented with cute, well-drawn illustrations. I also appreciated the cover of the book: it's hard-cover and accurately represents the contents of the book. It would be appropriate as a gift, and a versatile gift at that - for the art lover, the language lover, or anyone who enjoys a fun, quirky read!

http://hebrideshermit.blogspot.com/2017/09/quirky-artsy-and-little-nerdy.html ( )