The Bird Singers

“It could be the start of a fantasy novel: In rural France, two boys discover an almost eerie talent for mimicking birdsong. But competitive bird callers Jean Boucault and Johnny Rasse’s dual memoir, The Bird Singers, is all true, and arguably more alluring.”—Audubon“A mesmerizing tale like no other about how close we humans can get to the complex language and stirring music of birds.”—Priyanka Kumar, author of Conversations with Birds“A unique, delightful, and beautiful book. There is a tenderness to the way Boucault and Rasse write about their childhoods, paternal relationship, culture, class, what it means to belong to a place and its community, which I found very moving. The writing about birds—their songs and sounds, what birds mean to us, the wonder and joy they evoke in us—is among the most original, insightful, and enjoyable I’ve read.”—James Macdonald Lockhart, author of Wild Air: In Search of Birdsong“People have always dreamed of being as birds, flying, dreaming, singing. Jean and Johnny show us it truly can be done. We can all learn much from their beautiful story.”—David Rothenberg, author of Nightingales in Berlin and Why Birds Sing“A celebration of birdsong and a coming-of-age story like nothing you have read before. The Bird Singers is enchanting.”—Candace Savage, author of Crows and Bird Brains“The Bird Singers is a remarkable and delightfully eccentric story of dedication, resilience, and a true and deep connection with the natural world.”—Lev Parikian, conductor and author of Taking Flight“I read this book in one sitting. I loved the story of the two boys, of their relationships with the nature around them, their community, and their relationship with each other.”—Marc Hamer, author of the Indie Next Picks How to Catch a Mole and Spring Rain

Jean Boucault and Johnny Rasse first learned to imitate bird calls as children in northern France. Their rivalry at bird calling competitions gave way to friendship, and now to a partnership as performers. Although Boucault and Rasse are trained as a pharmacist and engineer respectively, their passion for birds led them to create a stage show under the name Les chanteurs d’oiseaux (the Bird Singers), recording an album and touring in France and internationally.

Katia Grubisic is a writer, editor, and translator whose work has appeared in various Canadian and international publications. Her collection What if red ran out was shortlisted for the A.M. Klein Prize for Poetry and won the Gerald Lampert award for best first book. Her book translations include Martine Delvaux’s White Out, Stephane Martelly’s Little Girl Gazelle, and Marie-Claire Blais’s final novels. Her translations of David Clerson’s first novel, Brothers, and of A Cemetery for Bees, by Alina Dumitrescu, were shortlisted for Governor General’s Awards, and her translation of Clerson’s short story collection, To See Out the Night, won the Cole Foundation Prize for Translation.