Nature study is full of pitfalls, Disney only knows, and it is a pleasure to report that Allan W. Eckert has avoided them all in this beautiful book about the Louisiana bayou country ["Bayou Backwaters"].

The bayou region, which has thus far escaped "development," is a richly populated stronghold of plant and animal life. Mr. Eckert builds up an evocative word-portrait of the area by letting us observe a number of its inhabitants on their daily rounds through its woods and waters….

[Thanks to Mr. Eckert's] eye for detail, his sense of the rhythms of the natural world, his feeling for its beauty and balance, "Bayou Backwaters" is a celebration of life in all its forms.

Robert Berkvist, "For Younger Readers: 'Bayou Backwaters'," in The New York Times Book Review (© 1968 by The New York Times Company; reprinted by permission), June 30, 1968, p. 26.

Anthropomorphism is so often found in animal...