Books reviewers and other readers may be forgiven for having difficulty determining what the intended audience for Townsend's Warbler is. The publisher seems to think that the book is for older children and early young adults. Reviewer Roger Sutton thinks it is best suited to older readers. The book is short, suggesting suitability to early readers, yet its language and ideas are complex, suggesting an audience of mature readers. Older readers will probably miss the characterization that would have made Townsend and Nuttall more fully rounded, thus making their adventures all the more meaningful. Another five to ten pages about them could have made a big difference, enhancing the book for young adults.

On the other hand, the book is about ideas more than it is about people. Its emphasis on the parallels between the journeys of men and birds suggests that human beings are still...