• Fingers in the Sparkle Jar

  • A Memoir
  • By: Chris Packham
  • Narrated by: Chris Packham
  • Length: 8 hrs and 47 mins
  • 4.1 out of 5 stars (12 ratings)

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Fingers in the Sparkle Jar  By  cover art

Fingers in the Sparkle Jar

By: Chris Packham
Narrated by: Chris Packham
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Publisher's summary

Every minute was magical, every single thing it did was fascinating and everything it didn't do was equally wondrous, and to be sat there with a kestrel, a real live kestrel, my own real live kestrel on my wrist! I felt like I'd climbed through a hole in heaven's fence.

An introverted, unusual young boy, isolated by his obsessions and a loner at school, Chris Packham was only at home in the fields and woods around his suburban home. But when he stole a young kestrel from its nest, he was about to embark on a friendship that would teach him what it meant to love - and that would change him forever.

In his rich, lyrical and emotionally exposing memoir, Chris brings to life his childhood in the '70s, from his bedroom bursting with fox skulls, birds' eggs and sweaty jam jars to his feral adventures. But pervading his story is the search for freedom, meaning and acceptance in a world that didn't understand him. Beautifully wrought, this coming-of-age memoir will be unlike any you've ever heard.

©2016 Chris Packham (P)2016 Random House Audiobooks

What listeners say about Fingers in the Sparkle Jar

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Beautiful and relatable

This is a beautifully written book and can relate to a good part of it, being the same age and having the same interests and also being one of those kids whose interests were nature, wildlife, birds,art and roaming the countryside and hated just about everything boys were supposed to be doing. The dread and hell of school sports and fanatical obsession with football and the like. A great listen and anxiously awaiting the continuation of the story.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Honest and poignant and fascinating memoir

What did you love best about Fingers in the Sparkle Jar?

How the writer communicated his wonderful love for animals and the natural world, as well as how this intense love effected him so profoundly. I loved the title Fingers in the Sparkle Jar and really enjoyed how it was written. I was aware Chris Packham was a television wildlife presenter but knew nothing else about him, this book has inspired me to rekindle a proper love of nature in my own life. Thank you for sharing such a wonderful and personal tale.

Who was your favorite character and why?

The biographer

What about Chris Packham’s performance did you like?

His honesty and courage to do so.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Brought tears to my eyes several times

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