From the publishers announcement:
For over half a century, Quentin Blake has been adding to the gaiety of our daily lives via his exuberant illustrations, both for children and for adults. Now, in this exquisitely produced book, he gives free range to his imagination. The idea of drawing birds as people isn't new, but has allowed Quentin Blake licence to depict characters that he might not feel ready to otherwise. In this human aviary we see the young and the old, the weak and the strong; we see sadness and laughter; and perhaps, if we look closely, we see ourselves. In The Life if Birds Quentin Blake follows in the footsteps of both the great illustrators - Lear and Daumier - and fabulists - Aesop and La Fontaine, but in a manner that is entirely, delightfully, inimitably, his own.