author
Albert Frederick Siepert
b. 1883
Known for a practical early-20th-century guide to building birdhouses, this manual-arts educator wrote to help young makers bring birds closer to home. His work blends simple woodworking instruction with a real enthusiasm for nature study.
1 Audiobook
Bird Houses Boys Can Build
by Albert Frederick Siepert
About the author
Albert Frederick Siepert (1883–1947) was an American manual-arts educator and writer best known for Bird Houses Boys Can Build, first published in 1916. The book was issued by The Manual Arts Press in Peoria, Illinois, and later made widely available through public-domain collections.
The book itself identifies him as a Professor of Manual Arts at Bradley Polytechnic Institute. Contemporary yearbook material also shows that he taught at Bradley and had earlier experience in manual training in Iowa City, Iowa, and at the normal school in Maryville, Missouri.
Siepert wrote in a clear, useful style aimed at helping young readers make things with their hands. In Bird Houses Boys Can Build, he paired woodworking plans with encouragement to observe and care for birds, giving the book a practical, outdoors-minded charm that still feels approachable today.