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Harriet N. Cook
Harriet Newell Cook (1814 – 1843) was an American religious writer whose ministry through educational writings shared biblical truths with young readers in the early 19th century. Born in Maine to Asa Rand, a reverend, and Grata Payson Rand, she grew up in a devout family steeped in Protestant faith. Little is known of her formal education, but her parents’ influence and access to religious texts shaped her ability to craft instructional works, reflecting a self-taught theological grounding typical of her era’s women writers. Cook’s preaching career took form not through sermons but via her pen, beginning with contributions to religious publications before authoring Scripture Alphabet of Animals (circa 1842), a popular book using nature to illustrate scriptural lessons for children. Her works, aimed at Sunday school audiences, preached moral and spiritual insights, emphasizing God’s creation and providence, though she never held a formal pulpit role due to gender norms of the time. Married status and family details beyond her parents remain unrecorded, as her brief life ended at age 29, likely in Maine, with her legacy tied to her written ministry rather than spoken preaching.
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Harriet N. Cook discusses the mention of the kite in the Bible, particularly in Leviticus 11:13-14, where it is listed among the birds that the Israelites were forbidden to eat due to their nature as birds of prey. The kite, a large bird known for its graceful flight, is feared by those who own poultry as it preys on ducks and chickens. Despite its cowardly nature, the kite is a skilled hunter that feeds on frogs and moles, often storing them in its nest. Its nesting habits involve building nests in tall trees, hidden within the forest, where it lays eggs that are almost white with a hint of blue.
Scriptures
The Kite
The kite is mentioned but once or twice in the Bible. In Leviticus, 11 : 13,14, it is named among the birds which the Israelites were not allowed to use for food. "And these are they which ye shall have in abomination among the fowls; they shall not be eaten, they are an abomination; the eagle, and the ossifrage, and the ospray, and the vulture, and the kite after its kind." These are all birds of prey, that is, they live by destroying other animals, and some of them are very fierce and cruel; I suppose this is one reason why they were not to be eaten. The kite is a large bird, more than two feet long; and when its wings are spread it would take a string five feet and a half long to stretch from the tip of one across to the other. It does not fly very rapidly, but its motion in the air is very graceful and beautiful. On this account it has sometimes been called the Gled, or the gliding bird. The kite is very much dreaded and disliked by those who have ducks and chickens, because it carries them off for food. It also eats frogs and moles: it is said that more than twenty of the latter have been found in one Kite's nest. It is a cowardly bird, and does not attack any animal that is strong enough to defend itself. Its nest is usually built between the forked branches of some tall tree in the thickest part of the forest; and if you could look into one of them in the spring, you would probably see three eggs, almost white, but a little tinged with blue.
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Harriet Newell Cook (1814 – 1843) was an American religious writer whose ministry through educational writings shared biblical truths with young readers in the early 19th century. Born in Maine to Asa Rand, a reverend, and Grata Payson Rand, she grew up in a devout family steeped in Protestant faith. Little is known of her formal education, but her parents’ influence and access to religious texts shaped her ability to craft instructional works, reflecting a self-taught theological grounding typical of her era’s women writers. Cook’s preaching career took form not through sermons but via her pen, beginning with contributions to religious publications before authoring Scripture Alphabet of Animals (circa 1842), a popular book using nature to illustrate scriptural lessons for children. Her works, aimed at Sunday school audiences, preached moral and spiritual insights, emphasizing God’s creation and providence, though she never held a formal pulpit role due to gender norms of the time. Married status and family details beyond her parents remain unrecorded, as her brief life ended at age 29, likely in Maine, with her legacy tied to her written ministry rather than spoken preaching.