THE BLUE JAYS THAT GREW A FOREST

 Blue jays are hard to ignore, but who would want to do that? Some folks with feeders are slightly snobbish, even resentful about greedy squirrels, swarms of starlings, and loudly aggressive jays. I, for one, adore jays, whether on the feeders or JAY-ing away in the tree tops and nearby foliage. During my years working at bird rescue and rehabilitation, I came to know and love jays quite well. Their personalities vary, but they are consistently entertaining, comical, and enormously clever. That's why the title alone had my attention for this new picture book.

PEACHTREE, 2025

THE BLUE JAYS THAT GREW A FOREST is written by Lynn Street and illustrated by Anne Hunter. I included an extra large cover image for this post because, if the title hadn't hooked me, the cover certainly would have. Add oaks, acorns, and autumn to a pair of blue jays and I'm a goner. In addition, there are inviting endpapers with various small spot illustrations of trees, acorns and jays, on land and in the air. One more page turn reveals an opening map of the "before" scene, indicating an established old growth oak wood and a nearby mostly bare field. 

This delightfully thorough nonfiction picture book begins, as it should, with an oak tree. After all, giant oaks from little acorns grow. A full page spread of one massive tree allows little readers (and old ones, too!) to notice how jays and squirrels busily interact within the abundance this one tree offers. Along with acorns, they find shelter, nesting potential, insects and other food potentials, and a natural playground. 

Within just a few facing lines, the plant science is described: Oak seeds are acorns, which need water, sun soil and room to grow. Acorns, though, are too heavy to be whisked into new locations by the wind. Those that drop and remain below, as some are pictured doing, have less chance to become full grown oaks. The acorns require a full summer to ripen, but once they do, it's time to feast! Squirrels and jays eagerly crack and devour, until full. Then, with instinctive wisdom, they begin to store seeds for the long, cold winter ahead. Jays can tote up to five acorns at a time (revealed in simple, accurate text and with a fantastic double spread illustration.) The flights of jays back and forth from the woods to the field develop a fascinating and compelling rhythm and urgency. 

Jays, like squirrels, stow their acorns one at a time, choosing locations with some landmark or other as memory cues to make them easier to relocate and consume under winter snow cover. Meanwhile, the race is on to gather and store enough while other critters compete for the bounty: turkeys, chipmunks, mice, deer and more. The back-and-forth of many jays on similar missions allows readers to recognize the urgency, efficiency, and even danger of this pattern. 

With the next several page turns we see the success of this effort during winter, the sprouting oaks from those missed during winter searches, the spring nesting and feeding times when other foods are more suited for hatchlings, and then fall cycle returns. Try to imagine the many human generations that have passed since that enormous oak was planted by some distant-in-time jay. And then imagine the years and generations of jays that will take part in planting a new oak wood just across the river, transforming a bare field into an entirely new ecosystem. As the concluding text says 

"The jays and oaks.

The oaks and jays.

Thrive.

Together."

Back matter includes five spreads of further informative facts, as well as acknowledgements, a glossary, and  resources. This is a colorful, clear account of a widely observable pattern that is often overlooked. It will entertain and enlighten, perhaps even winning more fans for those streamlined squawkers. It invites readers of any age to pay more attention to the fine feathered fiends who share our environments and, in fact, create them!