Beautiful Bird Books - A Fiction Break!

Join me in taking a break from my nonfiction Cybils readings to share two amazingly appealing books about birds. 

Beach Lane Books

ONE DARK BIRD is written by the endlessly talented Liz Garton Scanlon and illustrated by Frann Preston-Gannon.
This is a prime example of how a great picture book story idea (a murmuration of starlings) may spring from casual observations but can achieve greatness as a circle story in rhymed text, a counting book, a bedtime book, and an informative exploration of nature for even the youngest audiences. Scanlon achieves the elevation of an original concept or a simple counting book to one that should (and will) become a classic. It also serves as a masterclass for anyone hoping to write picture books.
Apart from that praise from an adult/writer perspective, this is also a book that kids will adore. It invites us to LOOK UP, to notice the natural world that surrounds us, and to seek further information and/or observations of natural phenomena. 
Starlings are all too often considered noisy, pesty birds, but I can assure you, from up-close and personal experience, they are comic and clever individually, apart from this instinctive pattern of group flight to escape predators. What's more, they are EVERYWHERE, which means kids across the country can step right outside and start watching for the living stars of this story. Migration season means these noisy birds are currently flocking, so it is an ideal time to LOOK UP and spot the phenomena.

Beach Lane Books

The second superior bird book is FLY! by Mark Teague. This is not a story of fall flocking. Instead, it features a springtime fledgling who (obviously) has been well fed and nurtured. When Baby bird squawks for a worm, Mama bird urges the reluctant nestling to get out and on the branch, to spread its wings and takes steps to grow beyond being a baby. 
Not one word is on a single page, but what a story those pages tell!  The entire (laugh-out-loud) dialogue between these two is conducted in picture-talk-speech-bubbles.
The fuzzy little one has a comical response to each and every one of Mama's argument, with no limit to the creative ways it might migrate ithat won't require learning to fly, or ways to defend itself from predators. 
The humor soars throughout the fledgling's stubborn refusal to fly until a dramatic conclusion elevates the story to a satisfying ending. Little ones will delight in being able to "read" the script on their own, and adults will sympathize with the mostly patient Mama.
These are not among my current nonfiction stack, but I'm refreshed by reading them. Each offers deep and engaging truths in and each will charm and entertain.