WHO HID THE STARS: HOW LIGHT POLLUTION CHANGES THE WORLD

 I wrote about the lovely and lyrical picture book, LIGHTS OUT, when it released in 2020. I hope you'll take a moment to click on that link and read about this remarkably powerful and gently persuasive book. It takes a creative approach to the animals' struggles when light pollution disrupts countless generations of evolutionary adaptations. I highly recommend that title and think of it often, especially during the two seasonal bird migration periods in Spring and Fall. 

If you are reading this as it posts live, you are smack in the midst of a several-week migration of birds from the southern regions to the north. Some birds travel established migration patterns for hundreds of miles, and others whose flyways cross thousands of miles. Science is studying but still has much to learn regarding how those paths remain so predictably consistent, how birds navigate them. Many are birds who have never traveled those paths. What we can do to learn from them, about how they do it, matters. In the meantime, everyone is certain that most birds include moonlight and starlight (yes, stars are used in some sort of magnetic compass orientation) so that LIGHT, of the natural sort, is essential to their success. 

    

EERDMANS BOOKS for Young Readers, 2026

WHO HID THE STARS: How Light Pollution Changes our World is written by Valentina Gottardi, Macie J. Michno, and illustrated by Danio Miserocchi. The translation by Sylvia Notini is masterful in capturing the complex text with a fluency and clarity that serves the authors well. This is a thorough examination of the impact of light pollution not only on birds but on water life, plant life, insects, communication among members of species, and many light's impacts that we directly observe (road kill, bugs zappers, and more) on a daily basis.

A Kirkus review calls the illustration "razzle-dazzle art", and I concur. The back matter and embedded-in-text suggestions for ways to modify our human activities allow young people not only to change their own habits but to become advocates for protection of the night skies. 

To learn more about light pollution, check out 

DARK SKY INTERNATIONAL.

Plenty to Laugh About in CRANKY, CRABBY CROW!

 Birds again? Seriously? No, humorously! 

GREENWILLOW BOOKS, 2025

CRANKY, CRABBY CROW (Saves the World) is a bird book of sorts, but not of the sort I've reviewed recently. This crow is a curmudgeon, living up to that title description in full force. The joy and suspense of this story treat CROW as a character, one who just happens to be a bird. Award-winning AUTHOR/ILLUSTRATOR Corey R. Tabor is in brilliant form in  this lively and surprising account of a crow on a mission.

The title (and subtitle) do a great job of setting up the levels and tension of this story. Actual crows often sound grumpy, loudly cawing their complaints as other critters appear in "their space". The cleverly cartoonish side-eye of this cover crow, with an effectively added arched eyebrow and skittering sidestep suggest something more than grumpiness is as work.

And it is.

ENDPAPERS, CRANKY CRABBY CROW
Corey R. Tabor, 2025

Endpapers with sequences of six different "icon"ish images stalled my opening of the pages of the book. A "wallpaper" approach of this type is often used in picture books, and I wanted to see if there were any discernible patterns as clues to the story ahead. Then, when I did turn the page, the dedication was actually to one of these little icons. What? A mystery was at the heart of this story and I couldn't wait to figure it out. 

As crow sits on a wire above fuzzily familiar rooftops and treetops, other critters approach and invite Crow to seemingly irresistible events- garbage scrounging, racing, tricks, etc. One by one, potential friends are sent away with a noisy "KAW!" until Cat warns of looming loneliness. That felt to me like a charming story arc, delightfully illustrated, and leading to a happy "lesson-learned" resolve. 

Until... that parenthetical title comes into play. Secrets are revealed, actions are taken, Crow dons his secret-life uniform and SAVES THE WORLD!  (Check out the button options on his control board!). I truly want to reveal what all that is about, and also the ensuing pages of community that left me grinning. I won't spoil the experience for you. You're welcome. Many picture books have a satisfying conclusion and then, ta-da, one final page adds a surprise, a sort of WINK as a bonus to the reader. Wait until you see this one!

Once I reached that delightful spread I noticed a tiny added treat for attentive readers on the bottom right of an otherwise empty white page. Those little endpaper icons were a CODE, a SECRET CODE! That meant spending immeasurable time decoding the closing endpages and grinning through every minute.

I realize that not everyone enjoys birds as much as I do, and even those who do may not appreciate the intelligence and appeal of actual crows. Let me assure you, though, that this CROW is irresistible! Absolutely CHARMING! A CROW you will want to know! 

Do a favor to yourself and read it, then share it, laughing out loud together. And the next time you encounter someone cranky or crabby, keep in mind that perhaps it's only an act. Maybe, just maybe, they have a bigger mission in mind, one that could SAVE THE WORLD! 

I AM WE! (A Crow's Eye View of Unity)

I can't help myself... here's another amazing picture book about BIRDS! 

CHRONICLE BOOKS, 2025

I AM WE: How Crows Come Together to Survive is written by Leslie Barnard Booth and illustrated by Alexandra Finkeldey.  In case you missed some of my former posts about the brilliance and appeal of birds, feel free to click on a few to read HERE, HERE, HERE, or HERE. 

Using first person voice, CROW voices a personal account of  exactly what I AM WE means. The text is a lyrical, sometimes rhymed revelation of the life-facts of crows. Language rich in onomatopoeia and rhythmic flow swoops across the pages to explore the intelligence, behaviors, and social dynamics of individuals, family groups, and flocks. 

It is the perfect time of year to share this, since the most intense flocking begins at summer's end  ago and persists through Fall and Winter until early spring nesting resumes.The reasons for that are made clear, with subtlety and surety. Both rural and urban flocking is described, revealing benefits for both habitats. 

The illustrations are superbly suited to the tone and details, darkly extending a sense of urgency and intensity across the pages. Flocking happens at night, and these wing-sprawling, bright-eyed birds seem both elegant and intimidating but are vulnerable within nature's food chain. Their interactivity and the beneficial effects of flocking may seem self-evident in a few cases, the the combination of visual and narrative storytelling draws readers into the lives of crows, in this case, AMERICA CROWS, among the most common variety. 

If you are looking for a seasonal, slightly suspenseful, moody picture book to share in a read aloud during this fall season, give this one a try. It will offer just-right intensity and a suspenseful tone while sharing important facts about a species and its evolutionary patterns. A huge bonus, while reading, is a growing awareness of something I have said often and will say again. Birds, especially Crows and others black birds, are remarkably intelligent and worthy of respect and attention. Calling someone a "birdbrain" simply reveals ignorance of those facts. I AM WE helps make that point clear. 

BIRDS Are Back: Two Great Titles

ROARING BROOK PRESS, 2020

Can there ever be TWO MANY BIRDS? Of course not! Written and illustrated by Cindy Derby, this seemingly simple picture book presents fun for the littlest audiences and insights for teen social dynamics studies. 

A bossy and controlling VIB  (Very Important Bird) restricts access to the ONLY available tree, topping that with arbitrary and rather obnoxious rules. It's entirely (and playfully) predictable that VIB would loudly object to two eggs that hatch, putting the residency count over the arbitrary 100 mark. Despite VIB  grumbles, mother bird and 99 other birds who had made it into the stark branches of that singular tree are celebratory.

What happens next is far less predictable, but packed with visual fun and developments that draw on real world nature as well as "human" nature.

There's much here to enjoy, first, and then to spark conversations. For starters, to provide for everyone it doesn't mean making smaller slices of the pie, but making the pie bigger! (or growing more trees!)

Plenty, too, to spark comparisons of these comical little feathered ones to real birds and their features, reduced habitats, the power of collective responses, and dealing with demanding personalities with arbitrary rules.

These funny "birdbrains" can teach us all a thing or two.

EERDMANS Books for Young Readers
2025

FLY LIKE A BIRD is written and illustrated by OLGA PTASHNIK. This new release takes a direct approach to blending fiction with facts. Although a young chickadee voices parts of the narrative, and is attributed with very human concerns involving growth, change, and readiness to launch, the clarity of which is effectively conveyed.

Nonfiction content about actual bird specifies, flight, and other patterns is printed in blue, while a presumed fledgling is going through a coming-of-flight story with concerns about flying, a transition on which its life depends. This gorgeously illustrated picture book is both impressionistic and realistic in aspects of various birds and their relationships to flight. The narrative for the cautious character will resonate with young readers facing any and all bridges to new frontiers and expectations. |

Double-spread back pages showcase spot images of the eleven birds from the main text with short passages that add interesting  information.

I'm featuring this pair together because they offer a rich opportunity to share and compare picture books in ways that might surprise and delight both the young reader and the adults in their lives. I hope you'll give these a try and then launch them into the lives of kids.

More BIRD Talk: Meet Ruru, NIGHT HUNTER!

Speaking of birds, as I did in this recent post (HERE), a recent release deserves a close look, and is especially appealing with FALL outside our nighttime windows.

SCHOLASTIC, 2024

RURU: NIGHT HUNTER, by Kate Furze and Ned Barraud  reveals a specific variety of owl in New Zealand. Owl eyes are classically hypnotic, but this cover suggests how compelling the interior images and information are. I found myself enthralled with this owl, and traveled through time and spaces which might otherwise make me hesitate to go.

A young human in a bedtime window is featured in an opening spread, and then again as morning dawn nears. They are as fascinated by hidden nightlife as readers will be.

The main narrative and densely powerful illustrations convey a "night in the life" of an imagined individual RURU. Secondary/parallel text on most pages provide basic but interesting facts about this species as relate to each page's lyrical (and busy) male owl. He spends a moonlit night working to feed its mate and owlets, traveling through dark-toned but nevertheless luminous scenes that also inform readers about both similarities and differences from their own locations. 

Both text and images are dramatic and exciting, while providing essential information about food chains and other STEM material while allowing compare/contrast opportunities for varieties of similar animals in local and distant settings. 

The parallel text makes this appealing and useful across many ages, with back matter that can be used for further investigations.

For more suggestions of other bird picture books, check prior posts HERE, HERE, HERE, and many  more.

THE BOY WHO DREW BIRDS: A Story of John James Audubon

 I've been a lover, observer, and advocate of birds for as long as I can recall. I've always loved and appreciated the beauty and grace of their bodies, movements, and songs, assuming (wrongly) that they were part of everyone's lives and always would be. I've mentioned this in prior posts, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, and HERE. (Okay, there are more, but I've been doing this for a long time. Just type BIRDS in the search bar in the right menu and you'll find them.)

That's why Audubon has been a source of ambivalence for me. He's the John James Audubon who's the subject of this new picture book, and also the fellow whose art and field guides are iconic references for beginners through experts. His art is beyond critique from scientists and casual birders alike. His observational accuracy is consistent from depicting the creatures themselves to the extensive details he observed, recorded, and reported involving behavior, habitats, songs, nesting/eggs, and global patterns of migration. Plusses, every one of them.

But I learned early that he blended his truly "natural" observations in the wild with vast amounts of "specimen collection", then preserving and mounting creatures, posing them in the actions and settings he had observed earlier. This approach did, in fact, provide previously unavailable information to the broader public, inspiring hobbies of interest and scientific study. Even so, I was appalled about the deaths his study had caused. It was not until recent years that I also became aware of his lifelong slaveholding practices, which were conveniently never mentioned or assumed. Now, even official organizations are renaming their identities, not to erase him or deny his contributions but to honor the study and conservation of birds, including his role in the process, without retaining his name in their titles.

Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004

THE BOY WHO DREW BIRDS: A Story of John James Audubon is written by Jacqueline Davies and illustrated Melissa Sweet. This is not a new book, and it garnered awards and "best of" designations in many categories. That's not unusual for books by either of its creators, but this one certainly merits our attention even a few decades later.  A combination of factors called it to mind to share now: my new residence/office space allows me to observe my feeder space many more hours of the day, Audubon's public status continues to shift, and undeniable changes in climate are affecting patterns for bird migration and survival. This last factor means some of what Audubon recorded will, or already has, changed and newer resources are the most reliable.There are ever-growing numbers of hobby-birders of all ages and backgrounds relying on Audubon resources for their study. They remain reliable starting points. 

The straightforward but eloquent text reveals that young Audubon was raised in England by a bird/nature-loving father. In early adulthood, still called a boy, he was sent to live in America. He was obviously from a family of means, allowed to live without working by that benefit and the labor of enslaved people. That was not mentioned in the text, published in 2004. John James Audubon disdained school but immersed himself in nature, noticing, collecting, and sketching everything in his new environment. The text follows him  through those early years in which he developed his art and observational skills. His questions, field study, patience, and gentle experiments helped to answer centuries-old debates about patterns of migration and "wintering" of the millions of small birds on both continents. His simple experiment with banding baby phoebes (then known as peewees) provided irrefutable answers.

The illustrations are equally researched and rendered in a mix of collage simulation, sketches and painting. The assemblages are also informative in the relationships and labeling among objects included. The results on the page expand the informational content and also bring to life the thoroughness and depth of commitment of this man who grew to be the ultimate resource for everything involving birds. His status in that regard is solid, and remains breathtaking in many cases. The same can be said for the details of content of text and images. Author and illustrator notes are also helpful. It is a picture book that merits many close looks and rereads, and a fine example of alerting older readers to ways in which content changes over time by referencing the publication date and current concerns. It's an awareness that should be shared with young readers regarding nonfiction content and also publication dates in every subject area.

My own ambivalence about the man is unchanged, but I appreciate his obsession with nature, and birds in particular. His guides remain near my window and are a welcome gift to new birders. This picture book could be the start of a lifelong interest for young ones interested in art, nature, and especially birds!

DIG, DANCE, DIVE: How Birds Move to Survive! Another Cybils Nominee

 The clock is ticking. Our Round One Cybils Awards panelists for 2022 NONFICTION are faced with narrowing the nominees to just a few finalists. After that, a new panel of judges will take on the challenging task of naming a single title among each category: elementary, middle grade, and high school. I do not envy them their assignment. 

My struggles to determine which titles belong on that short list are eased by some amazing discussions with the other panelists. And I'm lucky to have readers through this platform so I can describe and recommend far more than a few of the nominees in the picture book category. (I also review and comment on the older-reader categories in my Goodreads account, in case you are interested). 

OWLKIDS BOOKS, 2022

So, without any indicators about which titles might be inching forward to that short list for elementary titles, I'm accelerating my looks at some of my MANY favorites, just in time for holiday gifting and book ordering in school and library budgets. 

My last post featured ON A GOLD-BLOOMING DAY, here, and it definitely deserves your attention for its visual glory as well as its word mastery. Another picture book among the nominees that involves nature, superb language, and visual appeal is DIG, DANCE, DIVE: How Birds Move to Survive. It's written by Etta Kaner and illustrated by June Steube. The language in this delightfully informative book about bird adaptations is playful but precise. Each critter is introduced with a few lively words in oversized font, followed by a short passage with science-accurate descriptions of how the introductory phrase applies. 

This example involves penguins.

"BIRDS TOBOGGAN."

 In just a few following sentences in standard font, readers then learn about what it takes to safely and effectively conserve energy and yet escape or travel large spaces without harming penguin feathers. The appealing and reader-focused eyes are enhanced by the illustrator's placement of birds in dramatic perspectives, action-packed scenes, and creative clusters, but ones that are consistent with actual behaviors of that species. A final double spread offers quick notes about other birds and their surprising behavior patterns and adaptations that increase survival. 

This is a thoroughly scientific/nonfiction title for young audiences, yet it abounds with humor, surprise, and curiosity-provoking content that are likely to develop more attentive observation of birds among those same young ones. If you are new to this blog you won't know that I am an avowed bird-lover, wowed by their intelligence, variety, beauty and behaviors. Even so, I feel safe is assuring readers that such a preset is not required to fall in love with this book and the birds within its pages. 

What are you waiting for?

A PEEK AT BEAKS: Remarkable Birds!

 I am a pushover for birds of any kind, and I treasure the years in which I was able to care for injured or abandoned birds as a licensed rehabilitator. I've always found them to be some of the most elegant, beautiful, and remarkable creatures on earth, which is saying a lot. Holding various birds in my own hands made me intimately aware of the facility and genius of their body designs and functions. Especially beaks. 

When a bobble-headed, featherless, newly-hatched bird arrives needing help to survive, the wrong care or feeding could end their lives, and yet they have very few identifiable attributes that will soon become visible. Those instinctively gaping beaks, their colorful open maws, and even their distinctive calls for food in those first hours and days provided critical information about what and how to feed them. So I'll add to this text that beak traits are also tools for survival in those earliest days.

Species identifiable traits will develop, as birds do, in a blink of time: growing feathers, becoming able to feed themselves, and (again instinctively) using those beaks in ways they were designed (by each species' adaptations) to do. 

MIllbrook Press, 2021

A PEEK AT BEAKS: Tools Birds Use, written by Sara Levine and illustrated by Kate Slater, is a colorful, delightful, curiosity-compelled picture book that will be loved by kids of many ages and by the adults who share them. Both creators appear to have a similar fascination with birds to my own. That's important, because the accuracy in the science (biology, anatomy, environment, etc.) for each bird in each category resonates with accuracy and informative content, but the tone of language and images make those examples feel as appealing as they are intriguing. 

Two elements of this book especially struck me as super-smart: 

The title page launches readers with precise illustrations of the tools that will be described and compared to birds throughout the book. It's a helpful approach, since many young readers may not be familiar with each of these common tools.

One page turn from that title page asks a very important question: "Have you ever imagined you were a bird?" It is beyond my brain to picture a single child (who has ever seen a bird) who would not have imagined themselves within that identity at some point or another. The pattern that then follows provides the premise (that bird beaks serve as useful tools that help birds survive and thrive), framing a silhouette of a bird seemingly using a version of the "tool" being compared.

Each comparison describes a single featured example, plus several more as "supporting cast" in secondary appearances within the illustrations. The closing has a fun participatory prompt. Brief backmatter offers a simple example/explanation about adaptive evolution and shifts over time among various bird species and the ways their "tools" have changed to suit their habitats.The further reading list is welcome and helpful, too, especially for those whose imaginations switch into overdrive!

This is a sure winner for families, classrooms, science study, and mentor text in compare/contrast science reporting. For anyone seeking more suggested titles, just type "birds" into the search box in that menu to the right >>>> and find many other picture books on this topic across all ages. Don't say I didn't warn you that I am a pushover for BIRDS!

Nature Speaks To Us!

I'm a lifelong fan of nature in general, and some critters in particular (See CHIRP! Chipmunk Sings for a Friend review). Birds hold a special place in my heart, including the ones featured in a new picture book by prolific and award-winning author Janet Halfmann. Not only have their distinctive songs and calls provided the background music of my entire life, but I worked for several years as a licensed wildlife rescue/rehabilitator. Many of these amazing creatures were literally my "roommates" for various periods of time. During those years I learned to recognize not only species' song patterns, but also individual variations and seasonal ones. I was even able to imitate (or approximate) many of those songs to carry on "conversations" with my temporary tenants.

PenIt! Publications, 2021

That's why Halfmann's recent picture book really SPOKE (sang) to me.  WHO IS SINGING? is illustrated by Chrissy Chabot with crisp, simple images and coloration that are particularly useful for younger audiences at the first stages of bird observation and identification. This new offering is  a sort of "first field guide" for little ones with little hands, big ears, and enormous curiosity about the world. 

Halfmann limits her choices to some of the most familiar birds in the midwest (and much of the country), each of which still has large populations that can be found in urban, suburban, and rural locations. She also provides a winning pattern of question/response for page turns. The opening question includes a "readable" translation of familiar birdsong, followed by a page turn that depicts the bird interacting within typical habitat, including food/prey, diurnal/nocturnal setting, and some typical behavior. 

Interior images used with permission.

Halfmann's text patterns will also have young ones reading along and chiming in as each turn begins with the phrase, "Take a bow... " then repeats the bird's name. Those few lines incorporate the visual content regarding habitat, food, and species patterns.

As is typical in many of Halfmann's nature-focused titles, back matter includes useful learning content and ideas for activities. In this case, the content mentions the ways these "worded" songs were selected, that other wordings exist, and suggests ideas about creating our own versions of recognizable birdsong. It's easy to hear some of thesbirdsonge on YouTube. Just search for BIRDSONG. Share this delightful book with little ones, then take them, and yourselves, out into the wide world and LISTEN! 

This may be a useful tool to introduce young ones to the joy and science of nature observation. You might prefer to start with Halfmann's nonfiction title, GRANDMA IS A SLOWPOKE, or similar titles, reviewed HERE during EARTH WEEK. Either way, this new, bright, and lively book feels invaluable in the process of raising a generation who are attuned to and respectful of the natural world, connecting with and investing in preserving nature for the generations to follow.

Check out Halfmann's many other titles at her website, and stay tuned for countless more that will follow in the months and years ahead. 

LInks to books: https://www.janethalfmannauthor.com

This includes her very recent YAY FOR BIG BROTHERS! (Arbordale, 2021), another info-packed, kid-friendly, colorful look at the natural world with added fun in the back pages (also available in Spanish!)

Three Birdy Picture Books... and a Partridge in a Pear Tree

 'Tis the season to start counting down days until Christmas. If you are among the many for whom the Twelve Days of Christmas is essential to holiday celebrations, you know that swans-a-swimming, geese-a-laying, calling birds, turtle doves, and a partridge in a pear tree are annual favorites. HERE's a fun link to learn more about why that is the case in in this centuries-old carol.

For some modern fun with birds, here are three quick takes on picture books featuring birds.

I'll start, as birds do, with THE EGG, created by Geraldo Valerio (Owlkids, 2020) . The collage art is the star of this wordless book. 

With an important theme (families come in all shapes and sizes), this simple story shows a mother bird losing her only egg during a storm. She suffers the loss, then locates and adopts a different, abandoned egg. It quickly hatches into a human baby, but is loved and protected by the doting mother bird. Soon, she sees a wide range of unexpected matches of birds and baby creatures, most of which do NOT hatch from eggs outside the body. 
Even so, some eventual discussions of animal life originating in eggs, in one way or another, could justify this colorful and fun approach to the topic of family compositions. I am expecting as many questions about what happened to the originally lost egg as to the egg-human, since none of the mismatched offspring resemble the featured stork-like bird who is the center of the story. 
The art is likely to inspire young creators, the questions are worthy ones, and the laughs are guaranteed.

Even so, some eventual discussions of animal life originating in eggs, in one way or another, could justify this colorful and fun approach to the topic of family compositions. I am expecting as many questions about what happened to the originally lost egg as to the egg-human, since none of the mismatched offspring resemble the featured stork-like bird who is the center of the story. 
The art is likely to inspire young creators, the questions are worthy ones, and the laughs are guaranteed. 

If you are someone who thinks there are far too many birds in that holiday song, you must meet the gatekeeper bird in TWO MANY BIRDS, created by Cindy Derby (Roaring Book Press, 2020) . When a bossy and controlling VIB (Very Important Bird) restricts access to the ONLY available tree, topping that with arbitrary and rather obnoxious rules, it is entirely predictable that VIB would loudly object to two eggs that hatch. Despite the joy of mother bird and the 99 other birds who had made it into the stark branches of that singular tree, VIB insists that TWO MUST GO!

What happens next is far less predictable, but packed with visual fun and developments that draw on real world nature as well as "human" nature.
There's much here to enjoy, first, and then to spark conversations. Plenty, too, to spark comparisons to real birds and their features, reduced habitats, the power of collective responses, and dealing with demanding personalities. 
These funny "birdbrains" can teach us all a thing or two.

Finally, since few of us will be checking into hotels during this Covid Christmas season, a fun way to peek inside the lives of hotel workers can be found in ELEVATOR BIRD, created by Sarah Williamson (Knopf Books for Young Readers, 2020). It's not at all unusual to have animals take on human roles and traits in picture books, but this book "lifts" that approach into unusual territory. With various animals as the workers and guests in a high-rise hotel, the elevator plays a pivotal role. Bird operates that elevator, well-dressed in hat and tue, using a small branch to push the buttons while perched on a corner stool.

Everyone appreciates kind and helpful bird, as readers will, too. Each page provides an opportunity to see the many roles needed to operate a hotel, with various services often well-suited to the particular animals doing that job. The fact that worms carry the luggage continue to crack me up as I type this, as well as subtly inserted wordplay. When Bird is not working hard and helping one and all, its residence is in the lower level, the dark basement of the hotel. Mousey overhears casual wish to have a view of the city and see the night sky after a day of work, which launches a chain reaction of kindness. 
Truly, this is appealing on the most basic level: animals, colors, action-filled and labeled pages, and simple text. Beyond that, it opens discussion about work-families, service employees, and the value of empathy and friendship.

All three creators are author/illustrators and bring lively images to the page with visual humor that will have little audiences returning again and again. Depending on where you live, winter weather  may or may not entice you to dine outdoors or pursue biking, hiking, and other lengthy excursions, ones that might change your home-bound view without risking viral exposure, the way indoor events can. It's a fun time of year, though, to ramp up birdwatching. For the hardy hangers on or the southern migrators, providing bird feeders, taking short walks, lending an eye and ear to unusual arrivals in your area can laugh a lifetime hobby. We can expect our confinements to continue well into the new year, so those who are hooked may be interested in checking out the annual Audobon Bird Census. You can participate from your own back yard, for as little as fifteen minutes, and the whole family can join in the fun. Check it out!

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.