Book Reviews: More Loved Bird Books

The Boy Who Drew Birds: A Story of John James Audubon

Written by Jacqueline Davies
Illustrated by Melissa Sweet
Picture Book, Ages 5 and up
(Published in 2004 by Houghton Mifflin Company)

My little bird-mad girls loved this story of John James Audubon, which gives a brief background, but focuses on the event which led him to be the first to definitively determine that small birds migrate during the winter and return in the spring, nesting in the same spot.

Such a beautiful book! Melissa Sweet's pictures are a treat and harmonize beautifully with Jacqueline Davies' wonderful story.

The Backyard Birdsong Guide:

A Guide to Listening (Eastern and Central North America)

(A Cornell Lab of Ornithology Audio Field Guide)
by Donald Kroodsma
(Published in 2008 by Chronicle Books)

So engagingly written, this book is one of the best book purchases I've made; and it gets used a lot. The pages containing the bird descriptions and their habits are so interesting that you can just sit down and read for hours. The illustrations are exquisite. (I'm not sure, but I think they are the work of many artists.)
And the audio portion is amazing. The speaker does not sound tinny and fake at all. Playing the recorded birdcalls, it sounds like the actual bird is right there in the room. Too cool!
(We have yet to take it outside to use as a lure for the real birds. I'm afraid of harassing the birds by using it outside. We do use it outside to identify birds using the illustrations and descriptions, but not with the audio portion.)

Another use we've found for this marvelous book is when we read about birds in other books, especially picture books. As a read aloud mom, the only time I am stumped (well, besides encountering words in foreign languages with which I am unfamiliar) is when authors write the sounds birds make. I never know if I'm saying it properly. So, to get around that, I always pull down this book and play the actual sound. Even when they don't write the sound, it's still fun to use with stories featuring birds: it takes the experience of reading the book to another level, making it more real.

The birds Audubon was studying in Jacqueline Davies' book were Pewees, and when we came to the sounds, we grabbed this oh-so wonderful book off our bookshelf. We went to the index, found the right pages and within a few seconds were listening to the real Pewee bird sounds. Whenever the sound came up in the book, one of my girls would push play on this marvelous book.

Can you tell we love it?

• The publisher has a website (www.chroniclebooks.com/backyardbirdsongs) you can go to to listen to additional examples, as well as other fun stuff.
• And you can go to www.birds.cornell.edu/macaulaylibrary/ to listen to an unlimited archive of birdsongs. (Yes, it's free!)

Book Review: The True Story of Stellina by Matteo Pericoli

The True Story of Stellina
Written and illustrated by Matteo Pericoli
Ages 3 and up
Picture Book

This is the story of a baby bird who falls out of its nest by a busy New York City street. When a passer-by, Holly, notices the baby bird, she waits a long time to see if the mother will come for it. When its mother doesn't come, Holly takes the little bird and gives it a home in her apartment, where it stayed the rest of it's life.

Storied Cities reviewed this book a week or so ago, and due to my girls' on-going bird fascination, I ordered it from the library. They really enjoyed this book. I liked the simple text that worked very well for reading aloud. And in the manner of good books, it led to discussions of why (or why not) Holly didn't let the bird go free once it could fly, and what  they would do if faced with a similar situation. (They didn't come to any firm determination, since they were apparently able to see the logic of both letting nature take its course and keeping the baby bird safe, 'though I'm sure in their heart of hearts they would have done the same as Holly.) Their only other observation was, "Mom why does he (the author) keep saying 'my wife, my wife' all the time. We know it's his wife!" I found that a distraction myself, but having kept that to myself, was interested that they had the same reaction. Bottom line: we liked it; we've read it more than once since we checked it out from the library.

My thanks to Storied Cities for turning us on to this book.

Read other reviews at:
Through the Looking Glass
Mother Reader

Book published by Alfred A. Knopf
Copyright 2006
29 pages
This copy borrowed from the library.

Bird Love - Four Picture Book Mini Reviews

   My girls are obsessed with birds at the moment. All the books that Susanna loves the most are about birds: Owl Babies, The Best Nest, and the Gossie books.
  My older girls have been fascinated by the huge flocks of small birds that stay here in the south during the winter. One day as we were going to town (which takes us about twenty minutes) we all watched in wonder as this HUGE flock of birds burst off the ground and flew for miles along with us. There must have been many thousands of birds, because the flock stretched thickly for literally miles, and we couldn't see the end of it. My girls watched them in silent awe the whole trip until we saw them turn and head in another direction. And of course they were full of questions. What made them gather together in such huge numbers? How did they decide where they were going? How could so many birds all in one place find enough to eat in winter? On and on the questions went. So we started looking into the answers. Along the way, of course, bird picture books caught their eye at the library. So here is our recent "bird" line-up of library books:

 Birds

Written by Kevin Henkes
Illustrated by Laura Dronzek
Ages: 2 and up
Publisher: Harper Collins

A simple, appealing book about birds from an artistic, imaginative standpoint. The first part of the book talks about their physical characteristics in simple terms. The last half talks about them from a "what if.." point of view. For example:

"If birds made marks with their tail feathers when they flew,
think what the sky would look like."

  (The illustrations show bird "contrails" on that page.)
  The illustrations are perfect for the text. They are bright, bold paintings that are almost child-like in their simplicity. My girls loved the book.

 The Language of Doves
Written by Rosemary Wells
Illustrated by Greg Shed
Ages: 4 and up
Publisher: Dial Books for Young Readers

  On Julietta's sixth birthday, her grandfather gives her an Isabella dove, and tells her the story of his Isabella dove he was given as a boy and what became of her.
  This was a good story. Very interesting, historically speaking, as well. (Don't forget to read the author's note at the front.) I love stories of children interacting with their grandparents. And I love the idea of passing on family stories. The illustrations are marvelous. Every picture glows with light, and feels like a snapshot of a memory.

Crow Call
Written by Lois Lowry
Illustrated by Bagram Ibatoulline
Ages: 4 and up

Publisher: Scholastic Press

  Liz is going hunting for crows with her stranger father who just returned from the war. It is the story of a little girl and her father connecting in a real way, which resonates with all children (and their parents). It is based on the true experiences of the author. My girls loved this story. They could relate because their daddy takes them on daddy-daughter dates all the time, and they love that connection time with him.

  Again, a beautiful pairing of art to story. The colors work so well for the hesitancy and awkwardness that both of the characters may be feeling, as well as the time period in which the story is set. And the facial expressions are wonderful. The illustrations feel so hopeful, which captures the essence of the story perfectly.

Albert
Written by Donna Jo Napoli
Illustrated by Jim LaMarche

Ages: 4 and up

Publisher: Harcourt Trade Publishers

  Fearful Albert can always find a reason not to go outside. Then one day when he sticks his hand out the window to check the weather, a twig falls in his hand. In shock and surprise he watches as two cardinals build their nest in his hand. And the experience will change his life forever.

  My girls, while recognizing how absurd Albert's situation was, were thoroughly delighted by this book. They both laughed at and empathized with some of Albert's fears, and they rejoiced when he was finally set free.

The illustrations are so wonderful. I think Jim LaMarche captured Albert perfectly. We oohed and aahed over the pictures. And the girls were fascinated by the fact that they were rendered in colored pencil. Oh, to have talent like that!

Can you think of other picture books featuring birds that will aid our "obsession"?

Mini Reviews of Some of My Girls' Favorite Picture Books

Owl Babies
Written by Martin Waddell; Illustrated by Patrick Benson

Three little baby owls are left home alone while their mother goes to hunt for food. When she is gone longer than they expect, they worry about whether she will come home. It is a warm, sweet story, beautifully illustrated, that addresses the fear every child has about whether Mama is coming back. Our family adores this book. Even my husband, crusty curmudgeon that he is, loves this book, and gets a little weepy at its powerfully simple text. The illustrations are perfect for the story. They set the tone of the book, and create an anxious feel while at the same time making you want to scoop the owls up and cuddle them.

The Best Nest
Author/Illustrator: P.D. Eastman

This beloved story chronicles the mis-adventures of Mr. and Mrs. Bird in their search for the"perfect" house. I remember loving this book when I was little. My mom gave us a copy of the book when my oldest was 6 months old, and it has been a favorite in our household ever since. In fact, it is so well loved that we are on our second copy. As the mama reader, I'm sick to death of it, but only because I've read it umpteen million times. It never gets old for my kids though.

Cinderella

Author/Illustrator: Barbara McClintock

The illustrations for this version are so much fun to look at, very detailed. Karina pours over these pictures frequently, looking for all the detail. Last night she said in delight, "Look, there's the fairy godmother!" pointing to her almost hidden self in the last page of the book. All of Barbara McClintock books are a treat; check them out if you haven't already. (Another of hers frequently checked out of the library by my girls is Dahlia.)