Bird Watch by Christie Matheson

This cute little book is an interactive way to introduce little ones to bird watching in general. 

The watercolor paintings are detailed and delightful. 

I really like bird pictures. 

This front page lets readers know what birds are going to be hiding in the following pages. 

Each page has birds to find and count. 

While easy enough to find that readers will not get frustrated, the pictures have a nice level of detail. 

Sparrows!

Even at night, there are birds to find!

This is not a plot driven book at all. But avid birders will enjoy reading this one to their kids. 

Beautiful Birds by Jean Roussen & Illus Emmanuelle Walker

Just like Steven Kellogg's book that I did on Monday, this book is a riot of color. And birds! 

This book takes us through the alphabet in marvelous graphic illustrations with amazing, spare pops of neon. 

See how those arms and the duck feet pop out of the earthy background? 

No neon here, but geese! Snow! I love this page. 

Jazzy little bird!

I do sometimes wonder how bird couples came to be. One so flamboyant, the other muted. 

THAT TAIL!!

I guess I just like illustrations of snow. Because I love this page too.

I really, really like how the two page spreads work together in this book. 

Plus I like birds. And colors!  

Little January by Winifred C. Marshall (From Sing a Song of Seasons)

Little January                 

Tapped at my door today

                    And said, "Put on your winter wraps,

      And come outdoors to play."

Little January                 

Is always full of fun;      

             Today we coasted down the hill,  

Until the set of sun         

Little January                 

  Will stay a month with me

                   And we will have such jolly times-- 

Just come along and see.

                                                      --Winifred C. Marshall

                                               from: Sing a Song of Seasons by Fiona Waters & Frann Preston-Gannon

I Heard a Bird Sing From Sing a Song of Seasons

  I Heard a Bird Sing

I heard a bird sing 

         In the dark of December

 A magical thing      

        And sweet to remember.

       "We are nearer to spring 

                Than we were in September,"

I heard a bird sing  

         In the dark of December.

                                                     --Oliver Herford

From the anthology of Poems Sing a Song of Seasons selected by Fiona Waters & Illustrated by Frann Preston-Gannon

Coming Home by Michael Morpurgo & Illus by Kerry Hyndman

This book is lovely and gorgeous and.... you should just read it. 

I SO LOVE THIS BOOK.

The focus here is on the Scandinavian Robin's migration from Scandinavia to Britain during the winter. 

But the text---

Come, my heart, and come, my wintgs, 

Fly, fly before the cruel snows,             

Carry me, carry me home                     

I must be on my way                            

On my way.                                           

So gentle and measured.

Michael Morphugo is a rather famous poet who now owns farms that he and his family invite urban kids and their teachers to come live on to see how farms work. 

I want to be him when I grow up.

Out of the forest, into the daylight.

Over the fields, follow the valleys.

Find the river, my river will guide me.

Be strong, my wings, beat fast

Beat on.

Sweeping landscapes and birds eye views.

Kerry Hyndman is a must-see-more kind of illustrator. 

Shelter

Danger

Friendship 

Refuge

Refreshing

And finally, finally, home and familiy. 

These robin facts are on the copyright page, which confused me. My first read through I thought there were no robin facts, which was unfortunate since I wanted to know more about robin migration as soon as I read this book. 

They use the stars to navigate! How clever of them!

How ever you are coming home this year, I hope you journey brings you where you want to be.

A Perfect Day by Lane Smith

What is a perfect day? Does everyone think one particular kind of day is perfect? 

This is a great one for teaching perspective .

The sun figures in a lot of perfect day scenarios.

Cat loves to be in the daffodil bed with the sun. 

That is a perfect day for Cat.

Dog likes sun and water.

Chickadee likes sun and food.

For squirrel, a perfect day involves a corn cob all to herself. 

But a bear!!! That was not in the perfect day plan!

Bear eats the corn and ruins squirrel's perfect day. 

He ruins Dog's day. 

He ruins the flowers AND Cat's day at the same time. 

Bear is making this a terrible day for EVERYone. 

But wait a minute... is this Bear's perfect day?!

I think so. 

Du Iz Tak? by Carson Ellis

When I first saw the idea behind this book, I scoffed. 

I mean seriously--someone writes in a made up language to tell about some bugs and a caterpillar or two coming into contact with a spider and then being saved by a hungry bird? Is that even a story? 

Or just nonesense? 

Turns out it is nonsense of the very best kind. High quality nonsense. My kids love this book. Kids at school love this book. Aides and monitors hanging out with kids at school love this book. 

In short, it is a ridiculous masterpiece. 

A caterpillar. 

There are so many details--details kids look at to gain understanding of the plot, the context, and even make sense of the made up language. 

Silly words. 

But they have meaning. If you read them with inflection, almost all kids can get the sense of

What is that?
I don't know.

Hopefully that is really what it means because that is what I read it as. 

Here are our main characters, knocking in Icky's door.  Icky is the friendly, neighborhood pillbug or rollie-pollie. 

One of the delights of reading this is saying made up words. I would say you need to read it through a couple times before it becomes fun. But once you have it, it is a blast! 

A bug--cricket maybe?--playing to the moon on an early summer night.

The villian approaches!

All is lost! Their lovely furt. 

But then, salvation! In the form of a hungry bird. 

Carson Ellis does cozy homes like no one's business. I want to visit the pillbugs house. 

AND the furt. 

And then, in fall, the cocoon begins to open.... 

Oh the magic and wonder!

And then, at the end of the book, we see the same kind of caterpillar saying Ta ta! to us again. 

Maybe it is a cycle. Do you think it will happen all over again? What is a cycle? 

This is such a fun way to introduce kids to the idea of nature being a cycle. 

We all could use a little more silliness in our life!!