Classics, Nonfiction, and Children's Literature
As the title indicates, How Birds Sleep by David Obuchowski, illustrated by Sarah Pedry (mineditionUS, March 2023) teaches how nearly two dozen bird species sleep. The tone of the text sounds like a bedtime book, and it has a frame of a barn owl waking just as the animals are ready for sleep. Then, at
Whose Egg is That? by Darrin Lunde, illustrated by Karen Oseid (Charlesbridge, January 2023), is the perfect guessing book for a young reader learning about animals. I almost wrote “birds,” but since this book includes the platypus, labeling this a “bird book” would not be accurate! Only a few animals are covered, but it is
My older child (age 5) finally has an interest in some of my favorite picture books, ones that I’ve been hoping he’d like for years. One is Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey (1941). He finally appreciates it! I think the story of Make Way for Ducklings is fantastic. The personalities assigned to the
Falcon by Tim Jessell (Random House, 2012) brings to life a dream many share: what would it be like to fly. In Tim Jessell’s lavishly illustrated paintings, the reader sees a falcon soaring over the waves, the mountains, and then the tall buildings of a city. In his story, a young boy dreams that he
No Two Alike by Keith Baker (Beach Lane Books, 2011) celebrates the uniqueness of winter with gorgeous digital paintings of two birds enjoying nature. The text is rhythmic and rhyming, and provides a gentle framework for the how nothing is completely alike – snowflakes, fences, trees. The ultimate conclusion is that the birds are similar
Thunder Birds: Nature’s Flying Predators by Jim Arnosky (Sterling, 2011) is simply a masterpiece of a picture book for the older child. With gorgeous fold-out illustrations done in acrylic paints, pencil, and chalk, Arnosky brings to life the majestic predatory birds of America, from Bald Eagles and vultures to pelicans and herons. His text also does justice
Bring On the Birds by Susan Stockdale (Peachtree, 2011) is a sparsely worded picture book for the youngest of readers, this time showing a variety of birds in their natural habitats. A distinctive characteristic is noted for each bird, from the “swooping” owls to the “birds with tails held high” (the Indian peafowl or peacock, which was
My Caldecott challenge: Although these Caldecott winner and honor books are not, for the most part, books I’ve read aloud to my son, I still found them interesting. A few I had strong negative opinions of; they show that even books that earned the Caldecott award do become dated! Make Way for Ducklings by Robert
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