What makes a Bird Book?

by Sue Heavenrich

I love to watch the titmice and cardinals (and chickadees, jays, juncos…) at our feeder. They bring color and action to an otherwise monochromatic and tedious landscape. Plus, watching them makes me wonder things. And wondering about things makes me think: hey, maybe I could write something about…

… birds. During the last decade of the previous millennium, my kids and I participated in Project Feeder Watch. Back then we had a couple field guides and a lot of questions, but most of the books about our feathered friends had the title “Birds” and were pretty general. 

Over the years books have changed and there are as many ways to write about birds as there are birds to watch. Here are some of the ways authors and illustrators have gone … Beyond-the-Field-Guide. I know I missed a bunch, so please share your favorite kid's bird books in the comments!

You could watch birds from a different perspective

Look Up! by Annette LeBlanc Cate is a middle-grade book that uses humor to encourage kids to get outside with a sketchbook and capture some of the cool birds living right outside their windows. The birds talk back to the author, and make up songs about their lives, sport cool hairdos (feather-doos?), and show off their feet.

Fans of Jane Yolen’s book, Owl Moon might like to check out Night Owl Night, by Susan Edwards Richmond. In this picture book, Sova’s mom disappears each night. She is a scientist who studies owls, and Sova wants to join Mama on a night walk where they (eventually) capture, measure, and release a saw-whet owl.

Another person who studied birds?  That would be Roger Tory Peterson – a name that’s become nearly synonymous with field guides. For the Birds by Peggy Thomas is a fun biography for kids who love their field guides.

If you’ve got kids involved in the Great Backyard Bird Count this weekend, or Project Feeder Watch, they might enjoy reading one of these - and you might get ideas for a different angle on your own counting story.

Finding a Dove for Gramps, by Lisa J. Amstutz plunks us right into the Christmas Bird Count with Jay and his mom. You can almost hear the snow crunching underfoot, the calls of chickadees and jays, the rat-tat-tat of woodpeckers drumming on a tree. You can feel your toes freeze and, at the end, the warmth of a mug of hot cocoa.

In Bird Count, by Susan Edwards Richmond, Ava is excited because this year she gets to keep tally of the birds “her” crew finds during the annual Christmas Bird Count

There are a couple of recent middle grade novels that have bird watching at their core. The Secret Language of Birds, by Lynne Kelly is about a girl who discovers a pair of endangered birds nesting in an unusual place. She breaks a few camp rules to watch them - will she get sent home before the egg hatches?

Bird Nerd by Jennifer Ann Richter features a birding tournament between two schools that gets a bit more competitive than expected. But it's also about and finding your own flock

or focus on feathers…

Bird Show, by Susan Stockdale is a plumage fashion show! Eighteen brilliantly dressed birds show off their jackets, aprons, and headdresses. Well … at least they show off their wing bars, frilly feathers, long tails, and feathery crowns.

Melissa Stewart highlights the more practical uses of feathers in Feathers ~ Not Just for Flying. Not all feathers are the same. They have so many different jobs to do, from distracting predators and keeping warm to carrying nest materials and making music.

Or maybe your passion is:

beaks

feet 

flight or 

family.

There are a whole bunches of books about those topics ... and there are bunches of books about bird behavior. In Bird Talk, Lita Judge shows how birds use song to attract mates, proclaim their territory and call their chicks. But not all birds are born knowing the family song – some have to learn their song by listening to their parents.

or maybe you'd like to write about one particular bird...

I feel like the newest charismatic brainy bird is the crow. They are intelligent, have great memories, and can solve problems that confound squirrels. For three different ways to look at a crow, check out Crick, Crack, Crow! by Janet Lord; How to Know a Crow, by Candace Savage; and Crow Smarts, by Pamela S. Turner.

Where will your bird-curiosity take you...

and your book?