Picture Book: Crow Not Crow by Jane Yolen and Adam Stemple

Illustrated by Elizabeth Dulemba

2018 The Cornell Lab Publishing Group

HC $16.95

36 pgs.

Goodreads rating: 3.93 - 120 ratings

My rating:  5/Excellent
Endpapers:Deb Grocery Bag Brown

1^st line/s:  "The first day Dad took me out birding, the sky was the color of Mom's old pearl ring.  The trees were draped with birds.  It was very noisy."

My comments: This book was written for me....or a kid just like me.  All birds look the same to me.  But this ingenious way to teach beginning birders how and what to look for when they're birdwatching is a super-great idea.  The book ends with a few of the birds described in the book, and a few other common North American birds. Lovely illustrations.

Goodreads: New York Times bestselling children's author, Jane Yolen, and her son, Adam Stemple, have teamed up to write this gentle tale of a father introducing his daughter to the joys of bird watching using the "Crow, not Crow" method for distinguishing birds. Elizabeth Dulemba's delightfully warm illustrations bring the story to life..

Birds (of the non-penguin type) Postcards Receivedl

3021.  GR PC May 2023

Sat. 10 June 2023

Dear Chris,  I though I was going to write here bout my love of Breq, in Ann Leckie's scifi Ancillary series ... but writing the GR PC April, about animals, I mentioned the alien Presger Translator Zeiat swallowing the pet fish and I realized I would LOVE to meet her.

Zeiat looks human, but she's not really, and everything she says is slightly ridiculous because she djust doesn't understand humans.  And then when humans try to explain things to Zeiat, it comes off sounding kind of ridiculous as Well!  That just makes me laugh, and I think we could be friends, although I'm not sure I could be as patient as Breq is with Zeiat!  :)

I also love SecUnit of the Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells... The sarcasm and huge disdain for humans and augmented humans!  But I don't want to meet SecUnit because there would be too much anxiety!  *Laughs*

So exited that Ann Leckie's newest book is about the Presger translators!  Happy Day, Rift

2079.  GR PC May 2021

Wood Ducks

Dear Chris,  Oh, I used to be such a sucker for self-help books!  Creativity and how-to-draw books and how-to-be-happy books ... and habits of productive people and hot-ot-be tidy and how-to-not procrastinate! *laughs*

     My favorite creativity-type self-help book is Refuse to Choose by Barbara Sher.  I re-read this many times, and over the years I have managed to smush many of my favorite hobbies into several great projects like this one! (Nature, Photography, Computers, Writing, Reading, Mail, woohoo!)

A few years ago I read some Stephanie Bennett Vogt, and I have also taken her year-long online class for Space Clearing.  I must have done some de-cluttering during that year ... but I am back to making piles of junk, so the clearing def didn't stick!  Ha!

I'm currently reading The Power of Daily Practice.  I don't know why.  I've already got several daily practices in place.  I guess I just want to see how and why other people do it? :)

Ha - I don't think I'll ever cure the procrastination.  But ... maybe the next self help book I read...?! Happy day, Rift

2069.  Kuopio, Finland

Hello, Happy postcrossing.  Satu

2043.   GRPC April 2021

Friday 7 May 2021

I quite reading cis white male authors - for the most part - a few years ago...And now, diversity finds me!  All of my favorite series and books are authored by...

Black Women:  Xenogenesis (series starting with Dawn), The Best of All Possible Worlds, Binti (series)

Queer and Gay People:  The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet (series) and The House in the Cerulean Sea.

I also support Uncanny Magazine, which gets awards on a regular basis and has a "deep investment in the diverse SciFi & Fantasy culture")

While I have read some great nonfiction, like How to Be an Antiracist and Tomorrow Will Be Different, I would definitely like to expand my reading out to some mainstream books as well.  I'm sure I've read some diverse authors by and by, but I am taking note of any books you've recommended this month for sure!

Thnks for the postcard - sounds like you found fabulous book stores!  Rift.

2022.  GRPC October 2019

I am pretty particular when it comes to the books I read.  So I usually rate a standard book I've read at 4 stars.  If it's less great than I thought, it gets 3 stars.  I rate down for gratuitous or explicit violence and that's a 1 or 2 star book.  It just makes me sad when humans use there creativity to depict violence.

If I don't finish a book, I don't rate it, although I should...The only reason why I don't finish reading  story is because it's boring and I just abandon it!  I assume I'll come back to these books, but I rarely do.

     An amazing book - a 5 star book, a book I love - is more than just an engaging story that I can't put down.  It's also a story that I don't want to end!  It probably makes me cry at some point, and laugh out loud as well!  I want to spend time with the main characters in real life and I want to go to their world.

Happy (belated) Halloween!  Rift

1990.  GR PC Sept 2019

Cooper Hawk

Dear Chris, Yay Banned Books Week!  I had wondered if the sequel to The Handmaid's Tale, The Testaments was over-hyped ... a resounding NO!  It was an enjoyable read, which kept me on the edge of my seat, with a satisfying ending.  *Thumbs up*

I've red at least one book from each year's top ten ... tho I've read surprisingly few of the #1 banned books from each year.  Maybe that's something I need to work on!  I've read 13 of the classics, 13 of the diverse content, 12 from the 1990s list of 100 and 17 from the 2000s list.

     From the Top 11 books of 2018, I've read #1 George, #4 The Hate U Give, and #9 The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian.  Because my favorite children's book is And Tango Makes Three I am very much interested in A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo.  I feel I should also read the book it was based on, in parody.  After all, the more bunny books the better!! :)  What's your favorite banned book?  Mine - To Kill a Mockingbird.  Happy Reading, Rift

1989.  Ufa, Russia

Hello Chris, I'm Ildar from Ufa, Russia, and work for an oil service company.  Best wishes.

1979.  GR PC August

Dear Chris, Yep, I've found and read some great  books this year!  From the nonfiction section:  Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men.  It's shocking and dismaying and really a book that people should read.  And I read all the James Herriot All Creatures Great and Small series, which was def a comfort read, since I watched the British TV show as a kid.  And now I'm just dipping into Being Wrong: Adventures in the Margin of Error, which seems like it's going to be one of those fun, eye-opening reads!

     New author, and new genre (fantasy):  N. K. Jemisin.  I read her The Fifth Season series last year, and have no read all of her books.  And they are all page turners, I just can't put them down!  And some great scifi: Ancillary Justice series by Ann Leckie, Binti by Nnedi Okorafor, and To Be Taught, If Fortunate by Becky Chambers.  All of these are just WOW! 

Hope you've discovered some great books as well

Happy Day, Rift

1954.  GR PC April 2019

Welcome back to the GoodReads Postcard Exchange!  The last time you played was in 2014?  How time flies!  I hope you'll have fun with the postcard exchange with lost of mailbox joy!  Rift

1268.  St. Petersburg, Russia

Hello, Chris.  My name is Viktor.  I live in St. Petersburg, Russia.  Sending a postcard almost with a bird - eagle from the US emblem.  Perhaps you are interested in the most leftist mark.  It was the emblem of the oldest city of Russia - Derbent-?? city is 2500 years old (opinions of scientists differ) Good Luck!  Viktor.

833.  Chonqing, China

14 July 2017

I come from Chongqing, China.  The Chongqing is situated in the southwest of continental  (??) on the coast of the Long River.  Because the city was built near the mountain, people call it "the mountain city." 

702.  Greetings from Czech Republic

Because I have only painting "reading cards" and you are man (!!) with a sense of humor, I send you raven card.  Raven is poem from Edgar Allan Poe, and you know it.  Enjoy your raven card and have a funny day, Jana.  

PS:  Raven in Czech:  KRKAVEC

671.  Germany

Hello Chris from the western part of Germany.  I send you many nice greetings.  My city is small, calm, and green.  Around is many industry and trade but farmers and gardeners also.  All the best, Take care, Norbert.

655.  India: The Nicobar Pigeon

The Nicobar pigeon is found on small islands and in coastal regions from the Nicobar Islands of India through the Malay Archipelago, to the Solomons andPaulau.  It is the only living member of the genus Caloenas and the closest living relative of the extinct dodo.  It is a large pigeon,measuring 40 cm (15.75 inches) in length.  It is a very vocal species, giving a low-pitched repetitive call.  The species nests in dense forest on offshore islets, often in large colonies.  It builds a loose stick nest in a tree.  Status:  Near Threatened

Greetings from India.  My name is Soorya and I live in the southern part of India.  I'm a homemaker and my husband is a retired railway engineer.  Hope you like the card.  I'm a keen philatelist and love cross-stitching.  Soorya

334.  Greetings from Finland!  

Here is card about my home areas sigil bird, metso (tetrao urogallus).  Large is male and it's hanging out with its chicks.  When in heat male can be really angry and attack on humans too!  My friend got attacked once but he sat on the bird until it calmed down.  Crazy guy!  But both are fine now. :)  Good summer for you, Mervi

311.  Melbourne, Australia

25/04/2016

Greetings from Australia!  I live in Melbourne - the country's capital of sports and culture.  I work as a software engineer and love tos pend my free time outdoors.  Have a good day!  Cheers, Nadya

Poetry Picture Book - Superlative Birds by Leslie Bulion

Illustrated by Robert Meganck
J 598 Bulion (Simpson Library)

2019 Peachtree 

HC $15.95m 

56 pgs.

Goodreads rating: 3.66 - 53 ratings

My rating:  4.5
Endpapers:  hand drawn birds in mustard , black, and white, on pale mustard

My comments: 20 poems about superlative birds - the biggest, the smallest, the most numerous, the ones with the longest toes, the fanciest courtships.....all sorts of delightful birds with superlatives of one kind or another!  With each poem is a paragraph or two of "Science Notes," interesting science facts about the bird and their habitat which includes their scientific name.  Illustrations of the birds are great, and there's a chickadee that gives information with illustrations that are almost a little too "cutesy" for me. (Oh well.) This is a great book for the older-than-preschool crowd, and would make a super exemplar for a writing project.  She also includes, at the end of the book, an explanation about some of the poetic forms she uses for each of the poems, as well as an excellent glossary.

Goodreads:  Explore the fascinating world of superlative birds--from the bee hummingbird, the tiniest bird in the world, to the peregrine falcon, the fastest creature on Earth.
Ever wonder which bird has the loudest voice? Which one builds the biggest nest or has the most feathers? Get to know all about the best and brightest--and smelliest!--denizens of the bird world with this collection of nonfiction science verses. You won't need your binoculars to observe the superlative characteristics of these avian wonders.
Author Leslie Bulion includes a science glossary, notes on poetry forms, and resources for information about these extraordinary birds in the back of the book. Witty drawings by Robert Meganck add another layer of fun to this humorous and informative gallery of the world's most accomplished birds.

This is about an Emperor Penguin in Antarctica:

The Flying Leap

Built

to swim

not too slim

we don’t fly

wouldn’t try

waddle stop

belly-flop, slip

slide toboggan

glide - icy dash ends

with SPLASH! Wings

are fins for twirls and

spins, we plunge

below

pack ice and snow for

fish for krill for squid until

we’ve fished our fill.  Our

young ones will be overjoyed

if we avoid becoming meals

for leopard seals lurking grim

at ice floe’s rim.  We know they’re there

we’re well aware so we prepare:  our feathers trap air.

When we release bubbles our

swimming speed DOUBLES!

We jet from the sea

predator-free

we catch air – wheeeee!

Christmas Storytime at the Library

I read three books aloud to preschoolers today, I chose ones with three different animals as protagonists. Then we glued sequins for ornaments, drew garlands with glitter crayons, and topped the pre-cut green construction paper tree with a sticky star.  Very cute, and manageable for little hands.  I had eight books to choose from and the ones I chose were big hits:

Merry Christmas, Merry Crow
by Kathi Appelt
Illustrated by Jon Goodell
2005, Harcourt, Inc.

     "Wind's a blowin'
Sky's a snowin'
     Where's this feathered
               fellow goin'?"

The crow glides through each double-page spread, collecting all sorts of tinsel and trinkets he finds laying around, to decorate a tree for all his flying friends.  Gorgeously illustrated, with no white edges (I love edge-of-page to edge-of-page illustrations), the continuous snowfall and merry Christmas shoppers and carolers make this a happy, fun book to share with kids.
     Goodreads rating:  3.93 - 87 ratings

Stowaway in a Sleigh
Written and illustrated by C. Roger Mader
2016 Houghton Mifflin

"It was the darkest hour of night when Slipper heard strange footsteps in the house."

Well, of course she went to investigate, and discovered Mr. Fuzzy Boots...and crawled into his now-empty cozy red bag. After she was whisked away to the North Pole where she made new friends, Santa made a special trip back to Slippers' house to return her.  My little listener was at first a little distressed when she realized that Slippers might not be able to get home again, but enjoyed the story and the illustrations greatly.  Again the gorgeous illustrations covered each entire double-page spread from edge to edge and accentuated the story superbly.
     Goodreads rating:  4.15 - 161 ratings

Bear Stays Up for Christmas
by Karma Wilson
Illustrated by Jane Chapman
2004, Margaret K. McElderry Books, Simon & Schuster

"The day before Christmas,
snuggled on his floor,
Bear sleeps soundly
with a great big snore."

Bear has such a tough time staying up once his friends awaken him for Christmas...it is time for his "big sleep" after all, but when it comes time for them to doze off on Christmas Eve, he has a wonderful time preparing surprises for them to find in the morning.  A very cute story, again with many double-page spreads.  Three winners today!
     Goodreads:  4.28 - 6,938 ratings



   

PICTURE BOOK - Egg by Kevin Henkes

Illustrated by the author

2017 Greenwillow Books

HC $17.99

32 pgs.

Goodreads rating: 3.97 - 713 ratings

My rating:  4.5

Endpapers: a simple checkerboard of the four pastel colors of the four eggs...looks very Easter-y

My comments: Oh my goodness, what a sweet book!  I didn't know what the surprise would be (I hadn't read any reviews, which are rich with spoilers) and I was really tickled when I got to it.  Simple, charming illustrations using a limited amount of colors AND words ... describing it as a graphic novel for toddlers is perfect.  Perfect and perfectly charming!

Goodreads:  Egg is a graphic novel for preschoolers about four eggs, one big surprise, and an unlikely friendship.

PICTURE BOOK - Every Day Birds by Amy Ludwig VanDerwater

Illustrated by Dylan Metrano

2016, Orchard (an Imprint of Scholastic!)

HC $17.99

32 pgs.

Goodreads rating:  4.35 (122 ratings)

My rating: 5, It's a beauty

Endpapers: Orange
Illustrations:  Layers of cut paper.  Bold.  Gorgeous.

My comments:  What a lovely way to illustrate a poem.  The amazing illustrations are layered cut paper.  A perfect picture book!The 4-page Afterward explains a bit about each bird, with a smaller size replica of the illustration.

The poem: 
Every day we watch the birds
weaving through our sky.

We listen to their calls ans songs.
We like to see them fly.
Chickadee wears a wee black c ap.
Jay is loud and bold.
Nuthatch perches upside-down
Finch is clothed in gold.
Hawk hunts every day for prey.
Cardinal flashes fire.
Woodpecker taps hollow trees.
Crow rests on a wire.
Heron fishes with his bill.
Sparrow hops in brown.
Mockingbird has many voices.
Pigeon lives in town.
Eagle soars above the land.
Oriole hangs her nest.
Owl swoops soundlessly late at night.
Robin puffs his chest.
Hummingbird drinks flower nectar.
Goose flies in a V.
Bluebird sleeps at meadow's edge.
Gull states at the sea.
Every day we watch for birds
living right outside our door.
We pay attention to the birds.
Every day we learn some more.

Goodreads:  Young readers are fascinated with birds in their world. Every Day Birds helps children identify and learn about common birds. After reading Every Day Birds, families can look out their windows with curiosity--recognizing birds and nests and celebrating the beauty of these creatures!
          Every Day Birds focuses on twenty North American birds, with a poem and descriptions written by Amy Ludwig VanDerwater and beautiful paper-cuttings by first-time picture book illustrator Dylan Metrano. Interesting facts about each bird are featured in the back of the book.

36. Half a Chance - Cynthia Lord

read by Maria Cabezas - lovely
4 unabridged cds (4.75 hrs.)
2014 Recorded Books
218 pgs.
Middle Grade CRF
Finished 6/1/15
Goodreads rating:  3.97
My rating: 4
Setting: contemporary summer in New Hampshire

First line/s:  "Lucy, we're going to love this place!" Dad called to me from the porch of the faded, red-shingled cottage with white trim.  "We can hang a swing right here and watch the sunset over the lake.  And these country roads will be great for biking."

My comments:  I have an affinity for Cynthia Lord and her stories about kids in Maine.  This one takes place on a lake in New Hampshire...the sort of place where I've spent many a summer as a kid.  The setting is described beautifully.  The story deals with dementia, friendship, jealousy, parent-child and grandparent-child relationships, moving, ecology, bird-watching, loons, photography - yup, a lot. I liked it.

Becky's review from Becky's Book Reviews

Goodreads synopsis:  A moving new middle-grade novel from the Newbery Honor author of RULES.
          When Lucy's family moves to an old house on a lake, Lucy tries to see her new home through her camera's lens, as her father has taught her -- he's a famous photographer, away on a shoot. Will her photos ever meet his high standards? When she discovers that he's judging a photo contest, Lucy decides to enter anonymously. She wants to find out if her eye for photography is really special -- or only good enough.
          As she seeks out subjects for her photos, Lucy gets to know Nate, the boy next door. But slowly the camera reveals what Nate doesn't want to see: his grandmother's memory is slipping away, and with it much of what he cherishes about his summers on the lake. This summer, Nate will learn about the power of art to show truth. And Lucy will learn how beauty can change lives . . . including her own.

PICTURE BOOK - National Wildlife Federation's World of Birds: A Beginner's Guide - Kim Kurki

2014 Black Dog - Leventhal Publishing

HC $15.95

80 pgs.
Nonfiction picture book - dense with information

Goodreads rating: 4.53

My rating: 5 Stars - This is a grand book!

Endpapers:  green with simple, faint bird's footprints

This book is divided into four sections:
     Woodlands & Forests
     Wetlands, Shores, & Bodies of Water
     Fields, Thickets, & Backyards
     Deserts, Scrublands, & Rocky Slopes

My comments:  I can't say enough glowing things about this top-notch book.  As an adult who has only recently enjoyed watching birds, its useful information and fun, interesting facts are MUCH more  accessible than guidebooks or handbooks geared toward adults.  The illustrations are lovely and colorful, the occasional photo just enough, the quatrains written for each major bird are unforced and cleverly rhymed.  Usually I'm a little put off by a large mixture of fonts, but the many used inthis text are melded well and therefore avoid overwhelming jumble.  A really fine book!

Goodreads:  From the National Wildlife Federation, publishers of Ranger Rick, the popular nature magazine for kids, comes this exciting, dynamic, and wonderfully illustrated guide for young naturalists.
          National Wildlife Federation's World of Birds is arranged by habitat and identifies more than 100 birds. Kim Kurki¹s engaging and highly accurate illustrations give kids a true and close-up appreciation of each bird species, such as its size, shape, color, and markings, as well as its habitat, call, and behavior. Kids will learn to recognize the birds by their individual characteristics, such as the male cardinal¹s distinctive crest, the kestrel¹s helicopter hover, and the goldfinch¹s enchanting song. You¹ll also discover what makes each bird amazing, including which is the fastest flier, which lays the biggest egg, and which spends years of its life in the water, never touching land.
          The excellent illustrations, nontechnical language, and fascinating facts throughout make this an ideal guide for beginner bird-watchers—of any age!

4. One Came Home - Amy Timberlake

2013, Alfred A. Knopf

258 pgs.

Middle Grades Historical Fiction and Mystery

Finished 1/10/15

Goodreads rating: 3.85

My rating:   (2) It was okay 

1871 Wisconsin (Placid - where current day Wisconsin Dells stands)

1st sentence/s:  "So it comes to this, I remember thinking on Wednesday, June 7, 1871.  The date sticks in my mind  because it was the day of mys sister's first funeral and I knew it wasn't her last - which is why I left.  That's the long and short of it."

My comments:  This really was an okay story - and I'm not sure why I'm not more excited about it.  I like that it was a mystery and historical fiction.  Probably I'm so used to my adult mysteries that I wanted more in that department?  The setting was excellent, a dusty town in Wisconsin in 1871.  Time was tough to follow..people dying and marrying and the pigeons arriving all happened more closely together than the story made them seem.  And I liked that the 13-year-old protagonist really did seem 13.  Random thoughts, I know....

Goodreads book summary:  In the town of Placid, Wisconsin, in 1871, Georgie Burkhardt is known for two things: her uncanny aim with a rifle and her habit of speaking her mind plainly.

     But when Georgie blurts out something she shouldn't, her older sister Agatha flees, running off with a pack of "pigeoners" trailing the passenger pigeon migration. And when the sheriff returns to town with an unidentifiable body—wearing Agatha's blue-green ball gown—everyone assumes the worst. Except Georgie. Refusing to believe the facts that are laid down (and coffined) before her, Georgie sets out on a journey to find her sister. She will track every last clue and shred of evidence to bring Agatha home. Yet even with resolute determination and her trusty Springfield single-shot, Georgie is not prepared for what she faces on the western frontier.

PICTURE BOOK - Vanilla Ice Cream - Bob Graham

Illustrated by the author

2014 Candlewick Press

40 pgs.

Goodreads rating:  3.54

My rating: 4

Endpapers: peach with subtle leaf repetitions

Setting:  Contemporary India; over the ocean; then a city of white people

1^st line/s:  "The young sparrow rises from the dust.  He looks down at Annisha and Suhami."

My comments:  This is one clever, adorable book.  Limited words, super illustrations.  Some pages have several boxes to closely examine - sort of a beginning graphic novel.  The whole time you're reading you're thinking ... vanilla ice cream?  This is about a sparrow's journey -- but the cute twist at the end is fun.

Goodreads:  A wild sparrow’s journey sets in motion a toddler’s new experience in Bob Graham’s tale of life’s surprising little turns — and unlikely connections.
          Following some food, a curious young sparrow stows away in the back of a truck and takes an unusual voyage south — through the lush rice paddies of India, across the rough sea, and all the way into a bright new day. As the sun rises high over the city, he finds little Edie at a café with her grandma and granddad, and for a fleeting instant, his world meets up with hers and changes her life in the most delightful way. From the masterful Bob Graham comes an invitation to notice the smallest of moments as they unfold around us, full of unexpected promise.

POETRY PICTURE BOOK: Forest Has a Song - Amy Ludwig Vanderwater

Illustrated by Robbin Gourley

2013 Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

HC $16.99

32 pages

Goodreads rating: 4.32

My rating:  Lovely book; simple, beautiful poetry; lovely art: 4.5

Endpapers: White with a cascade of small, falling leaves

Title Page:  Center water color of a New England-y house with the forest rising in the background

Watercolor illustrations

I love the woods.  I miss the woods.  And this book, of very simple poems, is lovely.  The poems are simple, the words used are not-so-simple.  Elegant words.  Clever words.  This is a great book.

Goodreads summary:  A spider is a “never-tangling dangling spinner / knitting angles, trapping dinner.” A tree frog proposes, “Marry me. Please marry me… / Pick me now. / Make me your choice. / I’m one great frog / with one strong voice.” VanDerwater lets the denizens of the forest speak for themselves in twenty-six lighthearted, easy-to-read poems. As she observes, “Silence in Forest / never lasts long. / Melody / is everywhere / mixing in / with piney air. / Forest has a song.” The graceful, appealing watercolor illustrations perfectly suit these charming poems that invite young readers into the woodland world at every season.

here's one for spring...and it's a cool tongue-twister, too...

April Waking

Ferny frondy fiddleheads
unfurl curls from dirty beds.
Stretching stems they sweeetly sing
greenest greetings sent to Spring.

and here's one that uses beautiful words and evokes lovely images....

Lichens

Late at night I look for lichens
tracing flakes in shades of dark.

Messages in cursive code
cover stones and bumpy bark.

Lichens are graffiti artists.
Lichens make their mark.

here's one for my geology unit...

Fossil

I dug in the creek bed.
I dug and I found
a grandfather fossil
asleep underground.
He whispered a story
of creatures in sand.
I listened as trilobites
filled up my hand.
For one flicker-minute
they tickled my palm.
Alive for an eye blink.
Forever dead calm.

I do love the woods.  And this poem, along with fantastic imagery, even pulls in the fragrance...

Song

Under the giant pines
I hear
a forest chorus
crisp and clear.

Winds whip.
Geese call.
Squirrels chase.
Leaves fall.

ATrees creak.
Birds flap.
Deer run.
Twigs snap.

Silence in Forest
never lasts long.
Melody
is everywhere
mixing in
with piney air.

Forest has a song.

okay, one more, very cool, poem to share....

Woodpecker

In a red cap
he types poems
with his beak
upon a tree.

hole hole hole hole
hole hole hole

          hole
          hole hole
          hole

                    hole          hole
                    hole          hole

Secretly
I'm hoping he
will translate one
for me.

Bluebird - Bob Staake

Illustrated by the author

2013 Random House Child

HC

Dedication: to John James Audubon

Goodreads rating: 4.12

My rating: 1.5 (I didn't really like it very much)

Acquired:  TPPL (The public library seems to be taking off the dust covers now when the same illustrations is on the cover of the book itslef.  I don't like the missing endflaps, which I like to read after I've read the book...)

Illustrations:   There are lots of boxes to pour over, until the end of the book, the only colors are shades of blue, gray, and white.  A small amount of brighter colors are added on the last few pages to accentuate the plot.  This part was actually quite clever...I guess...

1^st line/s:  None.  It's a wordless book.

My Goodreads review/comments:  I guess I'm one of the few people who aren't entranced with this wordless picture book.  The first 2/3 was okay, but - for me - well...boring.  Then, all of a sudden, right out of the blue, (Spoiler-of-a-sort coming) there's a shocking turn of events and then - what? - a spiritually uplifting ending?  I read it three times.  School just got out or I'd LOVE to give it to some of my 4th graders to see how they perceive it.  I hate giving "bad" ratings, but I'm being kindly truthful here....Let's say a 1.5 because I didn't HATE it....

South - Patrick McDonnell

(creator of the comic strip "Mutts")
2008, Little Brown & Co.
$14.99 HC
www.muttscomics.com
Goodreads: 4.43
my rating:  Liked it a lot (4.5)
40 pgs. & endpapers
Endpapers (& all pages) recycled beige

This simple, wordless picture book is super -- sweet and quite a lovely story.  It is autumn.  A flock of songbirds takes off for the south and forgets one of their own, who is asleep on the ground under a tree.  Along comes a cat who helps him through all sorts of strange,foreign terrain...pages and pages of a journey....until they come upon the bird's flock, resting on a telephone wire.  By now the bird and cat are close friends and their parting is a meaningful one.

Yes, my fourth graders could write a lovely story to go with this.  The simple beige/brown/pale yellow pages could easily be photocopied for students to use -- and even water color in the pale blues and greens that appear here and there.

(Note to self:  Check out other books by this author.  Are they wordless?  (The Gift of Nothing, Art, Just Like Heaven, Hug Time.)  "Sometimes it takes a friend to help you find your way."

Alphabet Bird Collection - Shelli Ogilvy

Illustrated by the author
Sasquatch Books, Seattle; 2009
$16..95
ages 3 up
56 pages
Endpapers:  Dark, deep slate blue
Book design:  Beautifully laid out.  Double page spreads.  No white.  Each spread is a different background color:  mustard, burgundy, blue, black, plum, peach clay.... Square pages.  Bordered illustration on one, couplet, short explanation, and "how the bird's song sounds" on the other.  I admit, though, the song part didn't sound like bird songs to me -- my singing and pronunciation must be off.

Magpie:
Mischievous and strikingly loud,
A group of Magpies make a noisy crowd

Quetzal:
In a Guatemala forest's early morning light,
Spy a Quetzal, colorful and bright.

Extension idea:  Create pages for our study of local birds when studying Arizona

MOVIE - The Big Year

"Obsessed birders with heart"
Fun to watch these three really good actors
Wide Release 10-14-11
11-16-11 at Kolb cheap theater, alone
PG (1:40)
RT:  39%  cag: 86% (at least)
Director:  David Frankel
20th Century Fox

Steve Martin, Owen Wilson, Jack Black
Stu Preissler (Steve Martin - a retiring business magnate with a very loving marriage)
Kenny Bostick (Owen Wilson - obsessed title-holding birder, ignores his beautiful, trying-to-get pregnant wife)
Brad Harris (Jack Black - 30-something divorced loner, close to his parents, who wants to achieve something great in his life)

Throw in a year of following the unusual birds all over North America so that they get the biggest amount of sitings and some beautiful sights across the country in all sorts of weather, a few good chuckles, and you have a very watchable, enjoyable movie.  I very much enjoyed it.  Having worked for a birding company (as the bookkeeper) for a number of years, I "get" the obsession.....

Olivia's Birds: Saving the Gulf - Olivia Bouler

illustrated by the author
Sterling Children's Books, 2011
HC $14.95
32 pgs.
endpapers - vertical lime green stripes zentangled

Olivia Bouler is 11 years. old.  She loves birds and draws them simply and beautifully.  An aspiring ornithologist, she was devastated by the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and offered her help to the Audubon Society -- sending bird paintings to contributors.

So far, this young lady has earned $150,000 for the Save the Gulf campaign!

For the first 23 pages, Olivia describes, discusses, and shows different birds, including some weird birds, birds in their habitats, fierce birds, beautiful birds, and endangered and extinct birds.  Though the information is certainly not complete, it is simply stated, written in a font that is fun to read, and is a great start for kids who are interested in helping the plight of our world.

Bravo, Olivia!  You're an inspiration.

Today at the Blue-Bird Cafe - Deborah Ruddell

a branchful of birds
Illustrated by Joan Rankin
Margaret K. McElderry Books/Simon & Schuster, 2007
$15.95
32 pages
for:  Kids
Rating:  3.5
Endpapers:  Whimsical kids and animals and all sorts of things hanging down by strings, held on to by birds claws, trying to fly.

I scrounge the poetry sections of the libraries and bookstores, but today found a few that I've missed.  This one was fun because I've become so enamored of the feathered guys outside my window recently.  Some of the poems anthropormortize the birds a little too much for my taste, but many are pretty cool.  Illustrations are watercolor-y and whimsical. 

Love the rhythm to this one:

Today at the Bluebird Cafe
It's all-you can-eat at the Bluebird Cafe,
a grasshopper-katydid-cricket buffet,
with berries and snails and a bluebottle fly,
a sip of the lake and a bite of the sky.

and this one's funny....

The Woodpecker
If you thnk that his life is a picnic,
a seesawing day at the park,
I ask you just once to consider
the aftertaste
of bark.

no blue jays in Arizona, but this brings good memories of my grandmother's take on a jay:

Blue Jay Blues
Blue as a bruise
on a swollen knee,
ruling the world
from a maple tree.


Squawking out orders,
getting his way,
hogging the feeder,
and having his say.


Raising a fuss,
causing a flap,
a flying complainer
in need of a nap

and this so reminded me of summer nights at camp on Abram's Pond:

The Loon's Laugh
No tweedle-dee-dee on your windowsill.
No sunshiny tune from the top of a hill.
No chirp.  No coo.  No warble or cheep.
No bubbly twitter or sweet little peep.
The kind of a laugh in the purple of night
that makes you sit up and turn on the light.
A wail.  A chuckle.  A shriek at the moon.
You pull up your covers.  You hope it's a loon.

And there are many more, including the cardinal, eagle, hummingbird, toucan, puffin, vulture, hoopoe, crow, robin, mockingbird, kingfisher, ibis, quail, great horned owl, cockatoo, bobolink, swan, and penguin!

Attracting Birds to Your Backyard - Sally Roth

536 Ways to Create a Haven for Your Favorite Birds
Rodale Press, 1998
paper $16.95
TPPL 598.07234

Well, for some reason after many grownup years of total disinterest in birds, I'm getting a boot out of watching the finches outside my study window. I went to Wild Birds and bought a niger feeder with a contraption to stick it onto my window. It sat for almost two months before I had any visitors, but now they've found it and are nibbling happily away. They're pretty cool to watch up close.

So I returned two weeks ago and bought a feeder and contraption that screws to the top of my wrought-iron fence out back. And to my great delight, last Saturday morning, amid finches and other birds, along came a CARDINAL! This was a pretty big deal to me. I do not recollect ever seeing a cardinal before. I may have, I just don't recollect it.

I'll miss the northeastern robins, though, that always meant that spring was finally, FINALLY coming to the coast of Maine!

I just finished reading/skimming this helpful, interesting book. It's full of information about different birds, different seeds and feeds, who likes to eat what, plants that are helpful and nutritious...all sorts of really nifty information. Groan, groan, I'm going to start a journal/notebook. I'm too old to hold all of this in my head. But at least I've gone from only being able to identify a chickadee, robin, pigeon, crow, seagull, quail, and owl to a fine purveyor of Tucson winter finches - of the house finch and goldfinch variety.. Cool colors, reds, and lime greens and yellows. Pretty fun!

Basil's Birds - Lynn Rowe Reed

Marshall Cavendish, 2010
$17.99
32 pages
Rating: 4
Endpapers: BRIGHT yellow

The humor in this book is very appealing. The illustrations are particularly interesting as well. So that means the story and the pictures are both a GO.

The illustrations look like something I could draw. I'm sure I couldn't, but they LOOK like I might be able to. I love the eyelashes, the teeth, the necks (or lack thereof, Principal Kabalsky) and the added phtots here and there. Reed uses clay birds as well, so the illustrations have a definite collage look.

Basil Birkmeister, the Janitor at Perch Elementary School, has had a bird build a nest on his bald head. He becomes quite attached to the nest, the bird....and then the baby birds that hatch and grow there. He caters to them, and even sleeps standing up so that he does not disturb them. It's really that simple...and that fun.

As simple as the illustrations are, I examined each one for the added touches that were included. Real tool fabric makes up Basil's nightshirt. And the worms - real, yucky worms. Kid's will love this! It's different. And fun. And it even has some great language included in some really good writing. A hit for me!

Lynn Rowe Reed's website.
Lynn Rowe Red's Facebook page.

How Rocket Learned to Read - Tad Hills

Schwartz & Wade Books, 2010
$17.99
Ages 3-7
Rating: 4
Endpapers: Pale blue with sleeping Rocket (front) and pale green (back)

The title page is cute - Rocket's sitting in a field, holding a copy of the book (THIS book) in his mouth.

Even though Rocket loves to play, run, and nap, a little yellow bird coerces him to learn the alphabet and enjoy listening to stories. When his "teacher" heads south for the winter, Rocket practices spelling and sounding out simple words. So when the little yellow bird returns in the spring, Rocket is primed and ready to learn to read.

This is an adorable story with lovely illustrations - some cover the complete page, some are in large oval shapes on the white page. Lots of green. A happy book.