Friday, April 29, 2016

Bookmarks: Picture Books on Birds

We are enjoying watching birds recently. My boys had made several bluebird boxes this winter and we placed them within view of the house. A few days ago I saw a robin struggle with a long string that had tangled in a pine tree. Her efforts were finally rewarded by freeing the string and I assume the string is now part of her nest. 

Spring is a marvelous time for bird watching, as birds return from the south and begin making nests. Here are a few of our favorite picture books to enhance bird study. (Note: Some of these books contain evolutionary information.)


White Owl, Barn Owl by Nicola Davies, Illustrated by Michael Foreman
Lush paintings and a sweet tale of a young girl and her grandfather combine with facts about the barn owl. Includes hints on how to build a barn owl nesting box. Don’t miss this one.


Woodpecker Wham! by April Pulley Sayre, Illustrated by Steve Jenkins
A fun to read story, fascinating illustrations, and several pages of woodpecker facts give a well-rounded view of the many species of this amazing bird.


Arrowhawk by Lola M. Schaefer, Illustrated by Gabi Swiatkowska
This is the true story of a red-tailed hawk and his fight for survival after being pierced by a poacher’s arrow. Includes information on raptors, birds of prey, and why they are a protected species.


This Way Home by Lisa Westberg Peters, Illustrated by Normand Chartier
How does a small bird navigate the 1,000 miles from Minnesota to the Gulf and then find its way back again in the spring? Lovely watercolors share the story of the journey and facts about how the Savannah Sparrow uses the sun, stars, and the earth’s magnetic field to find its way.


The Robins in Your Backyard by Nancy Carol Willis
We’ve all watched robins in our backyard, but the detailed drawings and information in this book will teach all of us something new about these common harbingers of spring.


Owls by Gail Gibbons
Vivid watercolors show the details of the twenty-one types of owls living in North America. Learn about the characteristics and habits of these nocturnal birds.


Thunder Birds: Nature's Flying Predators written and illustrated by Jim Arnosky

Arnosky’s nature books are always treasures but this book is magnificent. Fold-out flaps depict incredible life-size paintings of the largest predator birds in North America. Learn about hawks, herons, eagles, vultures, and more in this stunning book.

8 comments :

  1. Thanks for sharing! I love your book posts. We are doing Apologia's Flying Creatures this year so we've been doing lots of bird books! We have some of these on our list to read and have read some of them already. :) Some are new to us, and I always like book suggestions! We just put up birdhouses (its just starting to be spring here, we still have some snow and nothing is leafed out yet). We put a bunch of string pieces, long dry grasses, moss, etc. in the trees nearby the birdhouses so here's hoping some birds like our yard! :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Gina! We're considering picking up a few of these books. Could you kindly let us know which ones speak of "evolution" so we can avoid those?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Christina -
      I'm sorry I don't exactly remember. I think that the mention was very minimal, maybe just in the end of the book information. Maybe you can find these books at your local library so you can read them before purchasing.
      Gina

      Delete
  3. What a wonderful post! I have several shelves of bird books in my homeschool lending library, but I don't have three of the titles listed here! Guess it's off to Amazon! :D. Thank you!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Dear Gina,
    I'm so enjoying your blog which I discovered a few weeks ago. My friend grew up in Minnesota and has just found and ordered This Way Home on Amazon UK for his nephews on your recommendation. Living here in England it is rare for us to see anything that references where their Mummy grew up whilst giving them a perspective of how enormous America is! They are really inquisitive little boys so the fact it's teaching about migration will be sure to make it a favourite.
    Kindest regards,
    Vicky

    ReplyDelete
  5. Thanks for the book recommendations! I picked up a few at the library. Thunder Birds is a fascinating, amazing book!! My children are loving it!

    ReplyDelete
  6. I’m working my way through your book lists, reading the ones I can find on Internet Archive to my 4-year-old. She loves books and always wants different ones. Thank you for the recommendations!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Oops! I didn’t intend to comment as Anonymous!

    ReplyDelete

I love to hear from you.

LinkWithin

Related Posts with Thumbnails