Birds [Hardcover]

Kevin Henkes (Author), Laura Dronzek (Illustrator)

Book Description

Release date: February 17, 2009 | Age Range: 4 - 8 years

Birds come in all sizes, shapes, and colors. Birds are magic. Birds are everywhere. If you listen very carefully you will hear them, no matter where you live. And if you look very closely you will see them, no matter where you are. And if you can't go outside right this minute, you can always read this book!

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Starred Review. PreSchool-K—This brief introduction to birds focuses on such basic features as their different colors and sizes. Soft acrylic paintings that appear as spreads, vignettes, and framed scenes match a text that perfectly conveys the young narrator's fascination with the birds in her environment. "Once I saw seven birds on the telephone wire. They didn't move and they didn't move and they didn't move. I looked away for just a second…." Three lines of identically positioned birds on wires appear with the text across the spread. Then a page turn reveals a thick, black, empty wire stretched across a stark white spread along with the words "and they were gone." The youngster imagines what the sky would look like if the birds could make marks with their tails and how bird-clouds would look during the day and at night. She can't really fly like the birds, but the final page demonstrates one way in which she can imitate them. The child voice in this charming story is just right and will resonate with the very youngest children. And the little girl's musings can encourage more "what if" conversations that will spark their imaginations.—Marianne Saccardi, formerly at Norwalk Community College, CT
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From Booklist

*Starred Review* Created by a husband-and-wife team, this delightful picture book bridges the space between concept books and longer narrative stories. An unseen narrator hears birds singing through an open window and looks out to see birds that represent concepts, such as color, shape, size, and number. The story becomes more sophisticated as it progresses. The narrator’s questions about birds open an exploration into more abstract, organic concepts about the natural environment: “If birds made marks with their tail feathers when they flew, think what the sky would look like,” for example. At the story’s end, the now-visible narrator, having imagined herself as a bird throughout the book, is back at her window, singing. Henkes’ spare, direct words have a lyrical magic, while Dronzek’s bright acrylic paintings, in saturated primary color and heavy black outlines, reflect the text’s plain elegance while carrying an exuberant energy all their own. One particularly memorable spread shows a large flock of black birds filling the sky in elegant trajectories of flight. Together, the words and pictures create a book that will enchant preschool audiences again and again. Preschool-Kindergarten. --Thom Barthelmess

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Age Range: 4 - 8 years
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Greenwillow Books (February 17, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0061363049
• ISBN-13: 978-0061363047
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 0.5 x 11.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #78,885 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Kevin Henkes is the creator of many distinguished books for children, including Kitten's First Full Moon (winner of the Caldecott Medal), Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse, and Chrysanthemum. His novels for young people include Olive's Ocean (a Newbery Honor Book) and Bird Lake Moon.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Baby's Absolute Favorite November 5, 2009

By J. Voelker

Format:Hardcover

We heard this book at library storytime and checked it out. Then renewed it. And again. Then returned it and checked it out the next day. It's on my 1 year old's Xmas list so we can own it. He wants it read to him at least five times a day. When it's done he cries, sometimes. This review is obviously biased because hey, babies are strange and unpredictable. But I love reading it to him too. I love the imaginative language and the pictures.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars This is a delightful book to share with your child or classroom during circle time! June 8, 2009

By D. Fowler TOP 50 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

One of the nicest songs to get up to in the morning is the singing of the birds. You can hear them sing "through the open window." There are all different colored birds. There are red, blue, brown, red "or even green, I think." Some birds are so dark you can only see their shape, nothing more. There are big birds like flamingos or tiny ones like hummingbirds. There are all kinds of "in-between" sized birds like owls, finches, seagulls and pipers.

Sometimes there are many birds all lined up in a row on a telephone wire. You can hear them chatter if you are close enough, but every now and then if you look away "for just a second . . . gone!" In this book you will see amazing patterns that birds would create if their tail feathers were like paintbrushes and "made marks with their feathers when they flew," or what birds would look like if they were clouds in the morning or at night. You will see them in trees and BOOM flying up and away to the sky. Have you ever wondered where birds go when it rains?

The text and the art work blend together in a magical way to bring the love of birds and birdwatching to the young child. Many children seem to share their fascination of birds with their parents. This book is easy to read, especially given the visuals, but would be much more fun if someone read it to them. It's a perfect book to read aloud during circle time as well. Birds are beautiful creatures, aren't they?

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Great for Spring Storytimes! March 22, 2010

By J. Prather TOP 500 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

I love reading this book to groups this time of year. It reinforces for kids the beauty of all the birds that are singing outside their windows. The simple story and the simple and sometimes elegant illustrations make this perfect for group sharing. It always generates lots of audience response and really prompts the imagination. A big recommend for group and one on one sharing.