On the Wing: Bird Poems and Paintings (Hardcover)

~ (Author) "With feathers of a greenish hue No doubt I'm difficult to view..." (more)

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Gr. 3^-5, younger for reading aloud. This colorful collection features 21 poems about a variety of birds, from hummingbird to vulture, roadrunner to emperor penguin. The imagery in these short poems finds visual expression in the full-page, watercolor paintings, illustrating verse with high spirits and ingenuous charm. "The Hawk" features a bordered illustration of the bird with binoculars slung over his shoulders. Across the page are the words: "I stare / I glare / I gaze / I gawk / With keen / Mean eyes / I am the hawk. / All day I pray / For prey to view. / Be thankful if / I don't / See / YOU!" Many of the poems use internal rhyme effectively, but the book's appeal lies in its fluent wordplay and generous use of humor in both the poetry and the paintings. Carolyn Phelan

From Kirkus Reviews

This collection of bird poems and paintings is a fine encore to Florian's Beast Feast (1994). As in that book, biology and whimsy combine in verse and pictures. In ``The Hawk''--``I stare/I glare/I gaze/I gawk/With keen/mean eyes/I am the hawk./All day I pray/For prey to view./Be thankful if/I don't/See/YOU!''--the words are accompanied by a picture of a lurking bird on a branch, a pair of binoculars hanging around its neck. Florian's watercolors match the tone of the verse, bright and funny portraits of individual birds, combining accurate representations with visual puns (the roadrunner has wheels, the nightjar is shown flapping its wings inside a jar). Nonfiction and humor don't always fit comfortably together, but in this book they become a delightful whole, a sturdy foundation from which to explore the playfulness of language. (Picture book/poetry. 2-8) -- Copyright ©1996, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4-8
  
• Hardcover: 56 pages
• Publisher: Harcourt Children's Books; 1st edition (March 1, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0152004971
• ISBN-13: 978-0152004972
• Product Dimensions: 10.4 x 10.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,353,118 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Gorgeous book, May 31, 2008

By	Angela Porteous "sun67girl" (Bluffton, S.C.) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: on the wing (Paperback)

Another gorgeous creation from Douglas Florian. I ordered this and "Beast Feast" for a pair of 3-year-old twins. But after looking at them, I decided to keep them for myself. They are just too beautiful to give to children! (But if you are not a selfish book nut like me, they are great children's books....)

4.0 out of 5 stars charming, August 27, 2007

By	David McCann - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: on the wing (Paperback)

i have several books by this author; my grandchildren (ages 3, 5, 7) love them.