Birds

by Kevin Henkes (Author) Laura Dronzek (Illustrator)

Birds
Reading Level: K − 1st Grade
Vibrant and lively paintings accompany a simple text, in this new picture book by a celebrated husband-and-wife team. With a fine eye for detail, a little girl describes birds--their sizes, shapes, colors, the way they move, and how they are most like her. Full color.
Select format:
Board Books
$7.99

Publishers Weekly

Husband-and-wife team Henkes and Dronzek ("Oh!") record random thoughts about birds, enlivened by vignettes of thickly outlined bird shapes feathered with primary-school paintbox colors. Observations as spare as haikuSometimes, in winter, a bird in a tree looks like one red leaf left overare pictured wistfully; here, a cardinal perches, leaf-like, on a high branch of a leafless tree. The appeal throughout is Henkes's ability to channel the way young children think (If birds made marks with their tail feathers when they flew, think what the sky would look like) and see (If there are lots of birds in one tree and they all fly away at the same time, it looks like the tree yelled, 'SURPRISE!' ). Although the artwork most often follows the text's lead, richer moments come when Dronzek steps forward and does the imagining. If clouds were birds, the sky would look like this, Henkes writes; with a dry, loosely wielded brush, Dronzek paints bird-shaped silhouettes of clouds tinted the same color as the setting sun they soar over. A kind of book of meditations for the very young, its reflective tone and peaceful illustrations make this an excellent bedtime choice. Ages 25. "(Mar.)" Copyright 2008 Publishers Weekly Used with permission.

School Library Journal

Starred Review
PreS-KThis 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" Copyright 2009 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Review quotes

"Birds trust[s] the intelligence and imagination of young children, and that's what makes this a perfect book."—New York Times Book Review
Classification
Fiction
ISBN-13
9780062573056
Lexile Measure
410
Guided Reading Level
G
Publisher
Greenwillow Books
Publication date
February 07, 2017
Series
-
BISAC categories
JUV002040 - Juvenile Fiction | Animals | Birds
JUV039050 - Juvenile Fiction | Social Themes | Emotions & Feelings
Library of Congress categories
Birds
Buckaroo Book Award
Nominee 2009 - 2010
Texas 2x2 Reading List
Recommended 2010 - 2010
Beehive Awards
Nominee 2011 - 2011
Capitol Choices: Noteworthy Books for Children and Teens
Recommended 2010 - 2010
Maryland Blue Crab Young Reader Award
Honor Book 2010 - 2010
Ladybug Picture Book Award
Nominee 2010 - 2010
Missouri Building Block Picture Book Award
Nominee 2011 - 2011

Subscribe to our delicious e-newsletter!