Birds

Cute pictures, toddler can point to each color of bird. It's a simple story.

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.

We all love the illustrations, but wow, my daughter just loves this book. The simple story is just right and the images are wonderful.

The illustrations in this book are bold and colorful. The text gives the pictures a chance to amuse as well as inform its audience.

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?

Reviewed by Cayden (age 4 ½) and Max (age 2 ½) Aures and Mom for Reader Views (4/09) In Kevin Henkes' book "Birds," we take a look at birds in all different shapes, colors and sizes. Cayden: "I liked looking at all of the different colors of birds. I have seen different colored birds in our yard. I like the yellow ones. I remember one of those eating out of our bird feeder. My favorite part of the book was the part about bird clouds or when all of the birds flew out of the tree." Max: "I liked the red birds. I liked counting the birds. I liked when they were all gone!" Parent's comments: "Birds" by Kevin Henkes is a great book for a young child who is in the process of mastering colors and counting. My four-year-old has gone through the book over and over again with my two-year-old in an attempt to teach him those things. Both children love to watch the birds at the feeders in our yard and I think that they will have fun matching up the colors of the birds that they see to the birds in the book.