BIRDSONG

Wood (The Bunyans, 1996, etc.) covers 14 birds from North America in their natural habitat in this sumptuously illustrated, visually busy picture book. The few lines of text for each bird sketch out the habitat in human terms, and include the common call for the bird shown, e.g., ``Nearby there's a little park nestled among the skyscrapers. While Jordan and Elly play, gentle pigeons splash and make their cooing calls—coo-a-roo, coo-a-roo, coo-a-roo.'' The spreads offer panoramic views of habitats, portraits of the birds, and stylized borders of state flowers characteristic of the habitats. The juxtaposition of these borders and extremely realistic paintings of the birds can be startling, but appealing. (Picture book. 3-7)