HOW DO BIRDS SING A DUET?

A plethora of facts to whet bird-watchers’ appetites.

From defining a bird and investigating migration to exploring woodpeckers’ habits (and tongues!), the process of gliding, why geese fly in a V and birds sing, and how birds make their nests, this is a pretty wide-ranging look at bird behavior. The format is a mixture of cartoons, speech bubbles, sticky notes, and taped-in notes and diagrams that help break up the lengthier text in between and explain the trickier science such as thermals. The author’s tongue is firmly in cheek, asking, for instance, if woodpeckers use game cameras to find insects in a tree. The illustrations pick up on this, but many times the fictions in the pictures are not pointed out as such. For example, migrating birds are pictured with packed bags, and chaffinches, which use spiderwebs in their nest building, are shown offering their thanks to a spider. The pages aren’t always arranged according to specific topics, which can be confusing. A page featuring a large sticky note about waterbirds and seabirds includes info about owls and long-tailed tits (which aren’t even pictured). The humorous cartoons are sure to attract kids’ interest, though, and there are many amazing facts that kids can pull out to impress. Backmatter includes four profiles of national birds (U.S., India, New Zealand, and Nigeria) and thumbnails of 12 other nations’ national birds, all of which feature beautiful photos. Humans in the art are diverse.

A solid starting point for learning about birds.