Every Day Birds by Amy Ludwig Vanderwater (review)

Abstract

Reviewed by: Every Day Birds by Amy Ludwig Vanderwater Elizabeth Bush Vanderwater, Amy Ludwig Every Day Birds; illus. by Dylan Metrano. Orchard/ Scholastic, 2016 [32p] ISBN 978-0-545-69980-8 $17.99 Reviewed from galleys R 2-6 yrs When a little tyke is ready to make the animal identification leap from “bird” to “specific bird,” VanDerwater is ready with a rudimentary field guide. Rhymed verses of a few words each point out a salient feature of twenty common North American birds: “HAWK hunts every day for prey./ CARDINAL flashes fire./ WOODPECKER taps hollow trees./ CROW rests on a wire.” Sleek but detailed cut-paper collage close-ups accompany each rhyme, and in most spreads a smidgen of background offers of hint of habitat or food source (pigeon perches at a feeder; heron wades in the shallows). Children who want more information can find it in the back matter, which also serves as an alphabetized index with a thumbnail reproduction of each spread and a short paragraph with some attention-grabbing data—hummingbirds can use dryer lint to make their nests; nuthatches walk down from their tree hole nests headfirst. Depiction of scale and a map of geographic range, commonly found in standard field guides, are not included here. Nonetheless, Metrano’s avian portraits would be highly useful in group presentations, and they are sufficiently precise to help beginning birders put a name to a feathered face. [End Page 384] Copyright © 2016 Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois