Books for Young Ornithologists

We just wrapped up a rather lengthy unit on birds. It lasted a bit longer than I had planned because we had so many great materials to use! I simply couldn't move on until we'd explored everything we had at our disposal.

The Giant Golden Book of Birds
by Robert Porter Allen

An absolute gem of a find - thanks to Vintage Books my Kid Loves. It's out of print, but SO worth searching for a used copy! The illustrations are stunning, the information thorough and fascinating!


Birds Do the Strangest Things
by Leonora Hornblow

Another find I owe to VBmKL. I appreciated that the entries are short and simple so Izzy could read a couple out loud to me each day.



What Makes a Bird a Bird?
by May Garelick

This was an awesome find - a favorite book from my own childhood!


It's less about birds (although still very informative on that point) and more about building logic and reasoning skills. Not too shabby! And, of course, I absolutely love the late 60s vintage illustrations by Leonard Weisgard!



The Boy Who Drew Birds: A Story of John James Audubon
by Jacqueline Davies

Another great read - about a brief period in the famous naturalist/artists's life. Really lovely illustrations! I recommend pairing with Audubon's Birds of America Coloring Book. I also scored a used copy a nice large coffe table art book for pretty cheap.


Also, our streaming Netflix membership came in very handy as we watched the following through out our course of study:

March of the Penguins - delightful documentary about the annual mating ritual of Emperor Penguins.
The Life of Birds - fantastic 10 part documentary on a varity of bird-realted topics.
Fly Away Home - sweet movie about a girl who helps a flock of Canadian Geese migrate south for the winter.

Mountains are Free (1931 Medal)

It's unfortunate that I am starting to approach so many of these titles with trepidation because there really are some little gems to be found - even among the out of print titles. And after the previous month's stinker, I really *needed* a gem! Thank goodness for Julia Davis Adams - author of Vaino. If you'll recall, I had a pretty favorable reaction to Vaino, but I can't say I loved it and so I'm actually glad, that for the first half of the book, I was ignorant of the connection. Ultimately, I enjoyed this one even more than its predecessor. I'm not sure if it was the story/characters that drew me in more or if Adams skill as an author improved that much in a short time. Whatever the case, this was really a nice little treat.

Here is the plot description (via goodreads): This treatment of the legend of William Tell endeavors to place it in its historical setting, and to show the difference in ideals and manners between the Swiss and the people against whom they were struggling; that is to say, between the feudal system and the first faint stirrings of democracy.

Not the most inspiring plot description if you ask me. It makes this book sound rather dull and academic, but it's actually anything but! What I particularly love is that Adams made William Tell a rather minor character and his bit with the apple is a fairly small incident among many. This actually serves to illuminate the bigger picture of the struggle between the Swiss and the Austrians - making Tell's role all the more significant. Because, I'll be honest, before I read this I didn't even really know Tell was a Swiss patriot and that the little stunt with the apple had much political significance.

So, who is the main character if not Tell? It's a young boy named Bruno - an orphan taken in by the Tells who sets out to seek his fortune and ends up keeping company with the Austrians for a time. Another clever device in that we're able to get both sides of the story - although don't expect an even handed account! The Austrians are pretty much pure concentrated evil in this story. I found that I really cared intensely for the main characters - not just Bruno, but also Kyo (the mercurial, but good hearted court minstrel) and Zelina (the Austrian duke's headstrong ward).

My conclusion is that this is one Newbery that does indeed hold up to a modern read (hallelujah!!) - although I can't imagine many very young children reading or enjoying this. Instead I would recommend this for older readers with an interest in medieval European history or for a reader who likes tales of action and adventure involving knights and princesses!

There are also some really delightful illustrations through out this book, but (alas!) I couldn't find any images to share.

Queer Person (1931 Honor Book)

No, I haven't abandoned my Newbery challenge! Although at times it does look rather bleak. November was one of those months. Queer Person was the selection and I knew by the title that it was going to be a slog - a dated, out of touch with modern sensibilities mess - I just didn't know *how* bad it was going to be. It started off okay by introducing the reader to two fairly interesting characters - the titular 'Queer Person', a deaf-mute Indian boy and his self-appointed caregiver, an old hermit woman simply called 'Granny'. Both are outcasts for a variety of reasons. Tribe members believe the boy is posessed by evil spirits due to his disabilities and the old woman has been living on the fringes of tribal life since the loss of her husband and sons. A promising set-up....but one that ultimately didn't deliver. It really was a convoluted, trite, racist mess from start to finish. Only recommended for those with an interest in tracking racist attitudes in children's literature. Blah! (Thankfully, the following selection was *much* better - stay tuned!)