Birding for Babies Backyard Birds
by Chloe Goodhart illustrated by Gareth Lucas
“Here's four blue jays
with their bright blue jackets.
Follow the noise to find them-
they make such a racket!”
What kind of racket do you think we can stir up this month?! 😊 This month’s book pick is Birding for Babies: Backyard Birds which is written by Chloe Goodhart and illustrated by Gareth Lucas. This book is in the April category for children born in 2022. There are so many great learning opportunities inside these sweet pages.
The obvious first one is learning about different kinds of birds that you might find outside. Distinguishing birds by their colors or their sounds in your backyard or anywhere you go is a great little thing to do with your young child that can blossom as they grow. In this book you can find blue jackets, cardinals, woodpeckers and crows, which creates a beautiful start to your birding learning with your child!
Another fantastic piece about this book that I love for this age group is the counting part. The book counts up as it goes, and the number correlates to the number of birds on each spread. Take time out of reading to count the number of birds on each of the pages.
“Do you see those black birds,
you smart little birder?
Three American crows,
That's almost a murder!”
Rhyming children's books are my favorite books to read out loud. They have a beat to them, and it always feels more exciting to read. Feel free to talk about which words rhyme in the book!
My favorite part of this book, though, is the little facts about each bird type at the bottom of each spread. For the page about crows I talked about earlier, the fact is, “A flock of crows is called a murder. In winter, large numbers of American crows often gather to sleep in a shared space called a roost.” Board books that have these little aspects of them warm my whole entire heart, because to me, this says that this book has a longer life span for my child. It can start as a faster read that doesn't have to include the fact at the bottom, and as time goes on, I can introduce the fact as my child recognizes the bird and is better at sitting for the story. Then, my child can better take in that fact and is more likely to remember it and be more interested in the book from the beginning. (But also, if your child is interested in the beginning, don't be afraid to read that little fact! Reading is great for kids because of the plethora of words that books can provide that are different from the everyday words that you use at home, so bring on the extra facts if they are interested early on!)
My last suggestion for this month is to look up bird call sounds. It sounds kind of silly, but I bet your child will like hearing the different bird sounds for each page/bird that you look up. A quick search should do the trick! Adding small pieces like this helps to bring your reading alive and really connect it to life, which will help your reader in the long run.
Happy reading, my friends!
