Counting Birds: The Idea That Helped Save Our Feathered Friends

by Heidi E.Y. Stemple, Clover Robin (Illustrations)

Everyday kids learn how they can help protect bird species, near and far, with the award-winning book Counting Birds —the real-life story behind the first annual bird count.

What can you do to help endangered animals and make a positive change in our environment? Get counting! Counting Birds is a beautifully illustrated book that introduces kids to the idea of bird counts and bird watches . Along the way, they will learn about Frank Chapman, an ornithologist who wanted to see the end of the traditional Christmas bird hunt, an event in which people would shoot as many birds as possible on Christmas. Chapman, using his magazine Bird-Lore to promote the idea of counting birds, founded the first annual bird count .
 
More than a century after the first bird count, bird counting helps professional researchers collect data, share expertise, and spread valuable information to help all kinds of birds  around the world, from condors to hawks to kestrels and more.
 
Counting Birds introduces kids to a whole feathered world that will fascinate and inspire them to get involved in conservation and become citizen scientists.
 

Genres: Picture Books, Nonfiction, Birds, Biography, Childrens, Animals, Science

32 pages, Paperback

First published October 2, 2018

About the author

Heidi didn’t want to be a writer when she grew up. In fact, after she graduated from college, she became a probation officer in Florida. It wasn’t until she was 28 years old that she gave in and joined the family business, publishing her first short story in a book called Famous Writers and Their Kids Write Spooky Stories. The famous writer was her mom, author Jane Yolen. Since then, she has published 20 books and numerous short stories and poems, mostly for children.
Heidi lives and writes in Massachusetts on a big old farm with two houses.

Reviews

[PattyMacDotComma · Rating 4 out of 5]

4★
“On Christmas Day, sports hunters would gather, choose teams, and hold a bird competition. All day long, the hunters looked for birds. Large birds, small birds, all birds were game. At the end of the day, the birds were counted. The winning team was the side that had shot and killed the most birds.”


Hunters in the snow with beautiful birds in the trees

This is an attractive children’s history of how we started counting birds instead of shooting them. Frank Chapman, a bird lover, worked at the American Museum of Natural History in New York. I used to love going to our local natural history museum to see whatever happened to be on show. That was many years after this story took place.

In 1899, as Americans were getting interested in conservation, Chapman started a magazine, ‘Bird Lore’, and then decided to promote a bird hunt of a different kind. Hunt them and count them but don’t shoot them.


“Christmas Day 1900, 27 watchers counted birds in 25 places.”


These are some of the 18.500 birds from 89 different species that were spotted.



“In 2016, which marked the 117th count, 73,153 birders (62,677 in the field and 10,476 at feeders) participated in 2,536 count circles. They counted 56,139,812 birds from 2,636 different species. Frank Chapman would be very happy with these results.”

He sure would. And his ‘Bird Lore’ magazine became the famous ‘Audobon Magazine’.

Thanks to NetGalley and Quarto Books / Seagrass Press for the preview copy. I’m sorry the pictures don’t show up in Goodreads apps.

[Lisa Vegan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved everything about this book. I loved the illustrations. I loved the photos and extra information, I loved the true story, I loved the conservation & protection and anti-hunting message, I loved how the author knows of what she writes, and I loved finding out who the author was daughter of the children’s books author Jane Yolen and a father who introduced her to owl calling, and who appeared as the little girl in the book Owl Moon

I learned a lot. I hadn’t known anything about Frank Chapman or the origins of the Audubon Society or their now worldwide Christmas Bird Count. This makes for a great Christmas book or any time of year book.

That’s all I’m writing because if I go on it will sound like hyperbole. There was nothing about this book I didn’t like. I highly recommend this to all children and their adults, especially if they love birds and/or nature and/or if they might like to participate in the annual bird count or other activism work or projects. Gift worthy picture book. 5 full stars.

On a sad note not directly related to this book but something that Frank Chapman would have cared about is what climate change is doing to birds. I’ve read many alarming articles about our sixth mass extinction event but here are just links as a result of a general search:

https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&a...

[Kathryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a wonderful true story about Frank Chapman, a man who loved and protected birds. I love that it shows how one person can make a difference in the world. Chapman abhorred the Christmas Day tradition of bird hunting. Yet he knew that he couldn't simply ask people to stop a long-cherished tradition without giving them something to replace it with. So, through his Bird Lore magazine, he proposed "a new kind of Christmas side hunt, in the form a Christmas bird-census." The first Christmas after his proposal (in 1900), 27 bird watchers from 25 locations from Connecticut to California counted close to 18,500 birds. Today, in what is known as the Audubon Christmas Bird Count, people from all over the world participate in this (and other) bird count(s) -- in 2016, 73,153 birders counted 56,139,812.

The back matter presents a little more information on Chapman, including his photograph and a picture of the cover of one of his Bird Lore magazines (Bird Lore eventually because Audubon Magazine). Mostly, the back matter covers further details on how the bird counts work and way you can become involved. The Note from the Author also talks her own experiences with bird counts, starting when her father who took her and her siblings into the woods by their Massachussets home to call down owls at night. Fun fact: Stemple's mother is Jane Yolen, and Owl Moon was inspired by these adventures.

Highly recommended to young nature lovers or anyone looking for stories about everyday heroes who change the world for the better. My one caveat is that I do wish the illustrations were slightly more realistic -- they do provide a good sense of what the birds look like but I guess I was hoping for something that was almost more photo realistic to help readers really be able to identify the birds in real life. That said, my four-year-old was inspired to draw birds and trees after this, so it I guess the art touched him, anyway! ;-)

[Laura (Book Scrounger) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Counting Birds starts off as the story of a man named Frank Chapman, who decided to do something to combat what was a Christmas tradition in some places 100+ years ago: shooting birds for fun.

His idea of an annual "bird count" has since developed into a massive citizen science project organized by the Audubon Society. This book celebrates the joy of discovery and conservation of our feathered friends, in a way that reminds me of The Sky Painter: Louis Fuertes, Bird Artist, which features another bird lover who also decided to find a way to depict birds without shooting them.

That spirit of conservation is present here, displaying an attitude of enjoyment and appreciation of wild birds, and portraying the thrill of the "hunt" as well as the benefit this participation can be to science.

The last few pages give some more information on how the bird count works, and how the average citizen can participate. This is definitely something I'd like to be involved in someday, and would make a great homeschool project.

Oh, and, plot twist! When I read the page about calling owls, I couldn't help but think of Jane Yolen's Owl Moon. Turns out the author of this book is actually her daughter, who is the girl who goes owl calling with her father in Owl Moon. Nifty!

(Thanks to NetGalley for the review copy.)

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very nice. And even more important. Today's children will be rightly shocked to learn that people used to kill songbirds and owls, etc., just for a random counting competition. I think it's wonderful to learn how well the count did in the first year.

I would have liked a history note about the page that showed a politician (?activist?) and a feathered hat, as not even all parents will know what those images are meant to convey.

And I really would have liked it if less artistic license was taken in the (admittedly appealing) pictures. Most birds we got a fairly confident ID on, but the quail? partridge? doesn't give any of us a gestalt, and research in Sibley reveals no match. And by we I mean me and my elder sons, both avid birdwatchers, one a trained and experienced field naturalist. So, kids haven't much of a chance at ID w/out guide, and even then many birds shown aren't quite right.

[Peacegal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful artwork and photographs illustrate this story of how a cruel tradition can turn into a kind one. Once upon a time, Christmas Day contest hunts pitted shooters against each other to see who could kill the most birds. A conservationist, distressed by many birds' plummeting numbers, organized a rival contest to count birds instead--and kindness won.

Today, birdwatchers from all walks of life take to the outdoors and count and catalog birds--helping scientists understand bird populations and threats to birds' survival.

A great discussion topic would be how other damaging traditions might be changed to make them helpful instead of harmful.

[Maria Marshall · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is immediately obvious that this book was a labor of love for the author and the illustrator. Heidi Stemple's experiences, and love of birds and birding, shine through the entire book. Through cut paper illustrations, Clover Robin creates amazingly detailed and textural images of Frank's study, unique bird habitats, and intricate images of the birds themselves.
Fred Chapman worked with, studied, and adored birds. So naturally, the Christmas tradition of competing to see who could shoot the greatest number of birds sickened him. Fred proposed a different hunt - a bird count.
This nonfiction book explores how what began as a desire to change a heart-breaking tradition and encourage the public's appreciation of birds and the environment, grew into an inclusive (all birds, all birders, and all countries are welcome) world-wide citizen science event. One that has contributed to the scientific knowledge of bird migrations, habitat, climate change, endangered species, and bird recoveries.
Instead of competing for a head count of dead birds, the world now competes for the most birds spotted, the rarest bird observed, and a chance to break species and overall count records.
This book is both a celebration of this remarkable man and a call for kids, schools, and adults to join in the fun of citizen science projects and help protect these precious co-residents of earth.

[Stacie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Did you know that there are organized dates set aside for counting birds? A hundred years ago, a man named Frank Chapman loved birds and worked to create exhibits about birds. He also wrote books and articles about birds. He started a magazine called “Bird-Lore” read by bird lovers. Frank Chapman didn’t like the fact that sports hunters would gather on Christmas Day and hold a bird competition looking for birds to hunt. Any bird was game and all the birds shot at the end of the day were counted. The winning team was the team with the most birds killed. Frank Chapman did not like this Christmas Day tradition and used his magazine to get the word out about a new bird counting idea. He proposed counting the birds and NOT killing them. On Christmas Day, 1900, 27 bird watchers in 25 various places counted all the birds they saw. From thrushes to owls, from loons to vultures, every bird observed was counted. That count was not the last, and the Christmas Day bird count continues to this day.

The Christmas Day bird count happens all over the world. The count starts at midnight, with the owls being counted first. Then new counters take over as the sun begins to rise. All birds are counted all day long. Birds in backyards, birds in fields and forests, and cities and farms. All the counts are turned in to the National Audubon Society and they look at the data to see what changes have occurred in migration patterns, population sizes, and what species may be in danger and need conservation help. This has become the longest-running citizen science project and wildlife census in the world.

This is not the only bird count during the year. There is another one in February during the weekend of President’s Day as well as others throughout the year. I remember my mom participating in bird counts and recording all the birds visiting our feeders.

This book is part history of Frank Chapman and part information on the importance of counting the birds and tracking them each year. I’m hoping I can participate in the February count recording our bird visitors during one of the days of the count. The book includes photography as well as mixed-media type of illustrations. I love that this book introduces the history of how the bird count started and why, because someone wanted to make a difference. This book offers kids a look at someone who believed in something and made good things happen because he felt it was important.

[Carla · Rating 5 out of 5]

Counting Birds is a story about something I had no idea about. It starts by telling us the story of Frank Chapman and his disgust at the annual Christmas tradition of going outside and shooting as many birds as you could for fun. This was back in the late 1800s and early 1900s when people were beginning to think about conservation. He came up with an idea to stop the killing of the birds, but preserving "the hunt". He published it in his magazine, Bird-Lore, which is now the Audubon Magazine. His idea of an annual "bird count" has since developed into a worldwide conservation project organized by the Audubon Society. This book celebrates the joy of discovery and conservation of our feathered friends, while enjoying and appreciating them in the wild. The last few pages gives information on how the bird count works, and how the average citizen can participate. One interesting tidbit, if you ever read Owl Moon by Jane Yolen about calling owls, this book is written by her daughter, the young girl in that story. There is a brief biography of Frank Chapman at the back, a hero to animals, that I had never heard of before. The story is accompanied by great illustrations, including many of the birds counted, and would interest anyone who loves animals,especially birds. This would make a great addition to a family, public or school library. What a great project for a family to take on together. The publisher, Seagrass Press, provided me with a copy of this book to read. The rating, ideas and opinions shared are my own.

[Kirsti Call · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gorgeous illustrations and wonderful information about the annual bird count! LOVE

[Mindi's Picture Books · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ex

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the delightful story of how , what is now known as the Audubon Christmas Bird Count got started. But, surprisingly enough, even thought the Audubon Society now oversees it, it wasn't started by Audubon, but rather by Frank Chapman.

This picture book tells how people used to shoot birds for fun at Christmas time, not to eat, but to see how many they could shoot.

Shooting the birds


Frank got people interested in counting, rather than shooting, and so, there are many ways to count, including counting the owls.

Calling the owls out


This is a wonderful book to simply explain how the bird count began, and why it is important, and fun. There is also a bit int he back with more information, for those who want to know more about Frank Chapman and the count.

Highly recommended for schools and libraries.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.

[Tara · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received an arc from Netgalley for an honest review. LOVE this book and even more excited to read that it was written by Jane Yolens daughter. Token wrote Owl Moon and it was one of my favorites as a child. Great story about birds and how one person can make a difference. Can’t wait to get my own copy.

[Tanya Konerman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Using her family history of counting owls during the Audubon Christmas Bird Count as inspiration, Stemple lovingly shares how the event began: through the conservation efforts of ornithologist Frank Chapman as he encouraged Americans to help save birds. Delightful collage-style illustrations and simple back matter make it accessible for young naturalists.

[Bkrieth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nicely put together picture book history of the Audubon Christmas Bird Count including conservation, literary connections, lots of bird species, and appealing collage illustrations. I appreciated the photos and extensive back matter, and I believe this is a book that will inspire some young citizen scientists.

[Cheriee Weichel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Counting Birds: The Idea That Helped Save Our Feathered Friends tells the story of how the Christmas Bird Count came to be.

Frank Chapman loved birds. He worked at the American Museum of Natural History in the bird section. In 1899 he started a bimonthly magazine called Bird Lore that later became the Audubon magazine.

Around this time Americans were starting to become aware of the destruction of wilderness areas and a conservationist movement was building: people who wanted to preserve these spaces and the animals who lived in them.

Unfortunately, not everyone cared. Each Christmas day a traditional bird hunt was held where hunters would go out and kill as many birds as they could find. They killed all kinds of birds. The team that killed the most birds was the winner.

Frank Chapman did not like this. Through his magazine he proposed that rather than hunting and killing birds, they engage in a Christmas bird census. At the first one in 1900, 27 birdwatchers in 25 different locations counted 18,500 birds from 89 different species. They hunted birds, but none of them were killed.

Every year since then more and more people have joined in on this Christmas census taking so that it is now a global event. Owlers start out at midnight calling down owls and as these people are returning to their beds, the rest of the birders emerge.

All the data they collect goes to the National Audubon Society. "The Audubon Christmas Bird Count has become the largest running citizen science project and wildlife census in the world." In 2016, 73,153 birders identified 2,636 species and counted 56,139,812 birds. When the count is over there is still some competition over who has the highest count, but thankfully, no birds are killed. And all because Frank Chapman loved birds.

The back matter includes additional information on Frank Chapman, how to become active in bird counts in your area and other ways to become involved. In the notes from the author I discovered that Heidi E.Y. Stemple is daughter to Jane Yolen. Their family was part of the bird count and she is the girl in Yolen's Owl Moon.

This book is a delight to read. I was enchanted by the story itself and nearly swooned at the beauty of Clover Robin's illustrations. Her brightly coloured collages are full of details. Whether she is illustrating landscapes or birds on their own, she imparts a vintage ambience that is perfect for this nonfiction title.

After reading this book I had to go and reread Owl Moon. I can't help but find deep layers meaning in it that I wouldn't have realized were there without this book.

[Myndi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh my gosh, give me a second while I swoon over the illustrations. They are amazing! And the illustrator’s name – Clover Robin – is pretty fantastic, too. But wait. There’s more! The book itself is equally fabulous. Written by Heidi E.Y. Stemple, the daughter of an avid bird lover and the esteemed children’s author Jane Yolen, it is no surprise that this book is great.

This non-fiction picture book introduces us to a great lover of birds, ornithologist and writer Frank Chapman. Birds were his passion and when more and more birds were becoming endangered due to overhunting, he had to take action. The result was the beginning of one of the largest bird conservation and citizen scientist efforts ever.

At the time, hunting birds on Christmas Day was a tradition. Hunters would make a game of it, breaking off in groups that would hunt and kill as many birds as possible. Whoever killed the most won. Frank Chapman disliked this tradition, for obvious reasons, and sought to change it. In his birding magazine, Bird-Lore (now Audubon Magazine), he proposed an alternative to his readers: hunt the birds, but count them instead of killing them, and then submit the data they collected to the magazine for a final tally. The first year was successful, and as the years have passed, the tradition has continued, growing beyond anything Chapman could ever have expected.
Again, the illustrations are superb, but this book is truly the whole package. It is exactly the kind of non-fiction my children go gaga over. It is factual, historical, and about animals! In truth, I loved it as well. The older I get, the more interested I become in birds, and picture books are so straightforward, I feel like I got a lot of information in a quick and fun way.

A great book for the whole family!

Note: I received this book from the publisher via NetGalley. I pride myself on writing fair and honest reviews.

[Lynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful! This book does several interesting and important things in a way that will be immediately accessible and engaging for kids. First she introduces the little known ornithologist Frank Chapman and his development of the Christmas Day Bird Count. She also talks about that count, how it works, why it is so important and how kids can be involved.

Conversational in tone but with a wonderfully conveyed enthusiasm for birds and bird conservation, this book is perfect to use with kids in a classroom or story time to introduce birding and spark interest in understanding and supporting conservation. Practical ideas and examples of how kids can be involved in the count are especially important as Stemple assures kids they can participate at their own bird feeders for a specific (and short) amount of time that is very practical.

Clover Robin's collage illustrations are gorgeous and inviting. Back matter includes more about Chapman, information on how kids can be involved in Count Day, more ways to be involved in helping save birds and a charming note from the author. Stemple is an owler and I loved her inclusion of the owling count in the story!

As a life-long birder I am frequently astonished at how little many people know about the common birds around them and I've realized that it is mostly a lack of experience. Getting a new generation of kids interested in birding is so important Not only is it a wonderful life-long hobby but the future of birds depends on our support. This book is sure to help.

[Annie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Originally published on my blog: Nonstop Reader.

Counting Birds is a new non-fiction title by Heidi Stemple. Due out 2nd Oct, 2018, it's 32 pages and available in hardcover. Aimed at younger readers (ages 6-8ish), it would make a really nice read along for younger children as well.

Beautifully illustrated by Clover Robin, the artwork is mixed media painted collage and does a lovely job of enhancing the text. The book is based around the life and early bird counts started by Frank Chapman which grew into the Audubon Christmas bird count.

It's so important to include young people in learning about our world and wise stewardship of our environment. This book would make really good support material for a classroom unit on conservation and birding.

It's a really worthwhile and appealing book. I loved the detail in the drawings.

Five stars.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

[sweet orange books · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I was a teen, I started a summer program that invited me to count all the different kinds of butterflies that live in my garden Year after year, many were disappearing and it was such a joy to spot some rare one. This book reminds me of this scientific tradition. Counting Birds is a fascinating book about the Audubon Christmas Count, an annual scientific project that invites people from all over the world to count as many birds as possible on Christmas Day. All begin with Frank Chapman, an self-made ornithologist, who decided to replace the famous 'Christmas bird hunting' by a 'Christmas bird counting'. He was inspired by the oh so famous ornithologist John Audubon, and later used his name for this annual bird counting.

I enjoyed the colorful and accurate collage art style, and I especially loved when the author introduces different types of birds one by one. What a great idea to include an invitation to become of 'birder', someone helping to count bird, or to become a member of one of many other organizations that work on the preservation of birds! From beginning to end, this is a very well crafted book!

Thank you NetGalley and Seagrass Press for providing me with a free digital copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

Read and reviewed: 2018-11-04

[Christy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everyday kids learn how they can help protect bird species, near and far, with Counting Birds—the real-life story of bird counting and watching.

What can you do to help endangered animals and make a positive change in our environment? Get counting! Counting Birds is a beautifully illustrated book that introduces kids to the idea of bird counts and bird watches. Along the way, they will learn about Frank Chapman, who used his bird knowledge and magazine Bird-Lore to found the first annual bird count.

Bird counting helps professional researchers collect data, share expertise, and spread valuable information to help all kinds of birds around the world, from condors to hawks to kestrels and more.

Counting Birds introduces kids to a whole feathered world that will fascinate and inspire them to get involved in conservation and become citizen scientists.

[Beverly · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an informational, fascinating, and inspiring story of Frank Chapman and how he began the annual bird-count census all the way back on Christmas Day, 1900. While the illustrations were attractive and appealing, it would have been nice to have more photo-realistic depictions of the birds, or at least, photos of all the birds pictured and identified in the back matter. There are photos of six birds in the back matter. The back matter also gives readers information on how to get involved in annual bird counts. In an interesting side note, the author was the child subject depicted in the Caldecott-winning Owl Moon by her mother, Jane Yolen.

[Theediscerning · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very decent introduction for the young to the idea of organised bird counts – taking us right to the doorstep of associations that do such things (well, mostly in the USA, but you can't have everything). The inspiration for them and for us would be a certain self-taught specialist, Frank Chapman, who railed against late-Victorian hunting parties and feather-based fashions. With very good design throughout, the text loses a lost of its initial simplicity and brevity in the later, detailed sections, but the backstory as it were is encouraging, and this first step to being a 'citizen scientist' is a welcome one.

[Teresa · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a family of birders, we are well familiar with the annual Audubon Christmas Bird Count. However, I did not know of the story behind the event, and how it got started. Enter this beautifully illustrated book, Counting Birds. Through the fun and lyrical text, we get to learn about the birth of the idea and all the ways it benefits birds and people and science. Knowing all this makes our membership with the organization even more meaningful! I bought a copy of this for me, and one each for friends the kids of some of my friends. I highly recommend it for any birding enthusiast or naturalist.

[Carol Doeringer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This history of The National Audubon Society’s annual Christmas Bird Count will appeal to kids who love birds or any wildlife or domestic animals. The story tells how in 1900, Frank Chapman began a movement to change a tradition of shooting birds on Christmas day. He convinced people across the country to count birds instead. The book shows how Chapman’s event grew over time, with beautiful illustrations that showcase the beautiful diversity of birds included in annual Christmas bird counts that continue today. This book is an award-winner for good reason!

[Viviane Elbee · Rating 5 out of 5]

For kids who love birds and/or history, this story talks about the origins of the Audubon Christmas bird count project. Pretty illustrations of different bird species abound. At the end of the book, the back-matter includes ways for children to get involved with counting birds and other citizen science projects.

This book is aimed towards older preschoolers and elementary school students, though even older children / adults who like birds might enjoy this book.

[Maddie Crow · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a great easy read filled with information about how to save and protect the bird population. This book is about the Audubon Christmas Bird Count, giving a short easy to understand synopsis. Counting Birds is beneficial for all ages and encourages citizen action. The book evokes a sense of duty on the reader, that they too although no scientist can help save our environment. Science and reading time will welcome this short picture book with open arms.

[Cyndie Courtney · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had no idea where the Audubon bird count came from and I did not know that it was associated with Christmas. This was a super fun book to read together, and may create a new holiday tradition for our family. Apparently this also comes from a family of children's book authors, this author's mother is the author of Owl Moon.

[Patricia Nozell · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful and important new picture book #NF biography about the founder, Frank Chapman, and the founding of the annual Christmas bird count - a lovely way for families and individuals, including kids, to help avian conservation efforts. Beautiful cut-paper illustrations and wonderful back matter, including ways kids can participate in the count or otherwise help conservation efforts.

[Marcia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stemple shares the history of the Christmas Bird Count in this wonderful picture book. We learn how Frank Chapman turned the tradition of hunting birds to that of counting and saving. Stemple includes great back matter with her own experience counting birds, her star turn in her mother Jane Yolen's Owl Moon, and resources to learn more. I loved the cut-paper illustrations, too.