Wild Birds

by Joanne Ryder

Everywhere --
even in streets and backyards --
there are wild birds. Swirling through the air,
speckling the treetops,
tiptoeing through the grass,
wild birds are near,
watching you watch them. During the bright warm days,
they sometimes stay
and share a place with you. And in winter,
if you care for them,
wild birds may flutter even nearer --
till you feel like a wild one, too. Wild Birds invites you to look and listen and to enjoy these lively flyers who share this ever-changing world with you.

Genres: Picture Books, Birds, Childrens

40 pages, Hardcover

First published February 18, 2003

About the author

Joanna Ryder is an award-winning author whose books offer a unique blend of poetry and science. Her innovative Just for a Day series invites children into the world of wild animals, ranging from a sea otter to Tyrannosaurus rex. Ms. Ryder says, "Children know that my books often ask them to imagine being a different creature. So they always ask me which animal I would choose to be. I'd be a flying one, I tell them. Or if I could, I'd wish for wings. And I've discovered children would love wings, too. But which ones to choose? I wrote Rainbow Wings to help us decide." Ms. Ryder lives in Pacific Grove, California.

-taken from www.balkinbuddies.com

Reviews

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

This beautiful book celebrates the birds that are all around us. The main character is a girl who loves birds. The book begins with birds sitting on lines with ribbons of their names wrapped around their necks. There is a page spread about nests which reminds me of the bird nests built around the library under our security cameras! The change of seasons is marked by migration (fall) and then winter is shown as a time that bird feeding can be a great hobby! The ending is perfect where we see the girl dreaming about birds and dreaming about flying (my favorite dream!).
Thanks to publisher HarperCollins for permission to read this aloud during Covid year 2021, on video, for a classroom.

[enlam]

I looove IDing wild birds in a kids book

[Ellias · Rating 5 out of 5]

Miss Molly introduced me to this book at our nature program and I loved it. I made Mommy check it out from the library and we have managed to keep it out for about 4 months now. My favorite thing to do is "Tell Mommy the birds" and she just opens it up and lets me tell her (or anyone else who will listen) about all the birds on the inside cover. There are 20 of them and I know them all! I have even seen about half them outside and I hope I will get to see the rest. I love this book and pointing out the birds I know in the park so much that Mommy has gotten me lots more bird books. The Easter Bunny even put a bird call identifier in my basket and now I play the birds' calls when we read about them. Mommy is very happy that I know all about wild birds, and nothing about Angry Birds, whatever they are. I hope I never meet one of those.

[Matthew · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book, written in a poetic four-line stanza format, contains numerous hyphenated adjectives and a great deal of description. While it's too nonspecific to be considered informative nonfiction, it would be a good introduction to the study of bird characteristics. It's told in a narrative format. Its simple, primary-friendly word choice would be easy to introduce quickly and could invite further discussion.

[Beverly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful illustrations of a variety of songbirds.