Books and Birds: Kids Edition
words by Julianna Griggs
August 9 is National Book Lovers Day, a day to encourage bibliophiles of all ages to celebrate reading and literature. And the best (and cheapest!) place to satisfy all your bookish needs is none other than your closest Chicago Public Library. Coincidentally, the Chicago Public Library has a list of staff recommendations dedicated to National Bird Day for children, where one can find 25 fiction and nonfiction titles celebrating all types of birds. And so I thought, What would be more fitting than to combine our love of birds with our love of books on this literary day?
The first book that caught my eye was Bird Watch by Christie Matheson, a seek-and-find picture book filled to the brim with all kinds of birds. On one page, Matheson provides a Birding Checklist for all the birds that you are supposed to seek and find in the corresponding scene on the next page. Her list gives a drawing of the bird with its name printed alongside it. She does not go into specific details about what kind of owl or hawk that is depicted, for example, but instead opts for their generic names so as to give her young readers a simple format to start with in identifying birds from one another. I quite enjoyed trying to find the birds myself in the different trees and grasslands Matheson hid them in. Once again, the trees and grassy areas were mostly the same throughout and weren’t necessarily accurate for where certain types of birds would be found hiding, but I think that Matheson’s goal is just for children to be able to spot and identify the birds—which is definitely one of the top skills needed when bird watching.
The second book that I found appealing is the classic Owl Moon by Jane Yolen. Owl Moon follows a more traditional way of storytelling, with the two main characters a father and daughter who go trekking in the woods at night to try and see a Great Horned Owl. The book does a good job of showing how to owl properly, as with the daughter advising that if you go owling, you must stay as quiet as possible. In the illustrations, you can see that the daughter and father are looking up at the trees, which aligns with the fact that the Great Horned Owl tends to perch high in trees. And in the illustration of the Great Horned Owl, the facial features all match that of a real life one, with their hauntingly yellow eyes, striking white throat, and mysteriously dark rounded face. Having been on a few owling expeditions, I will say that, when the daughter finds herself and the owl staring at each other, it would be proper behavior for her to move slowly away from the owl so as not to disturb them more. When an owl stares directly at you, that means they know you are there and may view you as a predator, so it is highly encouraged for anyone interested in owling to maintain a safe distance so the owl doesn’t feel that you are encroaching on their space.
My third book is The Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog! by Mo Willems. The titular character Pigeon finds a hot dog on the sidewalk and as he goes to eat it, a duckling keeps interrupting him with questions about the hot dog, having never eaten one before. Now, the moral of the story ultimately is that “sharing is caring,” but from a real world perspective, a pigeon and a duckling sharing a hot dog is not healthy for either, and we, as the humans who make and eat these hot dogs, should remember to better dispose of our food so we don’t harm these creatures. In the future, if you’re out and about and wanting to leave some food for the pigeons, grains, seeds, and small berries are your best options!
Whether you’re rereading your favorite book, going to the store to buy the next installment in a series, or just browsing the shelves of your local library, find a way to connect this National Book Lovers Day with your love for birds. This list might not seem appealing to the more mature birder, but as a young adult, I found myself enjoying the simplicity with which these stories were told. A good story is a good story, no matter the audience it was intended for. If nothing else, try reading one of these books I’ve mentioned—or any of the others listed here—as a fun exercise in viewing the world of birds and birding through the lens of a child.