Look Up!: Bird-Watching in Your Own Backyard by Annette LeBlanc Cate

Hardcover, 64 pages

Published March 12th 2013 by Candlewick Press 

 

You don’t have to own binoculars and know a bunch of fancy Latin names to watch birds! No matter where you live, they’re in your neighborhood — just look up.

This conversational, humorous introduction to bird-watching encourages kids to get outdoors with a sketchbook and really look around. Quirky full-color illustrations portray dozens of birds chatting about their distinctive characteristics, including color, shape, plumage, and beak and foot types, while tongue-in-cheek cartoons feature banter between birds, characters, and the reader ("Here I am, the noble spruce grouse. In a spruce grove. Eatin’ some spruce. Yep."). Interactive and enjoyable tips bring an age-old hobby to new life for the next generation of bird-watchers.

I am not a bird watcher... unless I am on the beach and one poops on me! Then I am definitely watching out for more! (And no, for the record that has NEVER happened) That might all change after reading this fabulous book! I do like to be in nature, but the thought of bird watching is a bit, well to be honest, boring to me. Annette LeBlanc Cate, however, has proven to me that birdwatching is not boring and can be quite fun if you don't get lost in the idea of "I have to have professional equipment and go to exotic locations to bird watch" (though I wouldn't mind the exotic location...)

 

The birds make their presence known throughout the entire book which is really how the vast majority of the information is presented. I loved it. I was laughing out loud at parts and looking out the windows for what they were talking about in others. The book is not set up like a typical "field journal" so that readers can see what they can do out in the field and is full of thought bubbles from birds, observers and even has a few songs in it! This is definitely one of those books that you read and then realize how much fun you have had learning! 

Check out this guest post from Annette at Teach Mentor Text to to know her just a little better!

Happy reading!