I have another wondrous non-fiction book to share with you this week: The Secret Life of Birds.
Title: The Secret Life of Birds
Author: Moira Butterfield
Illustrator: Vivian Mineker
Publishing: Quarto Publishing, July 4, 2022
For Ages: 4-9
Theme: Children’s Non-Fiction, Birds
A big thank you NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group-Frances Lincoln Children’s Books for the advance review copy.
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All About:
The Secret Life of Birds is a wonderfully detailed and beautifully illustrated book of bird facts and folklore, narrated by Speedy the swift. Speedy takes the reader on a world-wide journey where we learn some fascinating and unusual facts about all sorts of different birds.
Each page is a collection of beautiful illustrations with bite-sized bird facts, interspersed with short legends about birds.
There are 21 different sections with titles like “Fabulous Feathers”, “Our Survival Secrets”, “Brilliant Beaks” and a whole lot more!
What I Thought:
I learned lots of new and surprising things about birds, including the fact that hummingbirds can fly backwards and swifts can sleep while they fly!
I absolutely love how the author combines fiction and non-fiction by interspersing the factual narrative with a variety of colourful bird tales.
The illustrations are bright and cheerful and I found myself smiling the whole way through this book.
The Secret Life of Birds is a perfect read for any nature-loving kids, and could also be easily used as the basis for an extended unit on birds in a primary classroom.
Book Extensions:
Pick a favourite bird to research and write down the top 10 interesting facts. I made you a pair of sheets you can use. Click here to grab your free bird writing sheets.
Learn a bird poem. You can download this sweet poem by Leanne Guenther.
Create some beautiful bird art. This gorgeous art is from Art Project For Kids. Be sure to click on the link for instructions and free printables.
Thanks for stopping by and happy reading!