Reviews (4)

Excellent Book for Kids
This is not only a compelling story, but helps encourage environmental awareness amongst kids. I bought it for my son on a whim and he absolutely devoured it. The characters are believably independent and I really appreciated their investigative styles. Kids need to think for themselves and this is a sweet, lively book that encourages such thinking with some very positive results. I highly recommend it.

This is the worst book EVER!!!!!
i was assigned to read this in 5th grade and i'm still trying to forget the book! if there was a button for -10 star s i would choose that. this book is cheaper than the match i used to burn it with!!! Do Not read this!!

An Eco-Mystery
Environmentalist, ecologist, naturalist, and writer Jean Craighead George, the Rachel Carson for children, will win her audiences once again with this story.The plot revolves around Tony Isidoro, a young biologist who is bent on solving the mystery of the death of his hometown's feathered mascot, Cock Robin.As he uncovers assorted clues strung throughout the town--chemical activity, sudden loss of frogs and birds--Tony must try to convince his naive neighbors that not just one thing is responsible for the bird's death, but many imbalances in the town's ecosystem, which everyone is convinced is the cleanest around.Since it's an eco-mystery, the story is grippingly told in the style of a crime investigation.From the beginning you want to know Who Really Killed Cock Robin: "Cock Robin lay on his back with his feet in the air. . .It was seven minutes past six A.M. on the twenty-fourth day of May.He was dead."There are endless possiblities for the cause of the bird's death, and at times it's a bit unrealistic when Tony immediately dismisses some types of poisons and investigates others.Younger kids may have no idea what DDT, PCB, and 2,4,5-T are, though the author does try to explain them.However, the story, the dedication--"To sunshine, clear water, and sparkling skies and to the kids who are cleaning up the Earth"--and Ms. George's supportive Author's Note in the new paperback version will surely inspire kids to clean up their environment and veer away from the use of harmful, chemical-containing products.If one enjoys this Eco-Mystery, check out the others in the series--THE CASE OF THE MISSING CUTTHROATS; THE FIRE BUG CONNECTION; and THE MISSING 'GATOR OF GUMBO LIMBO.Don't forget Jean Craighead George's eighty or so other remarkable stories--the Julie of the Wolves books, the My Side of the Mountain trilogy, the One Day series. . .the list goes on and on.Each book will deepen readers' respect for nature and our beautiful but threatened planet. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Animals - Birds    2. Children's Books/Ages 9-12 Fiction    3. Children: Young Adult (Gr. 7-9)    4. Ecology    5. Environment    6. Environmental protection    7. Fiction    8. Juvenile Fiction    9. Mysteries, Espionage, & Detective Stories    10. Nature & the Natural World - General    11. Juvenile Fiction / Animals / Birds   

Reviews (4)

Learned Behavior vs. Instinct
As a fifth grade science teacher in Texas, one of our objectives is for students to understand the difference between learned and inherited behaviors.Flute's Journey accomplishes this goal beautifully.From the beautiful illustrations to the lyrical text, the students are drawn in to the life of a woodthrush.As I read the book to them, they were to write down in one column the learned traits they saw/heard, and the inherited traits in another.They were enthralled with the story, and were amazed at how many examples there were in this one book of each type of behavior.Even though this book is listed for the lower primary grades, I highly recommend it for any science class studying learned and instinctual behaviors.

Inside information from author Lynne Cherry
When I began writing Flute's Journey, I was going to put Flute in the woods at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center where I was then artist-in-residence.However, an ornithologist friend said, "put Flute in the Belt Woods!" "What's the Belt woods?" I asked.She told me it was a forest that had been owned by Seton Belt and he hadwilled it to a church if they agreed to never cut the trees or sell theland. But after he died, the church had the will overturned and put theland up for sale to a developer for $9 million.It's a long story, butmany children wrote letters to the bishop of the church asking that theyrespect Seton Belt's wishes and save the land.And, I'm convinced, that itwas their letters that saved Flute's home, the Belt woods. Their letters,like the following one, came from the heart: "Seton Belt trusted you.How can you go against him?" Our campaign to save the woods wascovered by CBS Morning News with Charles Osgood and they mentioned Flute'sJourney and the children's letters. They asked me what kids could do. Isaid, "they can write to the church." And so many more letterswere sent. Now Belt Woods is preserved forever.Children helped to saveFlute's home and children, in many ways, can make a difference in theworld. Lynne Cherry

This book is soooo good!
It tells how hard the life of birds can be.I especially liked how it told about the cowbird who came and took one egg away because that tells the way cowbirds are.I liked how the children gaves names to the woodthrushes. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Animals - Birds    2. Birds    3. Children's Books/Ages 4-8 Fiction    4. Children: Kindergarten    5. Juvenile literature    6. Life cycles    7. Migration    8. Nature & the Natural World - Ecology    9. Wood thrush    10. Juvenile Fiction / Nature & the Natural World   

Editorial Review

The mystical and the natural blend superbly in this first children's book by the accomplished literary novelist Louise Erdrich. The eccentric, well-traveled grandmother of two young kids decamps in mid-vacation, riding a porpoise to Greenland and leaving behind a trove of strange treasures and artifacts including a collection of bird's nests and three old eggs which hatch, marvelously, into passenger pigeons. Erdrich wields her Native American ancestry and her worldiness--Grandmother owns an original Klee--to give young readers a sense of the world's wonders and the wisdom of the elders, the old wisdom of the natural cycles that we are losing. A letter from Grandmother, promising to return, winds up this fetching tale. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

a wonderful little book
Louise Erdrich is the author of the award winning novels Love Medicine and The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse , amongst others. She is an incredibly gifted novelist. Grandmother's Pigeon is her first book for children. A Bookful of Wonder
The illustrations in this book are wonderful and are a perfect compliment to this strange,comforting story of a loving family and the legacy of their magical grandmother. There are some subtle nuances that parents will pick up if they pay attention. This is a tale about ecology and love for free and wild creatures, with a bit of shamanism thrown in for good measure. There is humour here and wisdom. I love this book for the satisfying feeling of gentle wonder that I feel as I turn the last page and close the book. I recommend it to all with childish hearts.

wonderful illustrations, and unusual story.
helps to show children that people in their family can be different, but you still love them. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Simple picaresque of a life foreign to most of us
This story, of a young boy awaiting the time when he can race his pigeons, glows with detail of everyday life in a world that would be foreign, both in sights and possessions, to most of the young readers to whom the book is aimed.Read more

Subjects:  1. Children's 4-8    2. Children: Kindergarten    3. Ethiopia    4. Ethnic - General    5. Fiction    6. Homing pigeons    7. People & Places - Africa    8. Pigeons    9. Juvenile Fiction / Ethnic / African American   

Subjects:  1. American poetry    2. Animals - Birds    3. Birds    4. Children's Books/Ages 4-8 Nonfiction    5. Children's poetry, American    6. Children: Grades 2-3    7. Juvenile poetry    8. Poetry    9. Poetry - General    10. Juvenile Nonfiction / Poetry / General   

Subjects:  1. Animals    2. Children's 4-8    3. Children: Grades 1-2    4. Crows    5. Fiction    6. General    7. Preschool Picture Story Books    8. Wishes   

Reviews (3)

ENJOYED EVERY PAGE OF THESE STORIES AS DO THE KIDS
This is truely a wonderful work for young folk.The illustrations are absolutely great.The depiction of each species of bird and animal is actually quite accurate, even dressed in the human clothing provided by the illustrator.This is a collection of 19th century African American folk tales, quite similar to the famous Brer Rabbit tales.These stories have been reworded so that 19th century dialect can be understood and be ralated to by children of today.Each story has a wonderful teaching and the text throughout the book matches the illustrations perfectly. In addition, there is a nice section at the back of the book which tells the source of these stories which is quite interesting standing alone.Recommend this one highly.

Beautifully illustrated, wonderfully told...
You couldn't ask for more in a children's book.I tripped across this book at our local library, picked it up and started reading it to my two sons, ages 8 and 10.It's a book that is meant for out-loud reading.Hamilton's prose is written in a very conversational tone, which mimics the way in which these southern tales were originally passed along:orally.Each story is about 3-4 pages long, with a lesson learned at the end of each one.Birds and bats engage in ridiculous actions and we -- the humans -- can learn from them.The book is as much fun to look at as it is to read, due to the beautiful artwork of the illustrator, Barry Moser.

Wonderful African American tales from the South
These stories were meant for telling. Virginia Hamilton adds a voice that is full. It is deep and loving. Most of the stories have a bit of verse or song. Each tale ends with the teller speaking the moral plainly to the children listening. For example, "How Bruh Sparrow and Sis Wren Lost Out" ends, "So, children, here's a leaf from the book of birds: Pick on your own size. For it's no use squabbling over what's too big for you to handle." I think these tales would be perfect for the mid to upper elementary audience as well as for adults.
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Subjects:  1. African Americans    2. Birds    3. Children's Books/Ages 4-8 Fiction    4. Children: Grades 1-2    5. Fairy Tales & Folklore - Black American    6. Folklore    7. Southern States    8. Tales   

Subjects:  1. Animals - Birds    2. Birds    3. Children's Books/Ages 4-8 Fiction    4. Children: Grades 1-2    5. Fiction    6. Flight    7. General    8. Juvenile Fiction    9. Worry   

Reviews (1)

Great toddler book
This is a wonderful book. My 18-month old son loves it. The pictures are large and show each animal doing many different things on each page so there is a lot to talk about. The words are simple and only a few per page so it keeps my son's attention and I think will help build his vocabulary (and the animals are not all common--salamander, beaver, etc). He seems to like the ryhthm of the words and loves the ending. I'd recommend it. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Action & Adventure    2. Action & Adventure - General    3. Animals - Birds    4. Children's 4-8 - Picturebooks    5. Children: Preschool    6. Juvenile Fiction    7. Non-Classifiable   

Subjects:  1. Animals - Birds    2. Birds    3. Children's Books/Ages 9-12 Nonfiction    4. Children: Grades 3-4    5. Exotic birds    6. Juvenile literature    7. Birds & birdwatching   

Subjects:  1. Animals - Birds    2. Birds    3. Children's 9-12    4. Children: Grades 4-6    5. General    6. Geographical distribution    7. Habitat    8. Juvenile Nonfiction    9. Juvenile Zoological Sciences    10. Juvenile literature   

Reviews (1)

Beautiful and simple
Charming simple story of a bird that figures out how to weave a pretty nest.The illustrations are ordered, and clear and ornate at the same time.This book was our favorite for almost a year. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Animals - Birds    2. Birds    3. Children's 4-8 - Picturebooks    4. Children: Grades 1-2    5. Eggs and nests    6. Fiction    7. Juvenile Fiction    8. Nests    9. Animal stories    10. Birds & birdwatching    11. Juvenile Fiction / Animals / Birds   

Editorial Review

This engaging little fairy tale by a Syrian-born writer raised in Germany, illustrated by one Belgian and one Swiss artist, tells the story of a precocious fledgling crow who learns some lessons about vanity and humility when he encounters a splendid peacock who delights in showing off his wondrous tailfeathers. The little crow has a trick of his own: balancing on the end of his beak, waving his little wings and legs to stay up. Therein lies the rub in this old-fashioned morality tale for young children. Both the overweening peacock and the daring little crow wind up redeemed after the peacock has an unfortunate encounter with a bramble bush. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Just like all his books
It is one of THOSE books... I just can't get away from his style, parts of the book seem to be parts of his life, he writes with so much fantasy. Non violent fantasy not for kids, but young and old adults. You learn about themiddle east and you won't get bored! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Birds    2. Children's 4-8    3. Children: Kindergarten    4. Crows    5. Fiction    6. General    7. Peacocks    8. Animal stories    9. Non-Classifiable   

Reviews (1)

A Fly in the Sky
This book is amazing, especially considering that the author was only a teenager when she wrote and illustrated it!Young children can enjoy it because of the beautiful illustrations and the story-like quality, whileolder children can also learn from the facts presented in the book aboutdifferent creatures that fly.This book is an excellent completion of Ms.Pratt's environmetal alphabet book trilogy.The other two books she haswritten and illustrated ("A Walk in the Rainforest" and "ASwim Through the Sea") are also wonderful. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Alphabet    2. Alphabet books    3. Animals    4. Animals - General    5. Children's Books/Ages 4-8 Nonfiction    6. Children: Young Adult (Gr. 7-9)    7. Concepts - Alphabet    8. English language    9. Juvenile Nonfiction    10. Juvenile literature    11. Language Arts - General    12. Nature - General    13. The environment   

Subjects:  1. Bird attracting    2. Birds    3. Children's 4-8    4. Children's Books/Ages 4-8 Fiction    5. Children: Grades 3-4    6. General    7. Juvenile literature    8. North America    9. Summering