I've always been fascinated by the work of John James Audubon, most especially his Birds of America prints. The details and color are glorious to me! I suppose I became especially intrigued by his work after reading A Nest for Celeste by Henry Cole.
And when I attended ALA Annual this past summer, I came upon some of these prints in Washington, DC. I walked from frame to frame, as happy as can be.
So when I learned about this upcoming picture book about the Audubon Christmas Bird Count, my interest was piqued to say the least!
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| Cover image courtesy of Peachtree Publishers |
Bird Count (Peachtree, 2019) is a picture book telling the story of a girl named Ava - - a budding young scientist about to participate in the Christmas Bird Count with her family. Readers see as she prepares for the day, bundling up, expressing her excitement. As Ava narrates the events of the day, she teaches readers about the bird count: how the count operates in teams and the routes they follow. Ava tells readers that birds aren't just found in the forest -- indeed they can be in many places! (A fact that young readers will be very intrigued by!)
And then we learn that Ava is now not only counting the birds, but she is also keeping the tally on her family trip, something she is proud to do.
And here is one of the absolutely brilliant features of this story: the right side of the double page spread (the recto) now includes a page from Ava's notebook. With each page turn, we see her tallies and the names of the birds. The names of the birds are bold-faced in the text. A scientist at work! What a fabulous mentor text for science notebooks!
Readers listen in on the conversations , the observations -- seemingly simple, but so very scientific, too. This is citizen science unfolding within a story -- teaching while also entertaining.
As the story progresses, we see how the count is a community event, a time of gathering, sharing, and tradition. I found it all so delightful and wished I could participate, too. In fact, author Susan Edwards Richmond (in a very informative author's note), lets us know how we can take part, too. Richmond participates in the count each year, and in the note, she explains its background. I learned so much!
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| Author Susan Edwards Photo courtesy of Peachtree Publishers |
I highly recommend this picture book! Bird Count is a treasure for scientists/readers of all ages. I have added this one to my next book order.
*Please see the back matter of this book (listing the birds found in the story). I especially appreciate that Edwards refers readers to The Cornell Lab of Ornithology I participated in an AASL webinar with them and thoroughly enjoyed it!
Bird Count will be released on Oct. 1, 2019.
