Look Up!: Bird-Watching in Your Own Backyard - Hardcover

Cate, Annette LeBlanc

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0763645613 ISBN 13: 9780763645618

Publisher: Candlewick, 2013

Synopsis

A 2014 Robert F. Sibert Honor Book

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.
Back matter includes a bibliography, an index, and bird-watching tips.

About this title

About the Author

Annette LeBlanc Cate is the author-illustrator of The Magic Rabbit. She’s been watching and drawing birds for many years, and she loves pointing out funny stuff about them. She lives in Massachusetts with her husband and two sons.

Reviews

Gr 3-5-With its emphasis on looking at the birds near home-from suburbs to inner cities-this invitation to bird-watching is an engaging addition to any collection. By grouping birds by colors, shapes, behaviors, feathers, calls, habitat, migration, and more, the spreads highlight the multitude of avian features to be observed. Cate emphasizes the importance of observation and includes sketching instructions as a way to hone those skills on the individual aspects of a bird along with its species' characteristics. Each page is filled with full-color illustrations. At first glance they may appear crowded and busy, but the detailed drawings are charming, lively, and fun. Humorous dialogue bubbles feature bird "thoughts" in accessible language. Comic human observations are also included: "Are those pesky birds pooping on my windowsill again?" Lots of fun-and informative.-Frances E. Millhouser, formerly at Chantilly Regional Library, Fairfax County, VAα(c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

In this amiable guidebook that encourages readers to observe and wonder about the birds around them, Cate presents plenty of relevant information while sharing her clear enthusiasm for the subject. Accompanied with bright illustrations on every page, the text introduces topics such as birds’ distinctive colors, shapes, feathers, sounds, habitats, behavioral traits, migration, and classification. Cate is an artist who came to birding through sketching outdoors, and she creates a friendly, enthusiastic tone through her conversational writing style, accessible ink-and-watercolor artwork, and speech balloons that give individual birds and people an informative, fanciful, or amusing voice. While she recommends a number of field guides as additional resources, she suggests that readers consult them only after they have taken the time to become aware of the birds in their own neighborhoods. A relatively brief introduction to a broad field of study, this title will engage readers with its well-presented information spiced with visual and verbal humor. Grades 3-5. --Phelan, Carolyn

Edition details

• Publisher: Candlewick
• Publication date: 2013
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0763645613
• ISBN 13: 9780763645618
• Binding: Hardcover
• Illustrator: Cate Annette LeBlanc
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 64