Bird Show

PreS-Gr 2–This stunning title celebrates birds using brilliant colors and rhyming verse. As in her 2011 picture book Bring on the Birds, Stockdale honors the incredible diversity of birds, their habitats, and unique adaptations. Like models in a fashion show, each bird describes its traits and characteristics. For example, the cardinal proclaims, “My coat has one color,” and the yellow-breasted chat declares, “My apron is yellow.” The featured birds and their natural environments are identified in thumbnails at the end of the text, and their descriptive names paint a vivid picture. The included quiz to match colors and patterns to the respective bird completes the text and keeps readers engaged. Although cataloged in the natural sciences, Stockdale’s mellifluous prose deserves to be classified as literature and her vibrant acrylic illustrations are art.