About the Holiday

For 117 years the Audubon Society has held a bird count in North America, Central America, and South America from December 14 through January 5. The count is conducted by professionals and volunteers who sign up to monitor various areas designated in 15-mile-wide diameter circles. The information and statistics gathered help to keep track of bird populations and aid in protecting our beautiful feathered friends. During the snowy, cold winter months, remember to set out seed and suet for birds to eat. For more information or to get involved, visit the Audubon Society website.

Some Birds

By Matt Spink

The variety of birds in the world is astounding! With their unique coloring, songs, and behaviors, our feathered friends provide entertainment and beauty wherever we are. Most times, we only need peer out the window or gaze into the sky to find a fascinating array of life. In his illustrated poem Matt Spink takes readers on a flight of fancy to show the charm, power, and even quirkiness of birds. “Some birds are big / some birds are small / and some birds are just incredibly tall,” the book starts.

Image copyright Matt Spink, courtesy Matt Spink

How do these birds get around? Sure, they fly but “some birds swoop,” others “soar high,” and still others walk or waddle or hop. And when they get hungry? “Some birds eat worms until they go pop!” Some birds get the itch to swim, tweet, squawk, or twitch, and while some cling to trees making rat-a-tat-tats, others build nests to escape “from sly cats.” Though some birds live in cages, “most birds are free. / A much better life, I’m sure you’ll agree.”

Image copyright Matt Spink, courtesy Matt Spink

Matt Spink’s sleek birds, each as shining as a stained glass window and as detailed as an Amish quilt or Native American carving, embody the distinct personalities that make these creatures so endearing. With expressions that will make kids giggle and brilliant color combinations that will inspire their creativity, Some Birds is a page-turner. Teetering on loooong knitting-needle-thin legs, a little ball of a bird with a teeny beak and scroll-work head and tail feathers humorously spans two pages. A green-and-white quail with a frilly orange topknot cranes her neck to get a better look (at you, the reader?). Two psychedelic friends flutter and flap as they compare plumage.

Matt Spink’s Some Birds is a mosaic of wonder for young and older readers, and would make a vibrant addition to home bookshelves. After all, who among us does not yearn to “fly free?”

Image copyright Matt Spink, courtesy Matt Spink

Ages 2 – 5

Harry Abrams, 2016 | ISBN 978-1419720703

Christmas Bird Count Activity

Feathered Friends Coloring Page

Watching birds flit and fly through the sky is a pleasure of being outdoors or just gazing through your window. Enjoy this printable Feathered Friends Coloring Page of a parent bird and their little one!

Picture Book Review