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Birds

Front Cover
113 Reviews
Greenwillow Books, Feb 9, 2009 - Nature - 32 pages
Fascinated by the colors, shapes, sounds, and movements of the many different birds she sees through her window, a little girl is happy to discover that she and they have something in common.

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5 stars
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Editorial Review - Publishers Weekly vol. 255 iss. 50 p. 52 (c) 12/15/2008

Husband-and-wife team Henkes and Dronzek (Oh! ) record random thoughts about birds, enlivened by vignettes of thickly outlined bird shapes feathered with primary-school paintbox colors. Observations as spare as haiku—“Sometimes, in winter, a bird in a tree looks like one red leaf left over”—are pictured wistfully; here, a cardinal perches, leaf-like, on a high branch of a leafless tree. The appeal throughout is Henkes's ability to channel the way young children think (“If birds made marks with their tail feathers when they flew, think what the sky would look like”) and see (“If there are lots of birds in one tree and they all fly away at the same time, it looks like the tree yelled, 'SURPRISE!' ”). Although the artwork most often follows the text's lead, richer moments come when Dronzek steps forward and does the imagining. “If clouds were birds, the sky would look like this,” Henkes writes; with a dry, loosely wielded brush, Dronzek paints bird-shaped silhouettes of clouds tinted the same color as the setting sun they soar over. A kind of book of meditations for the very young, its reflective tone and peaceful illustrations make this an excellent bedtime choice. Ages 2–5. (Mar.)  

Review: Birds

User Review  - Keia Arnold - Goodreads

I liked at the beginning of the book when the narrator describes all types of different birds. This can illustrate to children how all people are different. No one is exactly alike and everyone is beautiful in his or her own way. Read full review

Editorial Review - Publishers Weekly vol. 255 iss. 50 p. 52 (c) 12/15/2008

Husband-and-wife team Henkes and Dronzek (Oh! ) record random thoughts about birds, enlivened by vignettes of thickly outlined bird shapes feathered with primary-school paintbox colors. Observations as spare as haiku—“Sometimes, in winter, a bird in a tree looks like one red leaf left over”—are pictured wistfully; here, a cardinal perches, leaf-like, on a high branch of a leafless tree. The appeal throughout is Henkes's ability to channel the way young children think (“If birds made marks with their tail feathers when they flew, think what the sky would look like”) and see (“If there are lots of birds in one tree and they all fly away at the same time, it looks like the tree yelled, 'SURPRISE!' ”). Although the artwork most often follows the text's lead, richer moments come when Dronzek steps forward and does the imagining. “If clouds were birds, the sky would look like this,” Henkes writes; with a dry, loosely wielded brush, Dronzek paints bird-shaped silhouettes of clouds tinted the same color as the setting sun they soar over. A kind of book of meditations for the very young, its reflective tone and peaceful illustrations make this an excellent bedtime choice. Ages 2–5. (Mar.)  

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About the author (2009)

Kevin Henkes was born in Racine, Wis. in 1960 and graduated from the University of Wisconsin at Madison. One of four children in his family, Henkes grew up with aspirations of being an artist. As a junior in high school, one of Henkes's teachers awakened his interest in writing. Falling in love with both writing and drawing, Henkes realized that he could do both at the same time as a children's book author and illustrator. At the age of 19, Henkes went to New York City to get his first book, All Alone, published. Since that time, he has written and illustrated dozens of picture books including Chrysanthemum, Protecting Marie, and A Weekend with Wendell. A recurring character in several of Henkes's books is Lily, an outrageous, yet delightful, individualist. Lily finds herself the center of attention in the books Chester's Way, Julius, the Baby of the World, and Lily's Purple Plastic Purse. A Weekend With Wendell was named Children's Choice Book by the Children's Book Council in 1986. He recieved the Elizabeth Burr Award for Words of Stone in 1993.

LAURA DRONZEK is a painter whose work has been exhibited nationally and award-winning children's book illustrator of titles like Tippy-Toe Chick, Go! and White Is for Blueberry. Laura lives with her husband, author-illustrator Kevin Henkes, in Madison, Wisconsin.

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