Bernie Goedhart
Forget the first crocus or the first buds on a tree. For me, a true sign of spring is pigeon poop on my balcony and incessantly cooing pigeons on the windowsills. This year, they’ve come and gone several times, what with the iffy weather, but when the snow finally leaves, the pigeons are back. Hence, my preoccupation with bird books:
Stop Feedin’ da Boids!
James Sage, illustrated by Pierre Pratt
Kids Can Press
This is a colourful picture book about Swanda, who moves from the country to an urban setting — Brooklyn, to be exact — with her dog, Waldo, and soon discovers she misses the wildlife she has left behind. So when she encounters a flock of little birds on her fire escape, she sets up a bird feeder. But that attracts even more avian visitors, including pigeons too big for the feeder who then take up residence on the windowsills and fire escape steps where they – you guessed it! — coo and poop. It doesn’t take long before Mr. Kaminski, the building superintendent, and Swanda’s neighbours voice their complaints, and — as the title makes clear — demand a solution. Montreal’s Pierre Pratt has done a great job of illustrating this book, his stylized art clearly capturing the humour of the surprise twist at the end. Ages three to seven.
Dr. Coo and the Pigeon Protest
Sarah Hampson, illustrated by Kass Reich
Kids Can Press
Author and illustrator, both based in Toronto, tackle the situation from the birds’ point of view, with Dr. Coo — “a big-city kind of pigeon” who knew how to get around and “how to land in just the right places” — citing historical times when pigeons were treated with respect, and even praised for their heroism as messengers during wars. The birds, determined to regain that respect, stage a public protest and propose a way to co-exist in peace and mutual benefit (the poop, for example, to be used as compost). Ages four to eight.
The Triumphant Tale of the House Sparrow []
Jan Thornhill
Groundwood Books
This book takes the spotlight off pigeons and puts it squarely on the humble sparrow with the opening sentence: “Behold the most despised bird in human history!” Personally, I’d rather have a flock of sparrows on my windowsills than those annoying pigeons, but Thornhill proceeds to make her case with 19 double-page spreads of art and historic facts about the little birds, and three additional pages of information about not only the somewhat endangered house sparrows but also other “wild animals that choose to live with us.” The text is lengthier than in most picture books but, by its nature, is aimed at older readers and presented in such a way that even those who don’t normally gravitate to non-fiction will find the content of interest. Ages eight to 12.
This is the Nest That Robin Built
Denise Fleming
Beach Lane Books
This brings us back to fiction (albeit based on fact, since it illustrates a bird’s nest-building techniques). Patterned after the well-known cumulative verse about Jack and his house-building skills, author/illustrator Fleming uses her distinctive printmaking techniques combined with collage to depict the way Robin’s friends (Squirrel, Dog, Horse, Pig, Mouse and Rabbit), contribute to the creation of a nest where three hungry nestlings emerge from small blue eggs, grow into fledglings and unceremoniously set off on their own one day. Ages three to eight.
This is the Nest That Robin Built []
Cao Wenxuan, translated by Chloe Garcia Roberts, illustrated by Roger Mello
Elsewhere Editions
A slim, horizontal hardcover book with glossy pages of varying colours and a sophisticated design format that allows for dramatic layouts, the opening pages consist of introductory notes from author and illustrator, preparing the reader for the philosophical question embedded in this little gem of a book about a feather that tries to determine its origins. With stunning images of various birds ranging from mallard to peacock to heron, the hopeful little feather is repeatedly told that no, she is not theirs. But skylark takes pity on the little lost feather, whose dream is to fly high in the sky. Taking her in its beak, the skylark soars through the clouds and releases Feather so they can float down together. But before they reach the ground, they encounter a hawk. Not only does the feather get another “no” in response to her question, but the hawk attacks the skylark and Feather loses the only one who has shown her kindness. Begging the wind to carry her away, she eventually lands in a farmer’s field and, at long last, gets the answer to her question. For all ages.
Plume
Isabelle Simler
Eerdmans Books
This book has minimal text but beautiful art. Originally published in France, its endpapers depict various feathers (23 in the front, ranging from turtledove and buzzard to sparrow and sandpiper; 19 in the back, ranging from pheasant to parakeet and finch to flamingo). Double-page spreads inside show individual birds and sophisticated art and layout. Young readers will probably catch on to the surprise Simler has built into those double-page spreads long before adult readers spot it and arrive at the non-feathered conclusion of this beautiful, oversize picture book. All ages, but especially two to five.
Charles
Stephen Hume, illustrated by Jessica Bromley Bartram
Fitzhenry & Whiteside
Scheduled for release May 1, this is the story of a little girl who finds an injured crow and nurses it back to health. It becomes her companion and friend. When it inevitably returns to nature, she longs for it to come back. One night it does, bringing her a gift. This book is colourfully illustrated in a naïf fashion. Ages three to eight.