Review by Booklist Review
Beguiling illustrations will draw readers to this unusual book, which looks at the communications of backyard birds as well as more exotic varieties. Judge offers a series of large pencil drawings, tinted with colors and shown against white backgrounds. Each illustration shows one or more birds communicating with others of their kind, such as male blue-footed boobies dancing to attract a mate or a purple finch calling to warn its flock about a nearby hawk. While there is little unifying text, the examples themselves are intriguing and the explanations are informative. Best of all, the precisely drawn, engaging pictures bring the birds to life on the page. The book concludes with a list of the species shown, along with tiny pictures and bits of information on their characteristics, habits, habitats, and ranges. A glossary and a short list of references are also appended. A visually appealing introduction to bird communication.--Phelan, Carolyn Copyright 2010 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
With humor and sensitivity, Judge translates the secret language of birds, both verbal and nonverbal, that they use to attract mates, communicate with partners or offspring, and thwart predators. "I have the most experience. I'll make the best mate," says the male American robin through the hundreds of different songs that he sings; a palm cockatoo, "a regular one-man hard-rock band," whistles and bangs a stick against a tree to deliver the message, "Stay away! This is my tree"; and a flamingo parent urges its chick to break out of the egg. Set against matte white backdrops, Judge's illustrations are simultaneously naturalistic and joyful, pairing well with her storyteller's flair. Appended pages share additional information about each of the birds. Ages 6-9. (Mar.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 3-5-Birds use their voices, physical features, and their movements in varied ways to express themselves to their mates, their children, others of their species, and predators endangering them. This cheerful picture-book introduction cites numerous examples from many parts of the world. Explanations are brief and bright in tone. "A Palm Cockatoo is a regular one-man hard-rock band. He whistles and bobs his head. Then he breaks off a stick to drum against a tree. The message is clear to other males, `Stay away! This is MY tree.'" Judge adds energy, humor, and occasional elegance in her vigorous color-shaded drawings. The large gray Palm Cockatoo with its rosy cheek patches and burst of top-knot feathers is a homely, stern defender of his branch. Some pages introduce two birds while others fill a whole page. A few get the whole spread. More than half of the 28 species reside in North America. Each has been chosen to represent an aspect of communication-greetings, warnings, mating signals, or contacts between parents and their young. A concluding pictorial glossary gives the species name of each bird (not all are named when they first appear), adding a brief note on its behavior and stating its habitat and range. A quick introduction to our ever-expanding knowledge of animal communication, this is also a fun glimpse at the variety among the world's birds.-Margaret Bush, Simmons College, Boston (c) Copyright 2012. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
Judge introduces younger readers to the ways in which birds communicate, and the reasons why they do so, with examples selected from a variety of bird species. The examples are organized into categories with humorous, to-the-point headings: "pick me" for communication used to attract a mate, for example, and "over here" for talk used in raising young. The striking illustrations deftly portray communication as a whole-body endeavor, capturing the expressions, movements, and positions at key points in the messages that birds send within and across species. Combined with the array of gorgeous colors displayed by the featured species, the overall effect is magical, as Judge conveys the essence of communication and the beauty of the birds without overly anthropomorphizing them. Additional facts about each species, along with its habitat and range, are found in the final pages, as are a glossary, a bibliography, and an author's note. danielle j. ford (c) Copyright 2012. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
(Informational picture book. 3-8)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
