Behold the hummingbird

Suzanne Slade

Book - 2024

"Hummingbirds are tiny and pretty, so you might find yourself taking them for granted. But these little birds are remarkable, fierce, and talented. In Behold the Hummingbird, readers will learn about species that can hover like a helicopter, fly backwards and upside down, and consume half their body weight in a single day"--

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Location Call Number   Status
Children's Room New Shelf j598.764/Slade (NEW SHELF) Checked In
Subjects
Genres
Juvenile works
Illustrated works
Published
Atlanta, Georgia : Peachtree Publishing Company Inc 2024.
Language
English
Main Author
Suzanne Slade (author)
Other Authors
Thomas Gonzalez, 1959- (illustrator)
Edition
First edition
Physical Description
1 volume (unpaged) : color illustrations ; 25 x 29 cm
Audience
Ages 4-8
Grades K-1
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN
9781682636527
Contents unavailable.
Review by Booklist Review

Welcome to the wee world of hummingbirds! There are over 353 different types of these diminutive dynamos, and this immersive introduction takes on 12 of these species, imparting general hummingbird knowledge while also giving each of the 12 birds a moment to shine. Superpowers are revealed, like incredible wing speed (80 beats per minute) and the ability to fly backwards and hover like a helicopter. Incredibly intimate depictions immediately immerse the reader; tiny babies beg for food from their minuscule mother, flashy rivals fiercely battle for territory, and an adorable Anna's Hummingbird snoozes in the snow. This beautiful book works for a wide age range, containing both a bolded lyrical text for the younger crowd and more elaborate paragraphs in a smaller font for an older audience. Stunning pastel, colored-pencil, and airbrushed illustrations look real enough to touch, and the hazy bird wings seem to actually beat a mile a minute. Each splendid spread spotlights a different aspect of hummingbird existence and another striking species. An impressive introduction to a mind-boggling bird.

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review

Page-filling hummingbird close-ups populate this appreciation from the team behind Behold the Octopus! "Hummingbirds only live in the Americas," Slade explains in back matter, and each spread of this picture book depicts one of only a dozen featured, from an Anna's hummingbird conserving energy to a red-tailed comet busy pollinating. Informational content arrives in parallel text: oversize action words on the left ("feeding," "resting") accompany facts, at right, about these "aerial acrobats" who "fly backward and hover in one place like a helicopter" as well as "maneuver up and down like an elevator." Working in pastel, colored pencil, and airbrush, Gonzalez realistically pictures the birds visiting tropical flowers, sparring, or perching amid twigs, while blurred backgrounds hint at greenery. It's a basic introduction that falls short of depicting the variety and diversity of the hummingbird kingdom. Ages 4--8. (Apr.)

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