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Have You Heard the Nesting Bird? by Rita Gray Book Review

Have You Heard the Nesting Bird? by Rita Gray
Illustrations by Kenard Pak
Publishers: HMH Books for Young Readers
Release Date: March 18, 2014

Woodpecker calls from a tree, "cuk-cuk-cuk." Starling sings, "whistle-ee-wee." But have you heard the nesting bird?

Writing out bird sounds is hard. I mean, a Crow is easy, but a Starling? I'm afraid this story really didn't work for me though. Although this could be a nice introduction to bird songs, I just couldn't "hear" them. Then, there would be these rhyming stanzas about the robin, which always felt out of place and awkward when spoken aloud. The illustrations were beautiful, but muted. Although I loved the color palate, at time the images felt a bit stiff, lacking the feeling of movement, which I think is important for a book about birds. The story itself was cute, but not very engaging.


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