Hello! Did you miss me last week? I missed me last week…did I just make this awkward? Well, last week Becky talked about how real life gets in the way of our plans sometimes. And that is exactly what happened to me. But it is a new week and we are just going to roll with it.

B is for Bird

The last two weeks with this letter have mostly been books. We have been super busy and the most I could manage was to get “read two bird books” onto the kids portion of our whiteboard daily to do list. See?

You know what cracks me up about that photo? I took it last Friday, fully planning to get that B post written and posted a day late. And now you know my secret to a happy life…learn to laugh at yourself. Seriously.

So now you know why I don’t have a great list of activities for you…we didn’t do any. OH WAIT! We did do some bird watching out our frozen windows. The birds were snuggled into the viburnum outside my bedroom window because it was COLD, with a capital C-O-L-D, here. So they didn’t fly off as we walked up. I felt sorry for them, but they were so fun to study like that.

B is for Bird Book List

Again, the Dewey decimal call number is listed after the book’s title and author in, parentheses and bold texted.

Bird Picture Books

• Soaring With the Wind: The Bald Eagle by Gail Gibbons (j598.943 qG441 1998) :: A book about the national bird of the USA.
• Parrots Over Puerto Rico by Susan L. Roth and Cindy Trumbore (j598.71 R845 2013) :: This is a beautifully illustrated book.
• Can You Find These Birds? by Carmen Bredeson and Lindsey Cousins (j598 B831 2012) :: This is short and was my toddler’s favorite. He loved the photographs.
• Olivia’s Birds: Saving the Gulf by Olivia Bouler (j598 B763 2011) :: Put out by Audubon, the illustrations are from the 11-year-old author. I’m impressed by this young lady’s talent, the pictures are fabulous.
• An Egg is Quiet by Dianna Aston (j591.468 qA857 2006) :: We have chickens and I find eggs fascinating. This book’s illustrations are lovely. We learned quite a bit from the book. My kids were quite excited about it.

Bird Houses & Feeders

• Secrets of Backyard Bird-Feeding Success by Deborah L. Martin (598.07234 M379 2011) :: I’ll likely end up buying this book. It covers what birds eat what types of feed and feeder basics. It has a section where it goes more in depth with many birds.
• The Complete Birdhouse Book by Donald and Lillian Stokes (598 qS874 1990) :: Another one that will probably end up on our shelves permanently. Covers the dimensions of houses needed for a good variety of birds. Lot of information in this one, too.

Bird Reference Books

• Peterson Field Guides for Young Naturalists: Birds of Prey by Jonathan P. Latimer and Karen Stray Nolting (j598.9 L357 1999) :: My oldest son (9) really liked this book. He’s all about birds of prey.
• What’s That Bird? Getting to Know the Birds Around You, Coast to Coast by Joseph Choiniere and Claire Mowbray Golding (j598 qC545 2005) :: A mixture of drawings and photographs (and a lot of them) illustrate this book. It is a good beginner’s guide to birding.
• Backyard Birds of Summer by Carol Lerner (j598.097 qL616 1996) :: I liked the illustrations in this one and the further reading section in the back.
• Bird: The Definitive Visual Guide from Audubon (598.0222 fB618 2007) :: This coffee table book is extensive and comes with a cd to hear a selection of bird calls. A beautiful book.

Birding Magazines

We even grabbed a couple bird magazines: Bird Watching and Birds & Blooms. These were fun additions.

Story Books About Birds

These aren’t “educational” so to speak, but they are fun stories about birds.

• Kung Pow Chicken: Let’s Get Cracking! by Cyndi Marko (jFiction Marko) :: This was for my boy who likes to read silly things. It fits the bill.
• Penguin and Pinecone: a Friendship Story by Salina Yoon (Easy Yoon) :: This is a cute story about a penguin and his pinecone. Cute.
• Jasper and Joop by Olivier Dunrea (Easy Dunrea) :: We love this series of books, they are just adorable.

B is for Bird Coloring Page

I made this fun coloring page with a graphic from Prettygrafik. I also have some fun birdie valentines coming for you tomorrow!

Download your now!

See you next week for more Alphabet Activities for All Ages!