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Mackfam
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Angel wrote:
MaryM wrote:
Here ia a definite. It's been a long since I read this one, but the Audrey Wood books are generally very good.
Birdsong - Audrey Wood |
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That looks like a beautiful book. This thread makes me want to pull out a bunch of bird books for the little boys! |
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I know!!! It's a bit of an odd time for us - we love really studying our birds in spring, and especially love our Backyard Birds of Winter! But this is a new focus - my big kids have worked on learning bird calls on their own, but my littles are really interested, too, and picture books are THE best vehicle! My 3yo KNOWS when she sees a Robin, and always says in the sweetest way, "Cheew-up-cheewiwee" and she knows a Chickadee's scolding little "chick-a-dee-dee-dee" when she gets too close to *their* Pussy Willow bushes.  Our Robins go south for the winter (even though we're here in North Alabama) so I know we'll lose them soon. But we actually have a lot of Barred Owls that live in the woods behind our house and sit on our house and call at night! The Barred Owl actually calls in the distinctive "Hoo-hoo-hoo" that we think of when we think *owl*, and I really want to learn more about the Barred owl and others since we do have a few other owl species around here! I KNOW that makes Mary  !!
Mary, Both those books look FANTASTIC!!! THANK YOU!!!
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JennGM
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I know it's not a book, Jen, but our library had Audobon VideoGuide to 505 Birds.
I mentioning this one because many of the birds there is someone giving the sounds in words, like "chick-a-dee-dee-dee".
My 3 year old is the same way, it has trained my ears. We can hear "Peter-peter-peter" of the tufted titmouse and the others you listed before we see them.
They aren't picture books, and I hope they haven't already been listed Bird Songs books have the recording and the write up for the bird. On most pages there is the sounds-like written. This is really how the boys and I have learned. (I apologize for linking to my blog post, but I didn't have time to track down all the links again.)
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MaryM
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Mackfam wrote:
| and I really want to learn more about the Barred owl and others since we do have a few other owl species around here! I KNOW that makes Mary |
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Yes, it does and makes us want to visit even more! 
The Owl Moon book has a Great Horned owl call - but as you mentioned, the barred and Great Horned calls are similar and both do include the hoo hoo - Barred just ends differently. I also just pulled out our Gail Gibbons Owls book and she has one page of calls - 4 owls (Barred, Snowy, Boreal, and Great Horned). Her books aren't "story" picture books but they are great non-fiction picture books - lots of information and engaging illustrations.
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MaryM
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Some books came in Friday so I was able to have a look and update.
I am sad to say that two of the book I thought had phonetic calls, didn't. They should because the books both focus on sounds and listening for the birds. They would be perfect books for including that. One is the Welcome Brown Bird book mentioned above. The main focus of the book is the listening and waiting for the thrush to return, so it talks about the song but never writes it in the text. Ironically, the other book about the Wood Thrush - Flute's Journey (which I listed in the migration thread) does include the warning calls - chur-chur-chur and rat-tat-tat. Together the two books are very complimentary.
The other book I though had a call in it is the Looking for Loons (also mentioned in migration thread). The boy wakes up and goes to wait for the loons to return - he is listening. Describes all kinds of sounds around him while he waits, but doesn't include specific loon call when one appears.
So now to the books that do have some phonetic calls in the text. I already mentioned United Tweets. It doesn't have as many as I thought but it does include a few. It is still a great bird (or state) book because it is just so fun. Only caution - if you have little bird callers learning the bird songs and they would be confused by the "Elvis" mockingbird from Mississippi singing, maybe you don't want to go there. Otherwise they might be expecting mockingbirds they see to sing "Red Roses for a Blue Lady" and say "Thankyouverymuch..."
Now one thing I did find between many of the books is that the "calls" as written aren't always consistent. In different books the calls might vary from the other books. For example the robin.
Jen already mentioned cheer-up-cheerilee from the book listed. In the books I'm reading it is also described as:
cheerily, cheer-up, cheerio
cheerily, cheer-up, cheer-up, cheerily, cheer-up
tut, tut, tut (which is a nesting. warning call)
So let's just say there is a lot of variety in the exact sound of the calls for many ofthe birds between the books. Hope that wouldn't be confusing.
Since I had seen the Betsy Franco Birdsongs book before but not read it in light of the negative reviews Jen mentioned above, I got that one again. It is lovely, and I highly recommend if as fitting this theme well. The criticisms I think are extreme. They say that many birds in the book are misidentified. That is because those people are being TOO literal. The author uses adjectives to describe some of the birds white-cheeked chickadees, red-capped woodpecker, chirping sparrow, etc.). Apparently those readers seem to think the author is saying those are the names even though they aren't cat[pitalized as the proper name of the bird. I do not read it that way at all. The authors seem to be taking general common birds and describing them - the end note would support that imo. Also, they do tend to use some of the alternate songs/calls - not necessarily the main one you would associate with the bird (as in the case of the robin tut, tut, tut) and sometime only use a shortened part of the call - like the dee, dee, dee of the chickadee - when the full call is more of the chick-a-dee-dee-dee. I still think it is an awesome book for the age reange it is targeted to.
Now a couple picture books that do actually have bird song/calls phonetic in the text.
Robin at Hickory Street (Dana Meachan Rau) - Story of a robin's return and attempts to find a place to build a nest. The call is written throughout the text in several places.
Elsie's Bird (Jane Yolen) - A theme of the book is the little girl's enjoyment of the sounds of the birds (and other things) where she lives in Boston. After her mother's death her father moves them to a sod house on the Nebraska prairie where she can't hear anything but silence. Eventually she has an experience where her ears and eyes are opened to the new world around her. With all the birds it describes I wish it included more of their calls, but is does have the black bird call - koo-a-lee, koo-a-lee. It is a really sweet book in general. One I had been meaning to mention anyway.
The Cuckoo's Haiku is not a story picture book, but it is a beautiful poetry picture book (recommended it here). Each page is a haiku about a different bird. I think the call is in only one of the actual poems. But the calls of many of the different birds are written in the side notes that artistically adorn the pages and identify the illustrations.
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Mackfam
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MaryM wrote:
| Now one thing I did find between many of the books is that the "calls" as written aren't always consistent. In different books the calls might vary from the other books. |
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I got some bird books with calls in them late last week, and I noticed this as well, Mary. I'm not sure I'm ever going to be able to say anything other than cheer-up-cheerilee for the Robin now. 
MaryM wrote:
| Since I had seen the Betsy Franco Birdsongs book before but not read it in light of the negative reviews Jen mentioned above, I got that one again. It is lovely, and I highly recommend if as fitting this theme well. The criticisms I think are extreme. They say that many birds in the book are misidentified. That is because those people are being TOO literal. The author uses adjectives to despcribe some of the birds white-cheeked chickadees, red-capped woodpecker, chirping sparrow, etc.). Apparently those readers seem to think the author is saying those are the names. I do not read it that way at all. The authors seem to be taking general common birds and describing them - the end note would support that imo. Also, they do tend to use some of the alternate songs/calls - not necessarily the main one you would associate with the bird (as in the case of the robin tut, tut, tut) and sometime only use a shortened part of the call - like the dee, dee, dee of the chickadee - when the full call is more of the chick-a-dee-dee-dee. I still think it is an awesome book for the age reange it is targeted to. |
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Oh, I'm very grateful for that review since this book looked so inviting! Thanks, Mary! And thanks for your other reviews - adding them to my working list!
I have a few I can review now, too, and I'm really excited about them!
This book is a real treasure for anyone that wants to learn about birdsongs, and the way they display the birds' song is wonderful. The first part of the book gives some great information about songbirds, why they sing, etc. The meat of the book is essentially a field guide with each of the 100 songbirds covered getting a full page spread. Each spread has a nice and very large illustration of the songbird, some notes on the bird, and for each of the 100 songbirds listed, there is a facts and features box. This box briefly details their behaviors, nest, food, habitat, but my FAVORITE PART is the phonetic song and the rhythm box, a feature I've never seen before!
The rhythm box uses simple lines to denote rising or dropping pitch, rapid or long notes, rollercoastering notes (up and down like a wave). The simple lines are placed directly over the phonetic bird song sounds just as you'd see words set to music. It really gives you a great idea of the song of the bird. We've really been enjoying this reference and I'm glad I got it! I bought my copy used for a song. ( pun intended!!)
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Angel wrote:
And this one looks like exactly what you want:
Bird Talk by Ann Jonas. |
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This is a fantastic book. The setting is definitely picture book, but there isn't really a narrative story within the book, however, the book does sort of tell a story through the pictures. It's really quite captivating.
The book covers 75+/- birds and their songs, and the Mockingbird makes repeated appearances. The only words are the songs of the birds shown in word captions above the bird. The pictures are fantastic and do lend themselves to learning the songs - an example the Carolina wren is pictured on a window ledge right outside a window. The foreground of the illustration has a teakettle humming away on the stove just inside the window and the Carolina Wren's sound is described as {tea-kettle, tea-kettle, tea-kettle, tea}. There are many illustrations-through-the setting associations like that throughout the book.
My one complaint is that the birds aren't identified on the page (they are illustrated very well, not cartoony, they're pictured quite realistically!) all you see is their call, and we aren't familiar with all the birds pictured. There is a very good index in the back that lists the page, the bird song and the bird singing it so that you can identify them. I've decided to just go through and in small print write with a sharpie next to the birds so I don't have to flip back and forth so much.
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MaryM wrote:
Here is a definite. It's been a long since I read this one, but the Audrey Wood books are generally very good.
Birdsong - Audrey Wood |
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This is an absolutely lovely book, and is illustrated just magnificently! In order to follow a variety of bird songs, the narrative has you follow children from all over throughout their day where they encounter different birdsongs. We are captivated by the illustrations which are just stunning and show the birds described in their typical habitats. Birdsong covers birds from North and South America. An added detail which I love is that the border of each page is illustrated with the state flower typical to the habitat of that bird. If you're familiar with Jan Brett books, it's similar to that - with the main image inset and then a detailed border illustrated all the way around the page like a frame. The back of the dustcover of this book shows a snapshop of each page in the book, listing the bird, the state flower, and the state. The book details 18 birds. Excellent book and I highly recommend it!
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I have a few more books I'm really excited about and I hope to review and add to this thread later this week! 
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When everyone is done sharing these fabulous books, can someone create a list of the recommended items? How about a few lists, like Not recommended, Good, Best?
My head is swimming trying to follow this thread!!!!!!!!
Or better yet, can you make a list in pinterest?
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LisaC
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We just finished reading about owls and I just returned all our owl books so I'm not sure which owl make this call or which book: "Who cooks for you, Who cooks for you all" We think it might be from Jim Arnosky's All About Owls?
Oh, and just found this link so it seems it's the Barred Owl.
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LisaC wrote:
We just finished reading about owls and I just returned all our owl books so I'm not sure which owl make this call or which book: "Who cooks for you, Who cooks for you all" We think it might be from Jim Arnosky's All About Owls?
Oh, and just found this link so it seems it's the Barred Owl. |
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Yes, it's the Barred.
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MaryM wrote:
I am sad to say that two of the book I thought had phonetic calls, didn't. They should because the books both focus on sounds and listening for the birds.
The other book I though had a call in it is the Looking for Loons (also mentioned in migration thread). The boy wakes up and goes to wait for the loons to return - he is listening. Describes all kinds of sounds around him while he waits, but doesn't include specific loon call when one appears.
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I have to correct myself here - and say that there is a phonetic call in the text of this book. When I read it quickly last week it appeared to be the sound of the bird dropping into the water - because the line above indicated that. But on rereading it tonight, I see that it is a phonetic call. Caooooooooooom. When I look up loon calls online there are several different types. It seems this is the wail.
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Sing, Nightingale, Sing! by Francoise de Guibert (A book and CD for discovering the birds of the world).
This is really an international bird call book. I got it and thought, I don't know many of these birds, because I'm used to field guides geared to the US. This one has birds from all over - common ones, but not common to every continent. There are several different sections devoted to different types of environments (garden, forest, wetlands, sea) with a little narrative that ties those together. That is the part that is "picture-bookish". The rest of the book is the narratives about each bird . User friendly for a young bird watcher. Has a CD that goes with it identify the call of each bird. And some of the narratives have the phonetic calls written out.
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Not a book but a really cute game that could be a good stocking stuffer for your bird lovers.
We've had it for a few weeks and my 6 and 8 year olds love it.
There are downloadable versions online too.
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Lita Judge has a newly published picture book which fits this category. It's called Bird Talk: What Birds are Saying and Why. This is how it starts out:
Quote:
Chirp, warble, quack, coo, rattle, screech!
In backyards, meadows, and forests, the air is filled with bird talk.
But what are they saying? |
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Not all the birds discussed have actual "sounds" depicted in the text, but about a third do. It also includes non-auditory communication in describing how birds "talk." I really enjoyed it. It has lovely illustrations. Lita Judge is a fairly recent author/illustrator steadily publishing picture books over the last 5 or so years. I look forward to each new book - if you aren't familiar, check her out.
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We read this one...we did enjoy it, but it wasn't my favorite. From what I remember, she was implying that birds have a language and talk like humans do. I thought that was confusing presentaiton for a child.
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Jennifer G. Miller
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JennGM wrote:
| We read this one...we did enjoy it, but it wasn't my favorite. From what I remember, she was implying that birds have a language and talk like humans do. I thought that was confusing presentaiton for a child. |
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I should clarify. We really loved it. The images were terrific, and we loved being able to parse bird calls. It was just the end of the book that left me a little disappointed.
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JennGM wrote:
JennGM wrote:
| We read this one...we did enjoy it, but it wasn't my favorite. From what I remember, she was implying that birds have a language and talk like humans do. I thought that was confusing presentaiton for a child. |
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I should clarify. We really loved it. The images were terrific, and we loved being able to parse bird calls. It was just the end of the book that left me a little disappointed. |
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Thanks for the clarification. I think one does need to read it to see what you are saying. I tend not to like "word" assigned to animals but in this book once I really read it it didn't bother me. In the cases where she uses words to indicate what a bird might be saying it comes from really specific behavioral observations of birds - they do seem to be communicating that.
So, I'm assuming you are talking about the last section where she (Judge) discusses birds that are mimics - and one parrot in particular that exhibited vocalization that seemed to indicate more than mimicry. It's actually very interesting to watch video of Alex, the parrot. What is going on here? - I don't know...
The end of the book Judge says: "Whether they sound like people or sing a song, birds are talking just like you!" I agree that is unfortunate word choice - it isn't just like humans, but I understand it to be they are communicating - communicaiton is a common trait. It just isn't "just like us" though. I don't think she is really implying an equality of natures.
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MaryM wrote:
The end of the book Judge says: "Whether they sound like people or sing a song, birds are talking just like you!" I agree that is unfortunate word choice - it isn't just like humans, but I understand it to be they are communicating - communicaiton is a common trait. It just isn't "just like us" though. I don't think she is really implying an equality of natures.
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Yes, that's the part exactly. It is a poor choice of words, and it seemed to take a leap from the whole book, but my boys were discussing this and I had to clarify. I wouldn't have made a big deal except that my boys did take it literally.
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Very cute, newly published picture book.
Have You Heard the Nesting Bird? by Rita Gray
The rhythmic text has bird sounds for about a dozen different common birds. It contrasts those birds to a nesting robin that is quiet. End notes talk about why a nesting bird is quiet and other facts about nesting birds.
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4Real Forums : Picture Book Discoveries
Topic: Bird Picture Books w/Bird Call Sounds
