Wednesday, April 16, 2014

Nonfiction Picture Book Wednesday - HAVE YOU HEARD THE NESTING BIRD?

HAVE YOU HEARD THE NESTING BIRD? by Rita Gray and illustrated by Kenard Pak is a beautiful nonfiction picture book.  The warm earthtone hues are soft and inviting.  I seriously wanted to know more about this book because of the illustrations.  Kenard Pak used watercolors and digital media tools to create natural images to accompany the text.  

In the background of this story, the reader will follow a boy and a girl as they walk and play outside.  The boy and girl encounter numerous birds flying overhead and often observe an action they make as they fly, along with their sound.  However, they notice the nesting bird doesn't make a sound.  The nesting bird is a robin and sits for a very long time until a special event takes place.  I love how the message of patience and quiet brings good things.  

The end of the book as an interesting way to present information.  The last two pages are a question and answer format titled, A Word with the Bird.  I can see my students asking these same questions and having the answers written back with the voice of the robin is an interesting format for reader engagement.  This format might also be a format for sharing nonfiction learning.  HAVE YOU HJARD THE NESTING BIRD? would be a good book for a unit on backyard life science.  

Thank you Alyson for hosting Nonfiction Picture Book Wednesday.  I've been stalking since the new year, sharing nonfiction on Wednesday, and thought I should link up becoming an active participant.  I got a bit sidetracked with my Slice of Life Story Challenge for the month of March, it feels good to be back.

5 comments:

  1. Spring and birds seem to be in the air since there are 3 of us that are sharing bird books today! I loved the last 2 pages of this book. I had a lot of questions as I read the book and was so pleased to see most of them answered at the end!

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  2. This book looks really gorgeous. And I love the idea of using it as a model of how to share nonfiction learning. Thanks for sharing.

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  3. Oh wow, I love how most of the nonfiction contributions this week are about birds! This looks like a really gorgeous book. Thank you for sharing! :)

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  4. I've seen so many bird books in the posts today! I may be able to use this as a mentor text even in my college courses. Thanks for sharing.

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  5. I need this book with for the classroom studying birds right now!

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