Australian Backyard Birdies is a non-fiction book with a bit of a difference.

It’s a ‘somewhat factual’ field guide to some of the birds you might find near where you live.

Birds like the White Ibis (also known as a bin chicken), Willie Wagtail, and Seagulls (which the book also calls beach chickens).

Each bird has a double-page spread which includes a picture of the starring bird and a map of Australia showing where the bird can be found.

There’s also a colour palette highlighting the bird’s features, and pictures that explain the bird’s size in comparison to a bucket.

The bird’s scientific name is included, along with a couple of facts. Some facts are a little different to what you might expect in an information book. 

The illustrations are soft and a little bit quirky, and the birds’ eyes peer out from the pages at the reader looking at them.

As you read Australian Backyard Birdies, it’s like author and illustrator, Andy Geppert is chatting with you, and adding a dash of humour, too. The humour is a good example of the dad jokes referred to on the page about the kookaburra. Watch out for the giant inflatable swan that’s included!

Readers will find many of the facts quite memorable. Especially those like a bush turkey’s nest mound being able to be bigger than your mum’s car!

Australian Backyard Birdies is a good introduction to birds for young children, and could be used as a nature activity at school or at home in the backyard. It can also be a prompt for discovering the truth about each of the birds.

Title: Australian Backyard Birdies
Author/Illustrator: Andy Geppert
Publisher: Lothian Children’s Books, $ 19.99
Publication Date: July 2021
Format: Hardcover
ISBN: 9780734420695
For ages: 4-8 year olds
Type: Junior Non-Fiction

July 25, 2021 at 12:33AM Unknown