Timely Take-aways for Life-Long Learning: Birds and Birders

Several new and upcoming books explore the world of birds and birders. From naturalists and scientists to backyard birders, these books explore the wide range of ways people connect with birds.

Best Little Book of Birds: The Oregon Coast

Sarah Swanson, 2022, Timber Press, an imprint of Hachette Book Group

Themes: Nature, Birds

Organized into 25 short chapters, readers learn about bird families found on the Oregon Coast. The first book in a new series of pocket-sized birding guides, this book provides quality photographs, useful icons, and short text blocks with key bird information.

Take-aways: Introduce students to birding through this appealing new field guide series. 

Audubon at Sea

Edited by Christoph Irmscher & Richard J. King, 2022, University of Chicago Press

Themes: Nature, Birds

Weaving together Audubon’s writings and artwork, the editors explore this famous artist and naturalist’s connect with the sea and waterbirds.

Take-aways: Explore this book for examples of the challenges educators and students face in addressing the legacy of naturalists such as Audubon who killed for his art.

Woman, Watching: Louise de Kiriline Lawrence and the Songbirds of Pimisi Bay

Merilyn Simonds, 2022, ECW Press, an imprint of Baker & Taylor Publisher Services

Themes: Biography, Naturalist, Birds

While living in an isolated cabin in Ontario, Canada, Louise de Kiriline Lawrence worked as a nurse then devoted her life to studying birds. The author connects the life story of this pioneer of ornithology with her own passion for songbirds.

Take-aways: Use Lawrence and Simonds as examples of how naturalists yesterday and today contribute to our understanding of birds through their observations and citizen science.

Flight Paths: How a Passionate and Quirky Group of Pioneering Scientists Solved the Mystery of Bird Migration

Rebecca Heisman, 2023, Harper, an imprint of HarperCollins

Themes: Nature, Birds

From bird banding to DNA markers, explore the little-known story of the scientists who pieced together the puzzle of bird migration. Crossing generations and disciplines, this fascinating discovery was made possible through the synergy of collaboration to address a complex problem.

Take-aways: Use this story as an example of the power of collaboration to tackle scientific challenges. Also, use it to share how scientific discoveries build on one another.

Whether helping educators keep up-to-date in their subject-areas, promoting student reading in the content-areas, or simply encouraging nonfiction leisure reading, teacher librarians need to be aware of the best new titles across the curriculum and how to activate life-long learning. - Annette Lamb

Website Review: Guide to North American Birds

The GUIDE TO NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS from Audubon provides high-quality information about birds.

Based on well-respected field guides, the website contains information about hundreds of birds. Users can search for a particular bird or explore by taxonomic family or region. For each entry, students can read facts, explore a gallery of photos, listen to birdsong, and video a map.

Librarians will find this website to be a valuable resource for student researchers. Ask students to compare what they find at the website with information found in a print guide or on Wikipedia.

The resource is also available as an app through the App Store or Google Play.

To visit the website, go to https://www.audubon.org/bird-guide.

Book Review: A Beginner's Guide to Bear Spotting

A BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO BEAR SPOTTING by Michelle Robinson is an adorable picture book adventure.

Robinson’s quirky approach to storytelling is sure to entice young readers. An adorable child narrator carrying a field guide provides readers with useful and sometimes silly information about identifying and interacting with bears in the forest.

David Robert’s use of graph paper, appealing typography, and endearing characters make the book particularly appealing.

Librarians will find a large audience for this outdoor adventure. Pair the book with animal books and field guides for a fun display. The field-note theme has lots of possibilities for science projects and nature connections. Encourage children to write their own story about a favorite animal encounter incorporating both fact and fiction.

To learn more about the author, go to http://michellerobinson.co.uk/.

Published by Bloomsbury on February 9, 2016. ARC courtesy of the publisher.

Book Review: Ultimate Explorer Field Guides

ULTIMATE EXPLORER FIELD GUIDES is a new series from National Geographic Kids. These pocket-sized books are great for beginning naturalists looking for hands-on experiences. Each field guide is chuck-full of fascinating information.

From pelicans to cardinals, BIRDS by Julie Beer features dozens of well-known birds. The bird entry pages including photos, range maps, descriptions, special characteristics, interesting facts, and help with classification. The book concludes with a glossary, resources, a quick ID guide, and an index. Although birds are grouped into color coded families, this feature is easy to miss.

ROCKS & MINERALS by Nancy Honovich examines a wide range of rocks and minerals found around the world. The book begins with an overview of rock hounding tools and the basics of mineral identification. Minerals are then grouped into categories such as silicates and carbonates. After an introduction to rocks and the rock cycle, readers learn about igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary rocks. The sections on fossils and dinosaur bones are likely to be popular with young readers. The book ends with a quick ID guide, glossary, resources, and an index.

Librarians as well as young readers will appreciate the durable book covers and compact format. Set up a spring display with a variety of field guides that encourage children to get outside and explore the natural world. Connect with STEM standards and real-world world science activities.

Published by National Geographic Kids on February 9, 2016. ARC courtesy of the publisher.

App Review: LeafSnap

LEAFSNAP is a comprehensive field guide app focusing on tree species and their leaves.

Developed by researchers at Columbia University, University of Maryland, and Smithsonian Institution, the free app includes high-resolution images of leaves, flowers, fruits, petioles, seeds, and bark to help with tree identification. An onscreen ruler, color guide, and leaf pattern legend is useful in leaf identification.

The Browse section allows users to search for a particular tree and organize trees by common or scientific name. Users can also switch among the leaf mode and other views.

Using location software and mapping tools, the app will identify trees in your area. However this feature is only effective in some areas.

Users can take photos of leaves and create their own database of leaf photos for quick reference. In addition, the app uses visual recognition software to help identify trees based on photographs of their leaves.

Librarians will find this app to be a great addition to their science app collection. Both iPhone and iPad versions are available.

To download the app, go to https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/leafsnap/id430649829?mt=8.