Review: How to Make a Bird

Have you ever wanted to build something? Taken all the pieces of that thing you wanted to make and put them lovingly together? 

It’s hard work, and it doesn’t always work out how you want it to. But that’s part of being a creator.

How to Make a Bird is a wow picture book. It gives you tingles as you read it. It’s one of those picture books that speaks to people in different ways but leaves an impression no matter the audience. 

Review: Bird to Bird

Bird to Bird begins with a seed being dropped by a bird. It's followed by a journey that traces what happens to the tree that grows as a result.

The tree is eventually chopped down and sent to the city where it is turned into bunks on a convict ship.

When the ship arrives at its destination, the wood on board is recycled on land, first as a weaving loom, then a supporting beam in a house.

As time continues to pass, and the wood ages with its surroundings, it is salvaged by a crafter who turns it into a wooden bird.

Who is Ivy Bird? Interview with Tania McCartney and Jess Racklyeft

Ivy Bird from Two Points of View

To celebrate the release of Ivy Bird, we've come up with something a little something different. We thought we’d offer our perspectives on Ivy Bird—from an author POV and an illustrator POV. These responses are imagined by each of us, and there was no collaboration in the creation of this interview!

Tania McCartney and Jess Racklyeft

What kind of kid is Ivy?
T: She’s creative, mercurial (was going to say ‘flighty’!), curious and huge-hearted.
J: A free spirited, nature-loving whirlwind.

Review: The Go-Away Bird

The Go-Away bird is prickly, proud and dismissive. She thinks she needs no one. When the gentle green Chit-Chat bird approaches her with friendship and warm conversation in mind, it is thought to be too chatty, and is told to go away!

Then the sweet red Peck-Peck bird wants to share its plenty of plump juicy red berries. She insults it by saying your eyes are too beady, and that it is greedy, so it must go away!

The beautiful blue Flip-Flap bird wants to whirl and fly high into the sky with the Go-Away bird. But for the third time, a would-be friend is chased away.

Blog Tour: Review: Bird

Nothing matters.
Only Bird matters.
And he flew away.

Jewel has lived her whole life in her brother’s shadow. Her brother John, known by everyone as Bird, died on the day Jewel was born. At 12 years old, Jewel has only known life as part of a family shattered by grief, anger and unforgiveness. Jewel’s grandfather hasn’t spoken since Bird died and her parents seem to exist in an uneasy truce with each other and themselves.

Into this fragile situation comes John, a young boy Jewel meets when she is escaping temporarily from the tension at home on her birthday, which is also the anniversary of Bird’s death. With John, Jewel finally feels a sense of connection and acceptance. She can be herself and believes that John values their friendship as she does.

When Jewel discovers that John hasn’t been honest with her, will she be able to return to the half-life at home, or has this glimpse of affection and purpose made it impossible for her to continue accept the shadows that haunt her family?

Review: This Bird: Noticing Our Urban Birds

‘Oooooo … doo-doo-doo-whipp!’

‘Pew pew.’

That's the call of an eastern whipbird, one of the many wonderful birds I hear living in the Blue Mountains in NSW. 

Also full of vibrant native birds is a new book called, This Bird: Noticing Our Urban Birds, created to help identify and celebrate birds in our backyards, local parks and streets. 

This Bird is written and illustrated by Astred Hicks in collaboration with Dr Holly Parsons, an ecologist and community educator. The book is a stunning way to connect with nature and be in the present moment.

Review: Scary Bird

Change can be scary. Sometimes, meeting new people can be scary, too.

In Scary Bird, the residents of an aviary are suddenly confronted with a new bird. 

The new bird is scary! 

Although he eats and cleans and rests the same as the other birds, he looks different, and sounds different.

The other birds get themselves in a flap.

They worry about the new bird eating their food, sharing their living space and bringing his different ways to the aviary.

Review: The Lion and the Bird

The Lion and the Bird is a very beautifully produced book. The soft and calm illustrations pair perfectly with the succinct wording to tell the story of an injured bird left behind by his flock as they migrate at the end of autumn. Lion finds bird and takes care of him over the long and cold winter, though they both come to find that “the cold isn’t so bad when you’re together”.

When the flock returns, bird has recovered and rejoins his family, leaving Lion with a loneliness that was not previously part of his solitary existence. The use of large white spaces, and on occasion completely blank pages, throughout the illustrations work well in adding further emotional depth to the story, portraying Lion’s loneliness in a way that seeps right into your heart and settles in to stay.

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them/Quidditch Through the Ages

Title: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them/Quidditch Through the Ages

Author: J.K. Rowling

Publisher: Bloomsbury, A$13.99

Format: Softcover

Language: English

ISBN: 9781408803011 / 9781408803028

For ages: 8+

Type: Junior Fiction

About: Having voraciously read all the Harry Potter books, I must admit it didn’t even dawn on me to pick up a copy of the companion novelettes – Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and Quidditch Through the Ages.

I guess I thought they were really reserved for Pottermaniacs (okay, so I’m also a Pottermaniac but certainly not to the degree of those of lesser age than mine - I do like to mix it up with Italian cookbooks and seventeenth Century history). As both books have been recently re-released with brand new covers, I thought it high time I launched myself into their pages.

And lo – it was fun in there.

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, a textbook written for the Hogwarts students by Newt Scamander, is a beastly good read. With a foreword by Albus Dumbledore, a brief history of Muggle awareness of magical beasts, Ministry of Magic classifications and a comprehensive A-Z listing of all manner of paranormal creatures, any aspiring wizard would be adequately armed against any manner of beast from the Flobberworm (rating X) to the Chinese Fireball dragon (rating XXXXX).

Pre-warned is certainly pre-armed, but learning more about these various creatures is also quite entertaining and will provide plenty of fodder for discussion over a butterbeer or pumpkin juice.

Did you know, for example, that the centaurs voluntarily requested to be classified as ‘beasts’ rather than ‘beings’ due to their unwillingness to share ‘being’ status with such undesirables as hags and vampires? Did you also know that the song of the Fwooper bird will eventually drive a listener to insanity?

A really lovely thing about this particular edition of Fanastic Beasts is that it has been released complete with legitimate scrawlings by Potter, Weasley and Granger. A true keepsake, if there ever was one.

Quidditch Through the Ages by Kennilworthy Whisp, I must admit, was not really my forté. I do prefer to watch Quidditch from the sidelines and wouldn’t dream of participating, however I did, nonetheless, find it interesting to read about the game’s rules and how the game formed over the centuries.

Of particular interest was how Quidditch spread worldwide. Did you know that Quidditch was believed to have reached Australia sometime in the eighteenth Century? The Thundelarra Thunderers and the Wollongong Warriors are said to be our finest teams, having dominated the Australian League for the past 100 years.

It was also interesting to see the game morph from the archaic to the modern. For example, the Golden Snidget, a protected species of bird, was first used in place of the Golden Snitch, though its use was soon outlawed when the bird was brought to the brink of extinction (beating the bird to death was how you won the game).

Other Quidditch equipment has also morphed over time, as well as the style of broom used in play – with the Nimbus remaining the ultimate racing broom.

All in all, regardless of whether you are magical, a Muggle or just a wizard wannabe, these textbooks are sure to bring a little bit of magic to your world.

This review first appeared, in part, at Australian Women Online.

Author website

Teachers' Notes for Quidditch Through the Ages

Teachers' Notes for Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

Look What I'm Reading! Claire Saxby

Claire Saxby writes fiction, non-fiction and poetry for children. She has too many brothers but just the right number of sons. She lives in a house with too many bedrooms and just the right number of husbands. She finds inspiration all around her. Her latest books include Bird to Bird (illustrated by Wayne Harris, Black Dog Books) and Dingo (illustrated by Tannya Harricks, Walker Books Australia).

Which children’s book are you currently reading?

I have two enormous piles of books, one by my bed; the other in my office. I’m often reading more than one at a time. And then there’s research. But to answer the question: I’ve just finished Scythe by Neal Shusterman. It’s a YA future novel about a perfect world where there is no government, no numbering of years, no disease or aging, Oh my!

Meet the Illustrator: Wayne Harris

Describe your illustration style in ten words or less.

I aim to expand the text, to satisfy and surprise.

What items are an essential part of your creative space?

Music and silence, isolation and distraction.  And a couple of mischievous kittens.

Do you have a favourite artistic medium?

I love the mediums that allow me to change my mind, because every illustration is a puzzle and a discovery.  Digital art and acrylics allow this.

Name three artists whose work inspires you.  

Illustrators: Maurice Sendak, for his understanding of childhood; Chris van Allsburg, for his sense of place; and Helen Oxenbury for her humanity.
Fine artists:  Vincent Van Gogh, for his energy; Claude Monet, for his passing light; and David Hockney, for his curiosity.

Guest Post: Karen Tyrrell on Inspiring Eco Awareness

In a world ravaged by climate change, pollution and energy shortages, kids need hope for the future. What can children do to help save our native flora, fauna and planet from extinction?
 

Kids need eco education to inspire and empower themselves to take action and become eco warriors. One pathway is by reading books with positive messages. 

Review: Two Birds on a Wire

Two birds on a wire
Together they sat
Little Bird Blue and Little Bird Black

Little Bird Blue lands on a wire and sits quietly enjoying the view until Little Bird Black arrives. Now Little Bird Blue can’t see, so the obvious solution is for Little Bird Black to leave. Unfortunately, Little Bird Black disagrees and thus begins a rather heated argument. Who has the right to the wire and who should leave?

Two Birds on a Wire describes a very familiar scene for anyone who has dealt with two toddlers facing off over a toy. Who gets it? The one who was there first? The one who is the biggest? The one who can scream the loudest? Will they finally realise that there is another solution?

Review: Ghost Bird

It took me a while to review this book — to unpack the genius and unfurl the powerful tendrils of fiction, nonfiction, truth and history.

To say this is a powerful story actually feels like an understatement.

Maybe powerful is not the right word. 

Consuming. 

That's a better word to describe Ghost Bird.

It’s a book that completely fills your mind and attention.

Ghost bird is the tale of Stacey Thomson: a twin, a girl from an outback town who wants nothing more than to leave her world behind and escape to pursue her dreams.

Review: Window of Hope

Oh! What a glorious, emotional, quiet story, with a strong message that goes straight to the heart.

Window of Hope is the perfect title for this story. You know instantly that something is not right with Max because she is viewing the world from her window, but you equally know from the title, that everything will be okay by the end of the story.

The reason for Max's isolation is slowly revealed upon the arrival of  a little one legged bird. Max thought, 'The bird is broken...' and wondered, 'Is the bird sad...'.

Review: Is It Asleep?

The old stump is where Pock and his friend spend quality time watching birds flash by.

Moving further down on the path through beautiful bent and twisted trees, they follow their normal route to the place where the blackbird sings. 

They look everywhere for the bird, but he can’t be found.

They come across it lying under the dark, curving tree trunks on the yellow ground. 

So much life pulses around them, but the bird is still.

They move closer. 

They assume it must be sleeping.  They stand still and quiet, just looking. Waiting for it to awaken.

12 Curly Questions with author Karen Tyrrell

1. Tell us something hardly anyone knows about you.
I used to dream of being a girl superhero, zooming around my house wearing a red cape and boxing gloves. I watched Wonder Woman, imagining I could be like her.

2. What is your nickname? 

Kaz, Mum or honey.

3. What is your greatest fear?

Creepy crawly insects scuttling over my arms and legs when I’m asleep.

Review: Song Bird Drought Rescue

Rosie (aka Song Bird) is back in her fifth adventure to help save the planet and thwart her evil enemies.

In Drought Rescue, Rosie and her friends, Amy and Ben, are heading to Aunt Matty’s property in the Australian outback to see if they can help Rosie’s aunt deal with the dreadful impacts of severe drought.

But it soon becomes apparent that things aren’t normal in the outback, and Song Bird’s nemesis Destructo may be behind the bad things happening to the land.

But just when Rosie and friends begin to piece things together, Aunt Matty goes missing. Can Rosie and her friends save Aunt Matty, stop Destructo and heal the land?

Review: Croc and Bird

Two eggs hatch, side by side. One is a bird and the other a crocodile, but sharing the moment they come into the world, makes them brothers.

Encompassing great warmth and exquisitely gentle humour, Croc and Bird is a book that will call to the hearts of readers, both young and old.

12 Curly Questions with author Johanna Bell

1. Tell us something hardly anyone knows about you?
I'm a total closet bird nerd! I have a bird book and binoculars and a knack for remembering the first time I saw a bird species. The Northern Territory is full of amazing birds and on more than one occasion I've caused traffic chaos after seeing a rare bird by the side of the road (which after chucking a u-turn and narrowly avoiding being rear ended turns out to be a plain old plover).

2. What is your nickname?
Lots of people call me Yo (the first part of my name) but my very curly hair has also inspired nicknames like Curly Girly, Afro Girl and the not so great Dunny Brush.

3. What is your greatest fear?
At the moment I’m most afraid of missing out. I have always been a pretty organized and motivated person. If I’ve wanted something, I’ve worked out a way to make it happen and chipped away until it’s become a reality.

Last year, when my first daughter was born, my world was turned on its head. All of a sudden the time I’d had for making things happen was gobbled up by being a mum – breastfeeding, washing nappies, cooking, playing, cleaning up (again!) and catching up on sleep. I really love being a mum but I’m worried that if I don’t find more time for writing I might miss all the wonderful opportunities that I know are out there.