The CUCKOO – There’s a delightful little verse, CUCKOO, by 19th century British poet Gerard Manley Hopkins… CUCKOO Repeat that, repeat, Cuckoo, bird, and open ear wells, heart-springs, delightfully sweet, With a ballad, with a ballad, a rebound Off trundled timber and scoops of the hillside ground, hollow hollow hollow ground: The whole landscape flushes on a sudden at a [...]

The HUMMINGBIRD – There is a lovely poem, A Prayer in Spring by Robert Frost… a poem in tribute to Spring with its flowers, orchards, bees and birds… A Prayer in Spring by Robert Frost Oh, give us pleasure in the flowers to-day; And give us not to think so far away As the uncertain harvest; keep us here All [...]

The TURKEY – There’s a playfully clever children’s book, I’M A TURKEY, written and illustrated by Jim Arnosky… that’s also the lyrics to a delightful song about Turkeys… The story/song is about a Turkey named Tom who lives in a flock of 102 turkeys, including his Mom, Dad, brother and sister. Tom and the other Turkeys talk turkey, fly, strut, [...]

WILD GEESE – There is a charming children’s book, The BIG SNOW, written by Berta and Elmer Hader and awarded the Caldecott Medal in 1949… The story is about how woodland animals prepare for winter, beginning with Mrs. Cottontail and the littlest rabbit staring at the flock of Wild Geese as they begin their flight south. The Wild Geese are [...]

The ROBIN – There is a delightful children’s book, The Apple Pie Tree, written by Zoe Hall and Illustrated by Shari Halpern. The story is about, yes… an apple tree. But the story is also about Robins, apple pie and the marvelous change of seasons. The story begins in winter with a brown, bare apple tree… but turn the page [...]

BIRDS – by Kevin Henkes and illustrated by Laura Dronzek The book BIRDS by Kevin Henkes and illustrated by Laura Dronzek brings the beauty, the magic and the songs of birds right into our lives through the curiosity and delight of a little girl narrator. The little girl discovers lovely bird colors and shapes and sizes.  She notices how birds [...]

FEATHERS FOR LUNCH – by Lois Ehlert The book Feathers for Lunch by Lois Ehlert introduces us to a curious and hungry-for-lunch cat who is out looking for some spicy treat to munch… more specifically, a bird who sure looks good to eat. The hungry cat is not picky.  No, sir.  He’s on the prowl for something wild, not something [...]

The CROW -  family Corvidae There’s a delightful children’s book of wonder about the Crow called Little Black Crow by Chris Raschka, published in 2010. The story is narrated by a little boy who sits on a fence and asks the little black Crow a total of 27 questions about all kinds of things… like Where do you go in [...]

The OWL – order Strigiformes Perhaps a lesser known Owl in literature comes from the Hopi Indians of North America.  In but a few words, the Owl in this short verse gives us a sense of the magic and mystery of the Owl: THE OWL The owl hooted and told of the morning star, He hooted again and told of [...]

The CHICKEN – Perhaps one of the most famous Chickens in children’s literature is the Chicken in the fable The Remarkable Story of Chicken Little, first published in Roxbury, MA in 1840. The Chicken herself, Chicken Little, continues to teach generation after generation of children with her mistaken belief and fear of imminent danger.   But what is the real tweet-tweet [...]