When we share books, we share something of ourselves. Where books are living, books are delicately weaved in and out of real life. Life breathes into our book tastes and our reading into real life.

I thought, what better way to start the year than with books that breath life into my world.

Now, a good friend knows you well enough to recommend books you’d love. Likewise, they know a great gift to buy you. Enter ‘Bird Bingo’ – a perfect gift for my 5year old twitcher and all round animal budding expert. She loves to spot birds, draw them and learn about them. And this beautiful gift, which has been played lots already, is the real-life inspiration for this book blog.

A keen interest deserves to be nourished with glorious books, so let’s fly them in:

The first and probably our most-loved and used so far is this first book from RSPB. Perfect in its simplicity and accessibility for young readers, it acts as a quick check and an interest-sparker, leaping us onto more finding out – from both nature and books. It is part of a series of firsts books that are great for early independence. The spotter’s guide is a lovely index for early readers to being to use.

On to a few stories. These two lovelies by Suzanne Barton are perfect for bird and nature lovers. Dawn Chorus has a beautiful message about being yourself and is also a good discussion starter on diurnal and nocturnal animals. Robin’s Winter Song would work really well in Y1 when learning about the seasons. Both great stories to read aloud to a class or to share at bedtime.

The watercolour style illustrations in this book particularly appeal to my daughter. Reading for her is often the beginnings of artistic creativity. Like I said, reading breathing back into real life. So this Compendium of Birds published by Franklin Watts, is great for interesting information about birds we may have seen, as well as those we’d wish to see, but also great to develop observational skills and to inspire artwork.

Linking nicely to a wonderful bird artist Matt Sewell. I just love his style of painting and this collective noun book is a joy! Who doesn’t love collective nouns!!! The art work is stunning and the quirky descriptions of the creatures are fun to read and share. If you haven’t checked out his other work, do have a look. His dinosaur book is on our wish list!

When I spotted this bird-spotting book by Matt Sewell. I couldn’t resist. It’s perfect for a little bird spotter (and big ones too!!!) Matt invites us on each double page spread to spot the birds hidden in the setting. It’s great fun but also develops skimming and scanning reading skills as a bonus. There are birds from home and abroad to spot. The answers are at the back if you can’t find them all!

I think it’s important that our children appreciate the wonderful nature we have around us, that they can identify and name it, too. National Trust Books have this lovely sticker book series that encourages just that. Adding the stickers to each setting, the young reader is drawn right into the book, learning as they go. Then they keep it as a book to go back to – lovely.

At this point, of course this very special book of spells must get a mention. I just love the scale of the book itself – perfect for fitting over two laps! What a partnership Rob McFarlane and Jackie Morris make. This is a book to be treasured and shared over and over. There are several acrostic poems for feathered lost words. I have chosen Kingfisher as its a bird my daughter is very keen to see! We are yet be lucky enough.

You can find resources on using this book in the classroom here:

https://www.johnmuirtrust.org/assets/000/002/830/LOST_WORDS_Explorers-Guide_pages_original.pdf

This series I know I’ve shared before, but they are fab, so I thought I’d sneak them in!

I’ve saved our latest addition to the end and it is worthy of this spot. Magnificent Birds published by Walker Studio is beautiful book full of beautiful birds. Here are a few pages that match our Bird Bingo game – a life to book link:

Each bird has its own double page spread with a stunning illustration. The information on each bird is packed with interest but in a manageable chunk. Good to dip in and out of or to read as a whole text. Perfect for bird enthusiasts and those with a thrist for nature knowledge.

If you’re feeling the urge to bird watch, why not join in with the RSPB Garden Bird Watch 27th – 29th January.

On our birdy book wish list are……

https://www.graffeg.com/product/the-word-bird/

https://www.graffeg.com/howtodraw/

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25986782-my-book-of-birds

Any you’d recommend?