The Beak Book by Robin Page

If you thought beaks were just for pecking, think again. Kirkus

This is a very new and scrumptious non fiction book which looks closely at one attribute of birds- their beaks. Are you amazed someone could dedicate a whole book to this topic? I do hope you have discovered the wonderful books by Robin Page and her husband Steve Jenkins. I have included a few covers at the end of this post. This pair are masters of non fiction and they often focus on quirky and interesting aspects of the animal kingdom.

There are many levels to The Beak Book.  

You can read about 21 birds from around the world - Australia, New Zealand, North America, South America, Africa and Asia.

You can explore all the different ways birds use their beaks. Some will surprise you.

And you are sure to enjoy the glorious full colour close up illustrations of strange, wonderful, quirky, clever and elegant birds.

But there is one more level to this book. The word choice is perfect.  Here is a list of the words used to describe the function of each beak:

This beak is for: sniffing, straining, tossing, crushing, cooling, filtering, snapping, stitching, prying, stabbing, ripping, probing, skimming, plucking, sipping, climbing, battling, drilling, scooping, shredding and clutching.

Clutching is the puffin. You probably know I love puffins. "The puffin uses its flexible hinged beak and the sharp spines that line its mouth to clutch several fish at the same time."

Image source: Smithsonian Ocean find your blue

If you were sharing this book with a class you could begin by asking 'Why do birds have beaks?' and then use the answers as a jumping off point into this book. This is a book which I would recommend for every Primary school library collection. 

Here are some other wonderful books by Robin Page and Steve Jenkins:

Take a look at this post by my friend at Kinderbookswitheverything.  The topic of birds and their beaks is explored in one of our CBCA 2021 short listed books this year - Busy Beaks.

My friend also mentioned these books which explore the way birds use their beaks. Take a look at her extensive Pinterest collection of books about birds. A Peek at Beaks will be published later this year and Whose it is? Beaks by Curt Hart will be published before Christmas.

Most school libraries in Australia will have a copies of these two picture books.