The Big Book of Birds by Yuval Zommer

Publisher blurb: Why is a flamingo pink? Can a parrot talk? Is a bald eagle really bald? This follow-up to the hugely successful The Big Book of Bugs, The Big Book of Beasts and The Big Book of the Blue answers these questions and many more. It opens with introductory spreads explaining how to recognize different bird’s eggs, the bird family tree, why different species of birds have different beaks and feathers, and why some birds migrate and travel vast distances every year. Subsequent spreads, illustrated with various habitats, are dedicated to specific varieties of bird, including hummingbirds, peacocks, flamingos, bald eagles, secretary birds, albatrosses and red-crowned cranes. Some will teach children how to spot different birds within a specific variety, for example how to differentiate the American robin from the European robin. Others explore bird habitats, for example showing how birds adapt to live in cities. Finally, the book invites young bird spotters to protect birds where they live and make their gardens bird friendly. This is a big, beautiful book to look at again and again.

Social Media can be useful, distracting and of course it can show you the things you have missed out on. I recently saw that Yuval Zommer has been in Australia and more specifically here in Sydney at an event with Thames and Hudson, his publisher, and even more amazing our own Zeno Sworder was also a speaker/guest at this event. Zeno has a new book due out later this year.  I wonder how people knew to attend? I seem to follow so many authors and publishers on all the Social Media platforms but I did not see this event mentioned until various people shared photos of the event. I will admit I am very jealous of the people who attended.

At a recent charity book sale I spied The Big Book of Birds by Yuval Zommer. This is indeed a 'big' book and this copy is in mint condition so I will gift it to a friend. It only cost AUS$4 and as a bonus on the day I picked it up, the books at the fair were half price. The normal retail price for this book is AUS$30 so I did snaffle a bargain. The Big Book of Birds was published in 2020.

There are tiny details in the design of this book that will delight a young reader. The end papers show birds flying in towards the pages and at the back they are flying away. There is an egg hunt on every page and to read some of the pages you need to turn the book sideways. As with all excellent nonfiction books, this one has a detailed contents list and an index.

The birds in this book are from around the world. I especially love the double spreads about puffins, flamingos, Secretary birds, robins, Great Grey owls and hummingbirds. 

There is just enough information on each page to spark curiosity in your young reading companion aged 6+. I have talked about so many bird books on this blog - just click the word birds in my post label. Kirkus say this book is insubstantial but I think it is a great introduction to a wide range of birds and the illustrations are simply delightful. If a young reader spies a bird that catches their attention there are sure to be plenty of other books that give will give them more details. 

Here are some other splendid books by Yuval Zommer. Notice all the titles have a word starting with the letter 'B'. I think all of these should be added to your school library collection:

Let's Talk Picture books explore his Big Book of Blooms. I am now very keen to see another book from this series - The Big Book of Belonging. You can follow Yuval Zommer on Instagram. His new book due to arrive here in Australia in September is one I really do need to own - it is called Our Islands. I have travelled to lots of special islands - Fair Isle; Mull; Skye; Shetland; Isle de Magdalen (Canada); Nantucket; Martha's Vineyard; Orkney; Jersey; Hern; Sark; and Gurnsey. I am not sure that any of these are included in this book so that means it will give a new list of islands I need to explore.