Susan Edwards Richmond

This book celebrates a unique holiday tradition - a Christmas bird count! Narrated by Ava, it explains how citizen science works in real life.

Ava, who has brown skin and reddish brown hair, eagerly wakes her mom up early on a winter Sunday for the Christmas Bird Count. Her mom, with the same brown skin and short, brown hair, sleepily joins her in getting dressed for the cold weather. They meet up with Big Al, the team leader, who is white with a red beard. Big Al reminds Ava of the rules, show more "Count every bird you see or hear...Make sure at least two people see or hear it. And don't count any bird twice." He also reminds her that her most important tools are her "eyes and ears."

They're off and Ava gets to take the tally for the first time! As they drive through and around town, they hear owls, see chickadees and sparrows, watch geese flying over, recognize some birds by their flight patterns and others by their songs. They visit the marsh and see ducks and herons, then break for lunch. They visit neighborhood feeders, investigate a report of an ovenbird, and see the geese again - they don't count this time! Finally, the mockingbird and raven that Ava heard and saw in the beginning come back and this time they count, since Big Al and her mom both see them.

The day ends with a party around a bonfire and they turn in their tally to the circle chief, who reports for all the teams, a woman with brown skin and long, dark brown hair. Back matter includes a snippet about each bird featured in the book, an author's note, and some resources for birdwatching and learning more about birds.

Coleman's illustrations are full of warm colors and interesting textures. They look like a combination of collage and colored pencil, although they were rendered digitally. The birds are all easily identifiable and the depiction of a small, rural town is very nice. Some things that I especially appreciated about this book was showing women, and people of color, participating in outdoor activities in a rural area (not all people of color live in urban centers!) and it tickled my fancy that the girl had a "regular" name. I can think of about five Ava's her age or a little younger right off the bat and I've had kids complain before about the "weird" names kids get in books!

Verdict: A fun and refreshing look at a unique outdoor activity. Hopefully this will inspire readers to participate in their own bird count or just to spend more time outdoors using their eyes and ears.

ISBN: 9781561459544; Published October 2019 by Peachtree; F&G provided by publisher; Purchased for the library show less

In *my* opinion, this is the ideal Christmas season book. What better way to celebrate family, the solstice, and even, if you believe, the birth of a savior.

I love the attention to detail. For example, in order not to count birds more than once, when they saw five geese on the ground, they concluded that it was very likely they were the same five geese they had recently counted flying that way, and so did not count them again.

There's enough good information in here to help anyone know show more whether they want to join the official
Citizen Science team for their assigned territory. I would find it inspiring, if only my eyes were good enough to see birds any more, or if my brain were agile enough to learn their calls. What I mean to say is that it is terrific that this is for children who are more competent, in many important ways, than some of us older adults.

However, I do think everyone should read it. Hence the five star rating.

Don't miss the back matter. And be inspired to join in next year! show less

Great book to introduce the idea of citizen science. I like the way they clearly lay out the rules and the beautiful drawings of birds. Fun to read with a kid who enjoys seek-and-find and counting.

Conversation starter for older kids - why do two people have to see the bird? What happens to all those numbers? What do we learn when all the numbers are put together? Why do it every year?

Bird Count is an amazingly informative and engaging children's picture book with the most gorgeous illustrations. Our family also lives in New England and we are big into back yard "birding". Bird Count is the story of the annual "bird count" where neighbors get together as citizen scientists to gather information about the bird species in their town.

Our two children loved reading this book with me and especially enjoyed it because all the books that Ava identified on her bird count, we are show more able to see around here too. They loved seeing Ava, her mom and Big Al visit the fields, woods, wetlands, neighbors, and center of town to see the different types of bird activity in those areas.

This book is the perfect balance of bird information along with a sweet and engaging story that looks at the world around us. We have already pre-ordered this book and can't wait to add a hard copy of this book to our home library collection this fall.

Thank you to NetGalley and Peachtree Publishing Group for a copy of this ebook in exchange for an honest review. show less