"woodpecker knock-knocks...
riddled with the sam question
trees yawn, answering"
Michael Rosen feels that bird watching and haiku share a special bond; they both provide a 'fleeting impression'. In this lovely birdwatching field guide/journal he asks us to look more closely at what surrounds us. He wants us to see 'better' in an effort to appreciate the beauty of the commonplace. Birds are so natural to our surroundings that we forget to really notice them. He fills his haiku poems with strong images that help us look deeper. Each haiku shares the page with handwritten field notes, giving us more information than we might glean from the poem. With the information he provides, he also encourages us to add our own...what we know or can discover about the birds here described.
The graceful watercolors are finely detailed, and make the book feel like a journal kept by an avid birder who sketches while observing the birds in their environment. The added notes help the reader identify the bird being watched.
This is another of those mentor books that I have previously mentioned. It serves as an artful, informative example of observation in the field and the way in which it can be conveyed for an audience. Wouldn't it be fun for young scientists and researchers to try their hand at a field guide on a variety of topics, using poetry and garnered information to impart what they have learned?
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