BLUE SKY BLUEBIRD

A family of Eastern bluebirds is born and raised over the course of a summer in this clear offering for young readers. The narrative focuses on one representative clutch, giving enough individual details to enliven the text (“Sometimes the females use their little brother as a step stool. . . . ”) while at the same time resisting anthropomorphization and presenting the essential facts of bluebird behavior. The illustrations are bright (occasionally overbright) colored pencil drawings over watercolor wash, a technique that lends itself to remarkably crisp outlines and details—the newly hatched chicks are wonderfully ugly. The babies eventually fledge, learn to find their own food, and then help their parents raise another brood, before they all head south for the winter. A page of “Bluebird News” at the end presents additional facts but regrettably tells nothing of the author’s research method or further sources for bluebird information. (Picture book/nonfiction. 4-7)