My Book of Birds

February 22, 2016
In an elegant homage to birds, Valério uses cut-paper collage to create delicately crafted scenes that imbue his subjects with energy and individuality. The large trim size keeps the artwork front and center, though Valério also describes each bird in clear and lively passages: “Great Horned Owls are birds of the night. They have sharp hearing and can see well in the dark, which makes them excellent hunters.” With their clean, geometric layering and bold presence, the images often evoke the iconography of Mayan, Inuit, and other indigenous art, as well as the work of Charley Harper. It’s an inviting combination of information and artistry that subtly encourages readers to observe and reflect on bird life. Ages 5–up.

March 15, 2016
An album of North American birds from a Brazilian-Canadian illustrator. "I love the variety of birds, their colored feathers and their sense of freedom," writes Valerio in an introduction, and that affection is clear in this striking collection. The illustrations are collage, crafted from "old magazine paper, art paper, [and] gift wrap," and though stylized, the birds are readily distinguishable. An osprey dominates one double-page spread, carrying a fish back to its nest across a heartbreakingly blue backdrop. Its paper components are clean-edged, layered in a fashion that both replicates the osprey's distinctive markings and evokes individual feathers. The bird's wing feathers are arranged with glimpses of blue between, giving a strong sense of airiness and loft. Each bird is labeled with both its common and Latin names, with a straightforward gloss that describes salient features and, often, another that provides a fascinating tidbit. In the case of the osprey, it's on how the bird's talons grip its prey. The book's overall organization is haphazard--the golden eagle, the pelican, the osprey, and three types of swallow occupy the first four double-page spreads--but several spreads group bird families together; in addition to the swallows (purple martin, violet-green swallow, and barn swallow), the blue jay, the black-billed magpie, and the Steller's jay appear together, as do five different types of warbler, for instance. A delight to browse, the book also provides resources to further engage budding ornithologists. (glossary, index) (Nonfiction. 8-16)

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May 1, 2016

K-Gr 2-The versatile artist from Brazil brings a fresh eye to North American birds with his colorful paper cutouts. Each bird is briefly described in one or two short, conversational sentences, often enlivened with observations-robins search for the "worms they find so delicious" and a black-capped chickadee is a "sweet little bird." This style helps to facilitate the inclusion of an array of factual information on habitat, nesting, mating, diet, social customs, physical traits or abilities, and identification. Using old magazine paper, art paper, and gift wrap, Valerio captures the essence of each bird's color and movement. Large birds such as the American white pelican, great blue heron, and snowy owl are each given their own spread, while smaller birds or related species tend to be grouped together (e.g., tanagers, grosbeaks, and cardinals). Valerio finishes up with a variety of sparkling warbler species fluttering across the pages as they return north in the spring to breed. Softly colored, labeled eggs on the front papers and bright, labeled feathers on the endpapers bracket this beautiful album.

Copyright 2016 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 1, 2016
Grades K-3 In this handsome book, an artist shares his fascination with birds, especially North American species that he didn't see as a child growing up in Brazil. Each double-page spread in this large-format book features one or more bird illustrations with the occasional suggestion of their habitat, including plants and other animals in the area. Each bird species is identified by common and scientific names and accompanied by a few sentences telling something about it. The double-page spread on ospreys, for example, describes how they catch fish, while the two-page section on American bitterns explains what these birds eat and how they camouflage themselves in the reeds. The stylized collage illustrations, created with old magazines, art paper, and gift wrap, are striking and beautiful, especially when seen from a distance. While we have come to expect photography in books about animals, this volume is not an identification guide so much as an invitation to consider the fascinating diversity of the avian world by reading a bit about each species and lingering over the pictures.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)