Just Like Us! Birds

August 1, 2017

K-Gr 2-Heos engages kids in facts about ants and birds by comparing their traits to similar human ones in this humorous series. Each spread opens with a snappy headline, such as "Sister Cities" or "Baby Talk," before transitioning into more detailed information on the subject (how ants live in communities like people do, or how birds learn to sing just as human babies do). In each volume, Heos smartly links the various spreads together so that readers can build upon their understanding; for instance, following the "Baby Talk" spread is "Sound FX," which covers why birds use those very sounds. Clark's cartoon drawings are zany and comic book-like in style, particularly in their heavy use of lines. Much is reminiscent of Clark's previous work in Insect Soup: Bug Poems. A sprinkling of photos throughout will also help readers in visualizing the text. VERDICT Recommended for general purchase, especially wherever humor is popular.-Kristen Todd-Wurm, Middle Country Public Library, NY

Copyright 2017 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 1, 2017
Though different from humans in many ways, birds do many things people do. Heos offers young readers and listeners a humorous way to make connections with the world of birds. Birds learn songs through baby talk and create varied sound effects. They try to attract their mates with fancy dancing. They build and decorate comfortable homes. Parents protect, feed, and clean up after their babies. (The intended audience may particularly enjoy the description of penguin crop milk--a regurgitated meal--and the idea that some birds eat their chicks' fecal sacs.) They teach their chicks important skills. Many birds travel long distances. And they're social, even having conversations as human beings do. The specific examples come from a wide range of bird species. They appear to have been chosen for their likely kid appeal rather than to reveal common bird behaviors. Some are behaviors that have only occasionally been observed or been observed only in captivity. This collection of far-fetched facts has been illustrated with a combination of photographs and caricatures of googly-eyed birds, sometimes engaged in human activities. A similar compilation, Just Like Us! Ants, is being published simultaneously. Light entertainment--a laudable attempt to connect the animal world to our human one, but it relies too much on anthropomorphization to make its point. (Informational picture book. 5-8)

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