Review Detail

I Am A Bird

Kids Fiction 403

Birds and Bikes

June 07, 2023

Overall rating

4.0

Plot

4.0

Characters

4.0

Writing Style

4.0

Illustrations/Photos (if applicable)

4.0

Every day, a little girl takes a bike ride with her father, and enjoys the feeling of going speedily along. She often pretends that she is a bird, flying through the skies on the back of the bike. ALong the route, the two often see a grumpt woman with a bag, hurrying along. The look on the woman's face scares the little girl, and she tries to hide behind her father. One day when they are running late, the girl sees the woman in the park, feeding the birds and talking to them. She calls out with a bird call to the woman, who answers back similarly, and learns that she should embrace the unseen similarities she has with people instead of focusing on differences.

Good Points

While there are many books about learning how to ride a bike, like Slater's Wild Blue and Medina's Elena Rides, I haven't seen many chronicling the experience of riding on the back of a bike. I did appreciate that both the little girl and her father wore helmets, which is such a good example to set!

The pencil and gouache drawings give this a timeless feel, and the bright primary colors stand out nicely against the spare background. This had a lovely outdoor feel of spring to it, and a feeling of movement, with the bike riding.

While the little girl isn't exactly bird watching, this is a good book to use to draw attention to the feathered friends a young readers might see out in the world, and can be followed up with Matheson's Bird Watch, Richmond's Bird Count and Amstutz Finding a Bird for Gramps that talk more about finding and identifying the feathered friends that are all around us.