Christy Ottaviano Books/Henry Holt | 978-1627793698
Whir! Zip! Zoom!
Today is the day the Ruby-throated hummingbird will begin its amazing journey.
As the protagonist of Robert Burleigh and Wendell Minor’s newest book, TINY BIRD: A Hummingbird’s Amazing Journey, notices the change of season, so too, readers will feel a pull to leave the small, yet comforting northeastern yard that has become home. Over field and farm, home and school, from north to south, Tiny Bird – like all Ruby-throated hummingbirds – will migrate, some even crossing the Gulf of Mexico to winter in warmer, more compatible climates.
© Wendell Minor CLICK to ENLARGE
The following snippet from Robert Burleigh’s bio (courtesy of the Highlight’s Foundation website) captures the essence of the author’s work:
“He believes the hard facts are extremely important and always weaves them into the narrative. But beyond that, he likes the book to convey the feeling of immediacy, of being there—whether there is flying an airplane, hitting a baseball, or painting a picture.”
In TINY BIRD, there, is the treacherous, many-weeks-long journey over 1,500 miles of land and water. As I read, I felt the exhaustion and scope of such a journey, along with the terror Tiny Bird surely experienced narrowly zigzagging away from the sharp talons of a hawk and the open jaws of a leaping fish.
As Tiny Bird stops at the “Dark blue, deep, and vast” Gulf of Mexico, glittering in the sun, there is barely time to nab one last mosquito before “it begins its nonstop flight of more than twenty hours. / Can Tiny Bird make it? / Many hummingbirds never do.”
© Wendell Minor CLICK to ENLARGE
Rushing wind, leaping fish, and a sudden storm taunt Tiny Bird as “it dips even closer to the dangerous water.” A wooden fishing boat offers a resting spot for the hummer to gather the strength to carry on through the night. “Suddenly/ – in the dawn light, / above a wave’s curl -/ land!”
Burleigh’s lyrical text and Minor’s gorgeous gouache watercolor illustrations make this a beautiful book for any home or school/library collection. Paired with Kristine O’Connell George and Barry Moser’s HUMMINGBIRD NEST: A Journal of Poems, these books provide a wonderful peek into the lives of two species of hummingbirds (Ruby-throated and Anna’s) found in North America.
What are some of your favorite picture books about birds?
