Review: Hooray for Birds!

What a colourful, vibrant, dynamic, celebration of birds! This delightful picture book from the talented creator of Maisy will draw little listeners in from the very first page and have them flying, hopping, waddling and singing with birds of all shapes and sizes!

Can you imagine…
just for one day….
you’re a busy bird?
Yes, a bird!
Hooray!

It’s been a long time since I’ve come across a picture book that engages very young children right from the beginning. They are not just looking at birds and what they are doing, they ARE birds.

Let them call out Cock-a-doodle-doo, flap their wings and stretch up their neck! They can swoop, they can scratch and they can catch a fly with their beak!

The illustrations are vivid and engaging, with each colourful bird almost leaping off the page in happiness. I love the bright, bold colours and the simple full colour backgrounds that allow kids to focus on what’s important on each page. The text forms part of the illustrations and the painted, informal lettering is fun and active. The strong black lines of the letters draw attention to the strong outlines of the birds so the text and illustrations blend beautifully together.

Even the end papers are thoughtfully designed, with the birds playing happily inside the front cover, yet sleepy and settled for bed inside the back cover, leaving only the owl awake.

The rhyming text almost has you singing with its fluent rhythm that glides effortlessly along. The active language will engage young children as they enthusiastically join the birds, stretching out their wings, puffing out their chest and even laying an egg!

In case you were wondering about age groups for this one, I read it to a few children of different ages and all loved it. But in different ways. The youngest, aged two, delighted in the bright colours and lively birds and tried to join in with the sound and movement of the book. The oldest, aged seven, enjoyed the fun pictures and asked questions as we went along about the types of birds pictured and what they did.

Lucy Cousins has created a bright, beautiful and fun picture book that will definitely be a winner with the kids.

Title: Hooray for Birds! 
Author/Illustrator: Lucy Cousins 
Publisher: Candlewick Press, $24.99
Publication Date: 1 February 2017 
Format: Hard Cover 
ISBN: 9780763692650
For ages: 2 – 7 
Type: Picture Book