A Peek at Beaks: Tools Birds Use

About the Author\nSara Levine is an author, educator and veterinarian. Her science books for children include the Animal by Animal series, Germs Up Close, and A Peek at Beaks: Tools Birds Use. Her books have received a number of awards including AAAS/Subaru SB&F Prize, Utah Beehive Book Award, Cook Prize finalist, Monarch Award master list, and Bank Street College Best Children's Book of the Year.\nKate Slater is an artist and illustrator working in mixed media collage. Alongside work for publishing, editorial and advertising clients, Kate designs her own range of gift and homeware and has also created several large scale installations and window displays. Kate studied illustration at Kingston University (2005-2008). She grew up on a beautiful farm in deepest Staffordshire and, after living in London for a few years, returned to her green and muddy roots and now works from her studio at home in Staffordshire, in a room piled high with paper, watched over by her Labrador, Gladys.\nHave you ever seen a bird using a jackhammer? What about one scooping up a meal with a net? Of course birds can’t really use tools, at least not the way humans do. But birds have surprisingly helpful tools with them at all times―their beaks!
Guess which birds have beaks resembling commonly used tools in this playful picture book from award-winning author Sara Levine. Delightfully detailed collage artwork by Kate Slater helps this book take flight!\nFrom School Library Journal\nK-Gr 3-How are birds' beaks like common tools? This question/answer picture book features a whimsical silhouette of a generic bird with a tool in place of its beak and asks what bird could this be with a jackhammer, tweezers, or a nutcracker for a beak? Readers then turn the page to discover that the bird with the nutcrackerlike beak is a beautiful red backyard bird, the cardinal; the wren uses its beaklike tweezers to pick up tiny insects; and woodpeckers hammer through tree bark to get at the grubs underneath. One bird may be featured for each tool, but similar birds are grouped together in the vibrant, full-color illustration of its use, e.g., sparrows and juncos with the cardinal. This creative way to look at birds and how they differ in order to thrive in their habitat may very well awaken rural and urban young readers alike to the avian world. The Q&A format is fun to read aloud or for a participatory story time. Information on the evolution of these specialized beaks and suggestions for further reading are included. VERDICT Recommend for every collection as an entertaining and informative introduction to the world of birds and how they survive and thrive.-Frances E. Millhouser, formerly at Fairfax County P.L., VAα(c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.