My neighbors and I are enjoying watching a Red-tailed Hawk family grow up. There are two baby chicks who are now fully-fledged teenagers with keys to the car. They can be seen swooping around from tree to tree and they are a raucous bunch; noisy, playful, and fun!
Their arrival this spring has made birdwatchers of everyone who comes down our little street. Our fascination with watching this bird family reminded me of Valarie Budayr’s first picture book, The Fox Diaries: The Year the Foxes Came to Our Garden.
The Fox Diaries: The Year the Foxes Came to Our Garden by Valarie Budayr
I wish a fox family would show up next to my garden as it did to my friend and co-creator of Multicultural Children’s Book Day Valarie Budayr. To share her fox family, she patiently sat in her backyard with her camera to capture them on film. Then, she created this book! [nonfiction picture book, ages 4 and up]
The pleasure of having nature next door in such a thrilling way does make you want to share! I had to ask my daughter to ask her bird-watcher friends to identify our hawk family. They responded quickly to tell us that we are witnessing the family of a Red-tailed Hawk just like this one in Maria Gianferrari’s lyrical picture book!
Hawk Rising by Maria Gianferrari, illustrated by Brian Floca
Maria Gianferrari’s story is basically us, a family watching a family of hawks. In this story, the drama turns on the circle of life in a backyard … who will eat and who will be eaten today? In our backyard, we witness the baby chicks growing up. Ours are going through their awkward teenage years of “learning to drive” as they figure out how to climb around trees and fly. [nonfiction picture book, ages 4 and up]
Maria guest posted for me with her list of Top 10 STEM Bird Books for Bird-Loving Kids.
It has turned us into bird watchers, which is a perfect antidote to all the screentime and Zoom calls that we’ve had from the COVID-19 quarantine in our town. I always recommend Doodles and Jots free printable Bird Journal for kids who want to track their bird sightings.
Here are the videos that I’ve taken of our Red-tailed hawks as they learn to fly. I hope you enjoy them!
How about you? What are you enjoying in your wild spaces where you live? Thanks for sharing!
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My books:
Food for the Future: Sustainable Farms Around the World
- Junior Library Guild Gold selection
- Selected as one of 100 Outstanding Picture Books of 2023 by dPICTUS and featured at the Bologna Children’s Book Fair
- Starred review from School Library Journal
- Chicago Library’s Best of the Best
- Imagination Soup’s 35 Best Nonfiction Books of 2023 for Kids
Amazon / Barefoot Books / Signed or Inscribed by Me
Amazon / Scholastic / Signed or Inscribed by Me
Wow! What fun, Mia, to have your own backyard bird show! They’re making a racket! Do you have photos of the nest? Would love to see it! Enjoy the festivities!
Still getting to know our new backyard, but there are so many trees, which is wonderful! There’s a nest on our outdoor speaker, probably a robin’s. I look forward to next spring to seeing who nests nearby. I’ve been enjoying the chipmunks and a family of phoebes and some goldfinches that perch on our predecessor’s dog run.