Bird Count

Bird Count
Written by Susan Edwards Richmond
Illustrated by Stephanie Fizer Coleman

Count every bird you see or hear. Make sure at least two people see or hear it. Don’t count any bird twice.

These are the rules young Ava must follow as she embarks on her very first Christmas Bird Count. This beautifully-illustrated new picture book takes readers on a bird count adventure with an excited Ava as she experiences her own local bird count for the first time. Ava eagerly identifies and counts the birds she observes around her town as she and her mother participate as “citizen scientists” during the New England Christmas Bird Count.

Big Al allows Ava to record the tally this year, so she must use her most important tools—her eyes and ears—and the birding ID techniques she’s learned to identify and count the birds she observes on her assigned route around the town.  At the end of the day, they meet up with the other teams in the area for a Christmas Bird Count party, where they combine their totals and share stories about their observations.

Stephanie Fizer Coleman’s charming illustrations of birds in their winter habitats bring Susan Edwards Richmond’s informative text to life and give young readers a great introduction to birdwatching. The text offers simple explanations of the identification methods used by birdwatchers and clear descriptions of bird habitats, and a section in the back provides more information about the birds featured in the book and the Christmas Bird Count.

“Clever design… Count guidelines are smoothly worked into Richmond’s narrative… An engaging, informative introduction. ” —Kirkus Reviews

“A wonderful introduction to bird-watching and the concept of observing nature… Parents be warned: this book is so appealing that, come next December, you may find yourself out in the cold, counting birds.” —Booklist Online

“This charming and handsomely illustrated story…is accurate in detail, and it wonderfully captures a young person’s enthusiasm.” —Wayne R. Petersen, Director of Massachusetts Important Bird Area (IBA) Program

“Great book on citizen scientists.  A must read and should be in all public and elementary school libraries.”—Terry Young, retired librarian and former judge for the AAAS/Subaru Science Books & Films Prize for Excellence in Science Books

Find Bird Count this October at your local library, indie bookstore, or Barnes & Noble. Can’t wait to join your own local bird count? Read an excerpt, and bring the count to the classroom with this awesome teacher’s guide!

Share the trailer with young readers, and check out the Author Q&A and the Illustrator Q&A where Richmond and Coleman talk about the process for creating Bird Count.

Be on the lookout for the rest of our new Fall 2019 titles and those coming to Peachtree in paperback.