About Parrots: A Guide for Children

Parrots are the perfect group of birds to cover in a children’s book. They’re big and colorful, wonderfully diverse, and kids are probably already aware of them due to their (unfortunate) popularity as pets. But even more than this, they are interesting. All this and more is covered by the gorgeous kid’s book About Parrots: A Guide for Children.

About Parrots is part of the “About…” series produced by the Sills. This husband and wife team has over 20 books to their credit, in which Cathryn does the writing and John the illustrations. I haven’t read any others in the series, but I love the format of this book. The main portion consists of 18 full-page paintings, with the facing page identifying the bird and giving one or two sentences about parrots. The family’s defining characteristics are mentioned – from large, hooked bill to unique foot – along with their habits, habitat, and even conservation. The text here is short and easy to understand. For example:

Parrots use their strong bills and thick tongues to get food.

Many parrots live in noisy flocks.

It is important to protect parrots and the places where they live.

Then, in the back, there is an additional paragraph for each plate, expounding upon the topic. The vocabulary here is much more advanced, using words like omnivore and even zygodactyl. (The more complicated words like these are either defined in the text or in the separate glossary.) There is also more information on the depicted species, such as where they live and what they eat, which is greatly appreciated.

I very much like this two-phased approach. Younger readers are able to learn the most important concepts in the main portion of the book, while older readers can find out more in the back. Even all but the most exceptionally well-versed adults will learn something here! For instance, I was well aware of parrots’ acrobatic skills, being able to hang upside down to reach food. But I didn’t know that there are parrots that sleep upside down (the aptly named hanging parrots).

Rainbow Lorikeet

And then there’s the artwork. John Sill’s paintings are excellent. Bold and colorful, they’re perfect for a children’s book. Or any book of bird art, for that matter.

But there’s really only so much that I can say about a children’s book, so I thought I’d give a true expert – my five-year-old daughter – a chance to check out the book. As I read it to her, she definitely gravitated toward the images. She especially loved the Galahs (they’re pink!) and the macaws, with their long tails. She was really into it for about three quarters of the book, and then her interest flagged. But that’s not unusual, and she did say that she liked it. About Parrots has a recommended age range of 3-7. I’d probably add one or two years to that, especially the upper end. Younger kids will like looking at it and will pick up on some things, but I think children in the upper range and a little beyond will get more out of it, especially when they’re old enough to read and comprehend the additional information contained in the afterword.

Recommendation

About Parrots: A Guide for Children is a great introduction for kids to these special birds. It’s pretty to look it, but more importantly, they’ll learn a great deal about parrots. And that can’t be a bad thing, with the troubles these birds are facing.