Bienvenido: The Bird-watching Cat

There are many important bird books – ground-breaking field guides, in-depth identification guides, bird-finding guides that tell you where and when to go. But the single most important bird book of all may not be any of these. It’s the book that awakens your interest in birds and their world. If that’s the case, could there be any more important bird books than those for children? Bienvenido: The Bird-watching Cat introduces kids to some common backyard birds and their behaviors.

The premise of the book, which is targeted for ages 4-8, is that Bienvenido is a cat who likes to watch birds. As the reader progresses through the book, Bienvenido “welcomes”, as his name implies, various species to the yard. Each page has at least one large, interesting photograph, and short, easy sentences. It’s more than just a parade of birds, though. The author calls attention to some aspect of the bird’s behavior and through questions to the reader makes connections between what the bird does and what you, the kid reading it, does. Also, after each new bird there’s a page showing all the birds introduced such far, asking if you can name each one.

I’ll be honest, I didn’t think much of Bienvenido when I first read through it by myself. I thought it a bit silly, anthropomorphic, and repetitive. But then I read it to my son, who had just turned eight at the time. He really enjoyed it! Those aspects that I didn’t like, he really responded to. He got a kick out of the silliness and took pride in being able to repeat the names of the birds on each of the review pages. In fact, he kept the book in his room for a while and read it often.

While those at the upper end of this book’s targeted age range would be able to read it for themselves, Bienvenido is a book that is best read aloud to kids. The pictures, silliness, and repetition serve to draw in the kids and get them invested. The age range seems appropriate, approximately pre-K through second grade.

The birds included in this book, such as Tufted Titmouse and Blue Jay, are typical of middle and eastern North America. This book thus looses some of its effectiveness in the west, as there is little to no chance of actually seeing some of these birds in your own backyard.

Recommendation

Bienvenido: The Bird-watching Cat is highly recommended for children, approximately 4-to-8 years old. It’s a nice introduction to a few species and their identification, but its main purpose is to simply interest kids in birds. It would be especially effective in a classroom setting, or anywhere that you can read it aloud to children.