Favorite Books About Birds for Preschoolers
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A while ago we started very imperfectly and irregularly doing little preschool unit studies. We did trees and gardening already. During these unit studies, I put out some activities to match the unit, we discuss the unit topic, and most importantly, I rotate the playroom/homeschool room bookshelf with books all about this topic. One of our recent favorites was our bird unit! I find this a fun way to discover some really high-quality books on a nature theme. When it comes to the bird unit this absolutely happened. This post will share our favorite books for preschoolers about birds!
The Nest that Wren Built: Wow, this book is such a joy to read. It is the style of the House that Jack Built (you can probably tell from the title!). The illustrations are gorgeous and it looks at all these steps into a wren building a nest. The poetry is a joy to read. I was always so excited when my son pulled this book from the shelf.
Mama Built a Little Nest: This book explores different nests birds build. It explains some nests that are very different than the nests we usually think about- such as one built from spit! It is poetic and has lovely illustrations. I definitely recommend this book about birds!
Bird Watch: This is by the same author of Tap the Magic Tree which is one of our absolute favorite tree books. This one is also excellent! Interactive, beautiful illustrations, and joyful to read. It explores different birds and encourages you to count and look closely at the photos.
Is this Panama? A Migration Story: This story drew me in a bit extra because we used to live in Panama in the absolute heart of birdwatching. There were times we found people in our yard with giant cameras and binoculars who had traveled across the world to see the birds there- ha! Panama is a hub of bird migration because it is such a thin strip of land connecting the two continents. Anyway, this book explores one bird’s migration as he seeks to find Panama. Along the way, it explores other birds’ migratory patterns as well. It is a wonderful look at bird migration. My one warning though, this book is long, really, really long. If your child does not have a long attention span for books or you do not have a long attention span for reading books, this might not be the one for you. But if you do, it is a wonderful story.
The Little Book of Backyard Bird Sounds: I generally try to avoid books and toys that make noise, but this one is a great exception. The book covers several different types of common backyard birds and has a button to hear their song. It is a great way to become more familiar with that aspect of birds and work on identifying the sounds out in nature.
Guess What’s Growing Inside This Egg: This book is not only about birds but does cover some other egg-laying species as well. That said, it was a great addition to a bird unit. It is a fun book to share with a child because it encourages making predictions based on the information given and teaches about different types of eggs and nests.
Make Way for Ducklings: This one is specific to ducks but is a wonderful addition to a bird unit. My favorite part of this one is the conversation about the thought that goes into choosing a place to nest for ducks. I read the chapter book The Trumpet of the Swan aloud to my son and this same theme was present there. I think this is a great opportunity to discuss nests and what birds are looking for in creating them. Ducks are not exotic but they are a great jumping-off point for talking about birds since many children see them on a regular basis!
Now that my son is reading I also include books geared towards him. This unit was early in his reading so I included some decodable books about birds on the shelf! This was a great addition that felt really special to be able to include. We have two sets of nature decodable readers (find here and here), both of which included bird stories as well as the Ten Hens book from Charge into Reading. My goal is to hand over more opportunities for my son to explore topics and learn on his own. Including some books he can read felt like a simple way to do that!
The shelf pictured here is Sprout Kids (code OnTheWay10 for a discount).
