Bird Books for Kids

When my older son was three and a half, he fell in love with pirates. The obsession lasted through his fourth birthday. One day I stopped at the library in search of pirate stories appropriate for a 3 year old. The librarian very nicely took me to the non-fiction section and handed me books about the myths and legends of Blackbeard. And there was a book about all of the finer features of a pirate ship. Not really three year old appropriate. I went home, scoured the library website and found at least a dozen picture books, ABC books and other simple stories that would appeal to a three year old boy.

Today we had a strange repeat of two years ago. My youngest is OBSESSED with birds. I thought it was a passing fancy, but it has returned full force. He has a bird stuffed animal that must go to bed with him - he used to be "Yellow Bird" but has recently been rechristened "Yellow Baby Chick." He gets tucked in at night with a blanket and my son even suggests that he is the daddy bird. We have a kid's book about birds that he loves to look through. The other night he specifically asked for the page with the baby birds and I left him in bed staring raptly at the less than cute baby birds waiting for worms from their mother. He has Hush Little Ones which I find almost every morning open to the picture of the birds or the ducks.

So, back to the library we trekked today. I nicely asked the librarian - a different one - for books about birds. Her first question - non-fiction? Nope. I've got those. She looked at me a bit blankly; admittedly, it is probably not the most frequent request she gets. So, I suggested to her Make Way for Ducklings whose author I didn't know. She found that one and went back to her computer to search for others. A few minutes later she came by with Are You My Mother? A good bird book, but one we already own. That was it.

So, I did retreat to the non-fiction section. My son, who is not usually a big book lover, plopped down on the floor and stared intently at a story about abandoned ducklings that a scientist raised. He looked at every page, asked me a dozen questions, and asked to bring it home.

But, I'm looking for other good stories. Does anyone have any suggestions? I will happily search through the library catalog, but I know that someone out there can think of the perfect book to appeal to my yellow bird loving son.

Thanks!