I picked up this book by Jane Yolen because I was familiar with other popular titles of hers..."Owl Moon" and "Encounter" I have used in classes before. Also, I love birds and am an amateur bird watcher. I was not disappointed. The first poem in the collection ,"Bird Watcher" establishes the mood of the text...soft, dreamy, with a deep reverence for nature. As I read I feel a stillness and peace, the stillness required when watching birds and the peace that comes with immersion in the natural world. Yolen continues her exploration of the avian world with lyrical poetry that that paints pictures of robins, swans, woodpeckers, nestlings , and ducks with the eyes of a poet and bird lover. Imagery such as "His swift ratatatatat is as casual as a jackhammer on a city street ,as thorough as an oil drill on an Oklahoma wellsite ,as fine as a needle in a record groove, as cleansing as a dentist's probe in a mouthful of cavities..." (from "Woodpecker") evokes sounds. Endpages include facts about birds including scientific name and habitat. Illustrations by Ted Lewin are soft watercolors that mimic the quiet and stillness of the poetry. An excellent book of poems for bird lovers! A great book to bring along on a queit morning walk in the woods. ( )

Book was reviewed in class discussion.

Yolen's poems in this volume are about assorted bird species at various stages of lifespan development. As with the two books summarized above, the poems are for elementary-aged students. Bird Watch features beautiful illustrations by Ted Lewin.

I find that my opinion of Bird Watch is the same for that of Jane Yolen's Sea Watch: some I love, some I don't understand how they got published. While I like many of the individual poems, I just can't get into to book as a whole. Too many of the poems seem shallow to me, lacking in humor, message, or even factual information. The illustrations are beautiful, however. ( )

pictures more interesting than poems