Ivy bird /

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

"An enchanting portrayal of one girl's delight in a creature and the many ways they can engage and inspire." -- ALA Booklist

Ivyspends her day with the birds--sipping nectar and splashing in the pondin this joyfully written celebration of birds and imaginative play froman award-winning author-and-illustrator team.

Ivy Bird isa celebration of the natural world and the joy found in imaginativeplay. Perfect for reading aloud, this book will delight children withits search-and-find elements, bright illustrations, and exuberant story.A nonfiction element, two pages bursting with colorful birdillustrations, encourages readers to seek out birds in their ownneighborhoods. Printed on FSC-certified paper with vegetable-based inks.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

School Library Journal Review

PreS-Gr 1--Red-haired Ivy devotes her day to mimicking the dozens of birds she encounters in person, through books, and in her imagination. She paddles with ducks, fluffs feathers like a flamingo, and copies trills, chirps, peeps, chatters, cackles, tweets, and squawks. After a "bird bath," she nests in her cozy bed, beneath a wall of her avian drawings. The Australian author includes a short description of a dozen birds at the end, affably depicted in Racklyeft's bright watercolor and collage textures. VERDICT There's plenty of positive energy in this colorful, imaginative work.--Gay Lynn Van Vleck, Henrico County Library, Glen Allen, VA

Booklist Review

Young Ivy loves birds. Soon after waking in the morning, she's off, eager to spend time outdoors with her family and have fun being among--and pretending to be--all kinds of birds. While parents and younger sibs breakfast on the porch, Ivy "pecks in the sunshine," poses like flamingo yard ornaments, and joins ducks in a little backyard pool. After lunching on berries, she collects items for "her secret treasure nest" and makes bird calls. Later, after a bath--and an evening owl-like hoot--it's bedtime, with Ivy off to sleep in her bird-themed room. Avian elements are charmingly interwoven throughout the lively, sometimes lyrical, brief narrative and the cheerful, color-washed mixed-media illustrations. An appended spread identifies various real-life birds, plus accompanying factoids, and invites kids to revisit pages to search for those very birds, magpies to bowerbirds, which are hidden among the pages. An enchanting portrayal of one girl's delight in a creature and the many ways they can engage and inspire.

Horn Book Review

Ivy Bird follows a small bird--whose feathers match her young human companion's red hair--through a day's activities: paddling with ducks, collecting shiny objects with bowerbirds, chirping with magpies, and so forth. Readers can spot a variety of birds in the vivid mixed-media illustrations, or turn to the back for descriptions of the whole flock. (c) Copyright 2021. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Kirkus Book Review

From sunup until bedtime, Ivy imitates the birds she loves.She wakes to the "tweets and cheeps" of her canary and spends the day being a bird: pecking at her breakfast, warbling, drinking "sweet nectar" from a play tea set, posing like a flamingo statue, lunching on berries, smelling flowers, collecting "shiny bits and pieces" like a bower bird, splashing in the tub, and finally hooting like an owl when it's time to "settle in her nest." Each page turn reveals a different activity. Racklyeft digitally combines watercolor images with printed textures to create colorful illustrations showing the imaginative redhead and her family: mum, bearded dad, and twin baby sibs. Ivy changes her costume to fit her activities and her moodat one point sporting heart-shaped dark glasses. This Australian import features birds of that country as well as those that are more widespread; the 12 shown on the cover are described in the backmatter. Most can be found in the pages of the text, and there are even more. North American children may also recognize the cockatoo and the domestic chicken who join in her birdsong, though the kookaburra may be more obscure. Happily, the activity of pretending to be a bird is universal. Who hasn't tried flapping their wings as Ivy does, as she waves a rainbow cloak and chases five bright rosellas?This simply written celebration of the natural world may prompt kids to "trill and chirp" as well. (Picture book. 3-7) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Author notes provided by Syndetics

Tania McCartney is an award-winning Australian author, illustrator and editor. She is published in nine countries and has over 40 books in print or production. Recent picture books include Mamie (HarperCollins, 2018). The founder of The Happy Book podcast and renowned kidlit site Kids' Book Review, Tania is passionate about juvenile literacy, and is an ambassador for numerous literacy initiatives. Her awards include several Children's Book Council of Australia (CBCA) Notable books and the CBCA Laurie Copping Award for Distinguished Service to Children's Literature. Tania currently lives in Canberra, Australia, with her family, a forest of artwork and a mountain of books.

Jess Racklyeft is the acclaimed creator of cards, picture books, original paintings, prints, and all types of different client projects. She worked in publishing sales for many years and now works full-time as an artist and illustrator. Recent awards include the Children's Book Council of Australia Notable Picture Book of the Year two years running. She lives in Melbourne, Australia, with her family.