Book Review: The Bowerbird by Julia Donaldson

 The Bowerbird

by

Julia Donaldson

illustrated by Catherine Rayner

Publisher: Pan Macmillan

Imprint: Macmillan Children's Books

Publication date: 28th March 2023

Genre: Picture Book

Pages: 32

RRP: $26.99AU (Hardback)

Source: Courtesy of the publisher

 

My review of The Bowerbird

We are big fans of Julia Donaldson's books here at Little Squirrel's Bookshelf and we especially love her nature themed stories.

 

The Bowerbird features Bert, an irresistible little bird with a very big heart. Bert is a bowerbird and he is looking for love. He builds an impressive bower and decorates it with items he finds but he never has enough to attract the bird he has his eye on, the haughty Nanette.

 

 

I love that Julia and Catherine are bringing out books to teach children about nature and the way birds interact with each other. We fell in love with the Go-away bird who was a bit aloof and didn't interact with the other birds only to find that friends can be fun and there for you when you need help. Now we have fallen in love with Bert! He is so sweet and just wants to find a mate. We also learnt a lot about bowerbirds and how they collect things to make their bower pretty. We also meet the cunning Claude who likes to steal items from other bowers.

 

Will Bert find love?

 

Catherine Rayner’s delightful, full spread, watercolour illustrations add an extra visual dimension to this enchanting tale of finding your perfect match.

 

The Bowerbird is an enchanting rhyming story that's a delight to read and engaged the children. It is a wonderful introduction to bowerbirds and nature in general which can be expanded on with some more fact-finding. I was surprised how many different species there are!   

Our rating 5 / 5 🐦🐦🐦🐦🐦

We decided to leave some blue objects out to see if we had any bowerbirds in our area.

About the author

Julia Donaldson has written some of the world's best-loved children's books, including modern classics The Gruffalo and The Gruffalo's Child, which have sold over 25 million copies worldwide and have been translated into over one hundred languages. Her other books include Room on the Broom, Stick man and Zog, illustrated by Axel Scheffler, The Hospital Dog, illustrated by Sara Ogilvie and the hugely successful What the Ladybird Heard adventures, illustrated by Lydia Monks.

About the illustrator

Catherine Rayner studied illustration at Edingurgh College of Art and has been short-listed for the prestigious Kate Greenway Medal four times, and won in 2009 for Harris Finds his Feet. In addition to illustrating for other authors such as Michael Bond, Holly Webb and Michael Morpurgo, she has also written her own picture books, including Ernest, Solomon Crocodile, Solomon and Mortimer and Smelly Louie, which won the Peter's Book of the Year award in 2015.