Birds' Nest

School Library Journal

ea. vol: illus. by Helen Senior. photogs. by author. 25p. index. (Stopwatch Bks.). CIP. Silver Burdett. 1987. PSm $6.95; PLB $8.96. K-Gr 3 Flawed by oversimplification, these slight titles contain insufficient material for school reports, although the full-color photographs would ap peal to browsers. Birds' Nest describes how a pair of Blue Titmice construct a nest in a nesting box and then feed and care for their hatchlings until they reach maturity and fly away. Ladybug briefly describes the insect's life cycle, outlin ing each of its four stages of develop ment (i.e., egg, larva, pupa, adult) and mentioning some of the physical and behavioral characteristics of each stage. The minimal information given in both titles, while accurate, is incom plete in several instances. For example, in Birds' Nest, few of the physical and behavioral characteristics of the Blue Titmouse are given; the characteristic hammering it makes with its beak as it hunts for insects in trees or opens nuts and seeds is not mentioned. In Ladybug the process of metamorphosis is de scribed, but the term is omitted, as is the term ``fertilization,'' although the mating of ladybugs is discussed. The texts in both books consist of short, choppy sentences. An unnecessary di rective, ``Look at the photography'' frequently appears. The use of short sentences in large bold print to head each page of text is also unnecessary as the little information they impart is re peated in almost the same words below. Gans' It's Nesting Time (Crowell, 1964; o.p.) contains more data on bird behavior and is a better written intro duction to birds' nests. Fischer-Nagel's Life of the Ladybug (Carolrhoda, 1986), while on a higher reading level, contains more in-depth material on the insect's life cycle and is profusely illus trated with excellent color photo graphs. Karey Wehner, San Francis co Public Library