Birds of a Feather: A Book of Idioms and Silly Pictures by Vanita Oelschlager
By Bianca Schulze, The Children’s Book Review
Published: May 18, 2009
Birds of a Feather: A Book of idioms and Silly Pictures: Vanita Oelschlager
by Vanita Oelschlager (Author), Robin Hegan (Illustrator)
Reading level: Ages 4-9
Hardcover: 32 pages
Publisher: Vanitabooks (April 1, 2009)
What to expect: Idioms, Humor
Birds of a Feather is a brilliant book with a purpose: to introduce children to idioms. Oelschlager and Hegan have done an excellent job of helping children understand some very absurd idioms. Each idiom is illustrated with the literal version, then the objective is to guess the “real” interpretation of the phrase. The answers are provided upside down in the corner of each double page spread. Young children are very literal thinkers and it’s hard for them to grasp abstract concepts. This book manages to show the absolute silliness that comes about from certain sentences, and gently shows children that some words, when put together, can have very different meanings. Humor, when done correctly, can be one of the most effective ways to teach a child something new — this duo have their humor “on the nose”!
Add this book to your collection: Birds of a Feather: A Book of idioms and Silly Pictures: Vanita Oelschlager
NOTE: I also enjoyed Vanita Oelschlager’s book Ivy in Bloom.
Category: Ages 4-8, Brain Twisters, Cultural Wisdom, Humor, Reluctant Readers
About the Author (Author Profile)
The Children’s Book Review, named one of the ALSC (Association for Library Service to Children) Great Web Sites for Kids, is a resource devoted to children’s literacy. We publish reviews and book lists of the best books for kids of all ages. We also produce author and illustrator interviews and share literacy based articles that help parents, grandparents, teachers and librarians to grow readers.Subscribe
If you enjoyed this article, subscribe to receive more just like it.
Great book, it helps a lot to develop a sense of humor at an early age.