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.

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