A Garden to Save the Birds

Narrated by Callum, a bespectacled child with warm brown skin and wavy hair, this inspiring picture book relays how a bird’s accidental collision into a window galvanizes a family to learn about helping birds. Through strategic gardening, bird feeder positioning, and nighttime light reduction, the family transforms their home; their activism then begets outreach as they persuade their neighborhood to become a wildlife habitat. Featuring a rich color palette and detailed fowl, Mayumi’s modern, animation-style art will appeal in her picture book debut. McClure’s informative, sequential model, which presents a problem the birds face and a solution the children reach, will resonate with young bird enthusiasts and burgeoning environmentalists, as will the compassionate community care message (“We’re growing back the world too./ A little bit, at least./ Still, there’s more we can do”). Back matter includes facts about the birds, actions that readers can take to help, and online resources. Ages 4–8. (Apr.)