Words About Birds of Aotearoa New Zealand product reviews

Words About Birds is a fabulous book about New Zealand birds. It acts as a great reference book with lots of information and great facts about birds, from the Albatross to Tui to the now-extinct Moa.

The first two pages give us an introduction to where the birds are found, whether some find food at sea or land, and whether some are nocturnal or not. Each double spread features rhyming paragraphs about the bird, the name of the bird in English and Te Reo, and a beautifully illustrated picture of the bird. The birds are featured in alphabetical order to make it easy to find a particular bid.

I have to say I was very impressed with this book and my 12-year-old and 14-year-old daughters both found it very informative. My eldest loves feeding the birds and we are lucky to have a number of the birds mentioned in the book frequent our bush section. Even though we have heaps of kereru on our section, and love watching them dive bomb to the ground, we weren't aware that they never sing! My husband informed me that when institutions do bird counts, they have to listen for the wings flapping to count them!

This book would make a fantastic gift for the younger reader, or anybody that loves birds as it is informative and entertaining. The last page gives you information on the author, Geoffrey Fuller, who died in 2011. He was a talented painter and won many awards for his work. The text and illustrations are published by the Geoffrey Fuller Estate and the book serves as a wonderful legacy to this lover of New Zealand birds.

This is not a conventional storybook; it is a reference book for youngsters about the birds of our country. As such, it is a fun way to discover more about the different species to be found here - some common, others rare and confined to a few select areas. Each bird is described accurately but simply in language that is easy for very young children to understand. Both English and Maori names are given as the title for each "poem", and the graphics are realistic enough to make identification a straightforward task.

A book set out like this was a new experience for Mr Three and Miss Four, but once they had got the hang of it, they found it fun to flip through the pages and find their favourites. Each time the book was brought out they selected a new bird and enjoyed listening to the rhyming description while they examined the corresponding picture. They began by choosing the birds they already knew about - starting with the pukeko (which they had never before heard referred to as a swamp hen) and kiwi - but then they branched out into the more unusual birds. This process was an education for their parents too as they discovered unfamiliar birds like the bittern.

Miss Four loved the illustrations. She said the birds were beautiful, and nominated the full-page picture of the tui as her absolute favourite. Mr Three remembered the family's recent trip to the museum and was excited to see the moa depicted in the book as he had seen a moa skeleton in the foyer. This prompted discussion about conservation and which of our birds are extinct or endangered - interesting topics for youngsters as they tend to be passionate about these issues and want to learn more.

The value of a book like this goes way beyond its appeal for young children. I shared it with two teenagers when I first got it, and they were just as enthusiastic about the information it contained and the quality of the artwork. As the older commented (from the ripe old age of 17), you are never too old to learn something! I then took the book to Mr Three and Miss Four for their input, and I am sure their parents got as much out of it as they did. My one reservation would be that it was a paperback edition and might not last as well as a hardback. I would also like to see a little more information about the birds at the end of the book, given its appeal for an older audience as well as for youngsters.