I bought “Beginning Birdwatcher’s Book with 48 Stickers” for my 5-year-old great-niece, but after going through it, I decided to present it to the Science Olympiad scholar, my 11-year-old great-niece, the big sister. In fact, she told me just yesterday that she didn’t think she would like bird study but now finds it “really interesting.” This is a milestone from a child whose own friends tell her she never shows wild emotion. (They just don’t see her at home!)

You can see the concept made concrete on the cover (if you can see that clearly). Each of the 48 birds commonly found in backyards has a separate half-page (lengthwise) column that provides this information: a blank space for the sticker once the birder sights (sees?) the bird, its size, description of eggs, food, range, and a series of four lines on which the birder can record precise information about the sighting. Simple, easy, effective, and most significantly–memorable!

Oh, yes, I will order two more–one for the five-year-old and one for the great-aunt. After all, she, too, is a beginning birder! I think I’ll throw in another for their brother, an already nature-lover. We mustn’t have a family feud over bird watching!