You and the Bowerbird

Starred review from May 15, 2023
The stressful courtship ritual of a male bowerbird, as seen by a young observer. Satin Bowerbirds are native to Australia, and during mating season the males build elaborate structures on the ground out of natural and found blue materials--buttons, bottle caps, pieces of glass, even socks--to attract females. It is not an easy job--not only are the females picky, but rival males will swoop in at the slightest opportunity to steal the best bits and mess up the rest. Here Gianferrari records the ups and downs of Satin, one such hopeful swain, as he carefully builds and rebuilds his bower, drives off interlopers, and dances enthusiastically when green-feathered Pea, a likely looking prospect, doubtfully lands for a lookie-loo. There's really nothing for it but to cheer him on. Playing this arduous ritual as a romantic comedy, Wicks depicts Satin looking over his bower with a critical eye, fussing over it, expressing confusion and astonishment when he returns from various forays to find it wrecked, and climactically casting a flirtatious side-eye at Pea as she watches him flapping and high-stepping. A dark-skinned child in the illustrations, watching all of this as raptly as readers will, fills notebooks with sketches and comments and provides a satisfying sense of closure by later spotting Pea in a tree, presiding over a nest full of eggs. (This book was reviewed digitally.) Delightful, tongue in cheek, and compellingly romantic. (more information on bowerbirds) (Informational picture book. 6-9)

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Starred review from July 1, 2023
Grades K-3 *Starred Review* A young girl peers at a bowerbird through her binoculars and promptly sketches him in her notebook of scientific observations. It's an Australian satin bowerbird, and he's in the mood to woo. Satin builds a bower of twigs and rounds up an assortment of blue items--marbles, bottle caps, a feather--to impress any nearby females. Just as a green female, Pea, lands to inspect the presentation, another bowerbird swoops in to snatch away the feather at the entrance of the bower. Satin regroups with a blue sock, and swoop: Pirate snatches it again! Satin is continually thwarted by other bowerbirds, but the ever-observant girl steps in to provide assistance in the form of extra azure objects, and Satin is at last able to win his beloved Pea and start a feathered family. The cheerful, cheeky story is told through wonderful lilting text that employs full sentences, simple poetic phrases, and action descriptions woven right into the illustrations (birds ruffle, fluff, and dart). Delightful, digitally colored pencil drawings vividly indicate frantic motion and avian anxiety, with the feathered faces expressing a hilarious range of emotions, from sneaky to satisfied. Crayoned drawings in the nature notebook and cleverly rounded binocular views add variety, while endnotes offer details about bowerbird behavior, along with suggested videos, websites, and books for follow-up. A supremely entertaining introduction to an irrepressible animal.

COPYRIGHT(2023) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Starred review from September 4, 2023
As playful as it is informative, this simplified graphical narrative combines the labeled sketches of a child’s field journal with mildly slapstick incidents in the life of an Australian satin bowerbird. Satin, as the child calls the bird, builds an elaborate twig bower and collects blue objects to attract green-feathered Pea, a prospective mate (“A rosella parrot feather waits like a welcome mat”). When other male bowerbirds loot the installation, the child—a note-taker portrayed with brown skin—surreptitiously donates a blue sock to replace the lost swag. Gianferrari’s lively descriptions and surprised exclamations establish a breezy tone (continued in “Bower Power” back matter), while Wicks varies angles and perspectives, sometimes supplying a birder’s view in goggle-shaped “binocular” panels. Comical cartoons and an enthusiastic documentary voice make for a splendid and informative read-aloud. Ages 4–8.

Starred review from August 25, 2023

PreS-Gr 1-A young girl loves spending days in her tree house observing birds and recording what she sees them doing. Wicks opens the book with a childlike illustration on lined notebook paper. This is unexpected and welcoming because it encourages young children to do the same. Satin is a bowerbird who is doing his best to attract a mate by building an avenue bower. An avenue bower is an U-shaped structure made from a multitude of sticks. Satin is a good builder, and there's a pretty female, Pea, who's interested, but other bowerbirds keep raiding it, instead of working and getting their own sticks. The young girl observes this and decides to help Satin without interfering, and so he wins his mate and Pea hatches her eggs. The "you" of the title is the girl, who has brown skin and black hair in two puffs; her actions teach children how to appreciate the natural world and how to be a scientist. VERDICT A lovely amalgam of science and play; with careful maps of the action, this makes the world of birding thrilling while delivering a very happy ending.-Laura Ellis

Copyright 2023 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from November 1, 2023
Perched in a treehouse on the border of an Australian rainforest, a young child ("you") keeps a journal chronicling the activities of a busy male satin bowerbird. The child first observes this royal blue DIYer constructing a bower (dubbed by Gianferrari as his "bachelor pad"). Like all bowerbirds, he painstakingly erects a two-walled arch of sticks leading into the space; he then decorates it with found objects (feathers, straws, and the like -- all blue, this bowerbird species' signature color) to attract females. One comes, quickly followed by younger satins who repeatedly vandalize the bower. Our human observer shares a few objects to help him rebuild; a female approaches his new digs, and the two mate (offstage). The female retreats to build her nest and, with a progression depicted through comic panels, the nestlings become fledglings and depart, eventually to begin their own cycle. An author's note expands the text with particularly accessible explanations, including both print and internet resources for further inquiry. The curious child provides readers with a literary avatar, allowing them an immediacy in observing the actions of this fascinating bird. Bright, digitally colored illustrations with black outlines depict the action, offering visual confirmation for the author's textual comparisons in nature to common household items. In one case, the bird decorates with a "welcome mat," clearly shown to be a blue feather. Gianferrari (Fungi Grow, rev. 9/23) puts out her own welcome mat for young naturalists. Betty Carter

(Copyright 2023 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)