Birding Books for Kids
The Plant Diaries Pt. 5
In case you missed it, I started a new series on Overbooked Mama called The Plant Diaries where I’m attempting to document our Spring backyard gardening adventures. This week I’m back with some not-so-good news, my plans for moving forward, and a list of birding books for kids.
Let’s start with the bad news. Sadly, I don’t think our seedlings are going to make it (except for maybe the peas). From what I can tell, it was a combination of a few mishaps:
The seedlings were quite small when we transplanted and in hindsight, we should’ve focused on hardening them off.
We had a huge storm the day after we planted and didn’t see the sun for several days.
Our pesky dogs had a nice nibble of a few of the herbs.
I’m trying not to be hard on myself about it. After all, gardening is always an experiment with a million variables and possible outcomes. I still have my fingers crossed that something will pull through. Right now I’m going to focus on pivoting and buying plants from a local nursery instead. We will probably plant them after our Spring Break vacation. I can’t risk them not being watered properly!
So… while our veggie garden leaves a lot to be desired at the moment, other parts of our yard are looking great. Our azaleas are in full bloom.
We spent some time weeding and laying mulch in our front beds— a task we’ve put off for close to a year now. I emptied pots in preparation for new plants on the front porch and cleaned off our bench. I think herbs might be a good choice for them so they’re right off the kitchen. This guide does a good job at explaining which herbs like frequent watering and which herbs need drying out.
My kids got some Wildflower seed pops from the Easter Bunny so I’m going to let them plant those in a pretty planter pot so they can take care of them together. Maybe we’ll end up with some flowers for arrangements.
Have you heard of chaos gardening? Maybe this trend is the way to go.
Birding Books for Kids
My love of birds comes from my mom, who can frequently be found at her kitchen table with her original Peterson Field Guide to Birds of North America that her dad gave to her. Birding was never a conscious practice for me but being around it I picked up on things I now realize not all of my friends did in school. Now my kids love to pick up a set of binoculars for fun and I’m trying to be intentional with it. It feels so special to be the link that passes down a hobby from generations before me. I’ve always said if I wasn’t so against caging something meant to fly, I’d love to have a bird as a pet.
Our backyard window bird feeder is getting lots of action lately! I’ve seen a couple of newcomers for the season like mourning doves, house finches, and tufted titmouse. My kids love to get involved with birding by helping scoop seeds into the feeder and watching the birds at the window while they play at their Lego table. My 5-year-old has learned the difference in the appearance of male and female cardinals and that’s her current favorite thing to point out to us.
We are really lucky to live near a restored wetland park that is a habitat for birds like anhinga, red-winged blackbirds, painted buntings, green heron, little blue heron, gallinule, and egrets. I’d love to get my kids out there this spring and introduce them to even more species of birds.
I recently read the Kids’ Field Guide to Birds by Daisy Yuhas and I think it would be a good one to pull out on my phone or iPad while we’re sitting at the park. What I enjoyed most about the Kids' Field Guide to Birds is that it includes photographs of each bird instead of illustrations. I think this is a practical approach to introducing younger kids to birding, as they may not be able to conceptualize an illustration as well in the wild. The book is broken into chapters by region and habitat which makes it easy to zero in on birds you might see in your own state.
Finishing Daisy’s book inspired me to look for more backyard birding books for kids. I pulled together a quick list to share with you. I was able to find so many of these books through Hoopla which is a free service made available to me through my local library system. I highly suggest checking your local branch for birding books first. I’ve used affiliate links from Bookshop.org in this post to call out these books if you’re unable to source them through the library first. Bookshop.org supports indie bookstores so it’s a win all around.
I also just have to share this book I won in a giveaway. I’m taking it with me on vacation!
The synopsis sounds cute:
A divorcee embarks on her "year of yes" and crosses paths with a shy but sensitive birdwatcher who changes her life in this charming rom-com that is perfect for fans of Christina Lauren and Ali Hazelwood.
Let’s get growing!
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PS. Sorry ti hear about the planting mishaps. This is what deters me from trying it, I hate the not knowing if it's going to turn out, haha.
I didn't start paying attention to birds or finding them interesting until we moved to Idaho. Our current favorite bird that we see frequently is the Magpie. Thank you for compiling this list! It's also heartwarming to hear that your mother is fond of birds and that's where you get it from. xx