Fall and spring are wonderful times to introduce children to the idea that birds migrate.
Pair some great nonfiction with fiction to celebrate the seasonal flights of birds.
(Note: Linked titles go to Amazon for more information. Please see the disclaimer below).
Nonfiction Picture Books
Warbler Wave by April Pulley Sayre with contributions by Jeff Sayre
Photographer and award-winning author April Pulley Sayre and her husband Jeff Sayre have been observing warblers during their annual spring migration for years. Now they share their experiences with this gorgeous book for children.
Warblers are tiny and elusive birds, but the Sayres have captured many wonderful photographs to fill the pages of the book. As she explains on her website, they chose photographs of birds in action to give children the experience of viewing live warblers in nature, rather than choosing those that are simply posed well.
Warbler Wave is simply wonderful. It is likely to inspire children to take up birdwatching as a hobby or maybe even as a career!
Age Range: 3 – 8 years
Publisher: Beach Lane Books (February 13, 2018)
ISBN-10: 1481448293
ISBN-13: 978-1481448291
How Do Birds Find Their Way? (Let’s-Read-and-Find-Out Science 2)
Age Range: 4 – 8 years
Publisher: HarperCollins (January 18, 1996)
ISBN-10: 006445150X
ISBN-13: 978-0064451505
Red Knot: A Shorebird’s Incredible Journey
Although the bird in this nonfiction book migrates long distances, one important stop on the way is Delaware Bay were it refuels on horseshoe crab eggs. Same type of bird that s featured in the middle grade book Moonbird (see below).
Age Range: 7 – 9 years
Grade Level: 2 – 4
Publisher: Birdsong Books (May 1, 2006)
ISBN-10: 0966276159
ISBN-13: 978-0966276152
The Peregrine’s Journey: A Story of Migration
Flying from Alaska to Argentina, the peregrine makes an 8,000 mile journey during its migration. Based on the flight of an actual bird followed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Age Range: 5 – 9 years
Publisher: Web of Life Children’s Books (January 28, 2008)
ISBN-10: 097775393X
ISBN-13: 978-0977753932
The Flight of the Snow Geese
Did you know that snow geese fly from their Arctic nesting ground to the New Mexico desert where they spend the winter?
Age Range: 4 and up
Publisher: Orchard Books (NY) (September 1998)
ISBN-10: 0531300889
ISBN-13: 978-0531300886
The Long, Long Journey: The Godwit’s Amazing Migration
Follow the flight of the bar-tailed godwit from Alaska to New Zealand. Some of the birds fly an amazing 7000 miles without stopping! Perfect nonfiction to pair with Baba Didi and the Godwits Fly below.
Library Binding: 32 pages
Publisher: Millbrook Pr Trade (January 1, 2013)
ISBN-10: 0761356231
ISBN-13: 978-0761356233
Middle Grade Nonfiction
Belle’s Journey: An Osprey Takes Flight by Rob Bierregaard and illustrated by Kate Garchinsky
Dr. Rob Bierregaard ( Dr. B. as he calls himself in the book) studies osprey migrations. One August he captured an osprey he named Belle on Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts. He fitted her with a radio transmitter. After he released her, the transmitter sent her location data to a computer so he could study where she went. That fall, Belle flew all the way to the rain forests of Brazil.
In the forward Dr. B. explains that “this is a mostly true story.” Belle really made the flight to Brazil and he knew her location at different times, but he used creative nonfiction techniques to fill in details about her experiences and the dangers she faced. His descriptions of her daily activities are lush and detailed. Readers learn a lot about all the places Belle visits.
Belle’s Journey is likely to appeal to youngsters who enjoy reading fiction as well as to those who want to find out more about ospreys and bird migration.
Age Range: 7 – 10 years
Publisher: Charlesbridge (May 15, 2018)
ISBN-10: 1580897924
ISBN-13: 978-1580897921
Snowy Owl Invasion!: Tracking an Unusual Migration by Sandra Markle
In 2013, large numbers of white owls started showing up in lower Canada and along the east coast of the United States where they weren’t normally seen. Why were snowy owls migrating to new places?
Sandra Markle used her research skills to track down experts and find the answers. What she discovered was that the snowy owls were experiencing an irruption, which means they migrating beyond their usual range, because their populations had swelled the previous summer. She also found out why, which I won’t reveal here. Like Belle in the story above, some of the scientists used GPS transmitters to follow the birds.
The book is filled with amazing photographs of beautiful snowy owls.
Age Range: 8 – 12 years
Publisher: Millbrook Pr (January 1, 2018)
ISBN-10: 1512431060
ISBN-13: 978-1512431063
Flight of the Golden Plover: The Amazing Migration Between Hawaii and Alaska
An older book, it tells the story of the Pacific golden plover, which is a tiny shorebird that migrates from Alaska to Hawaii.
Age Range: 9 and up
Publisher: Alaska Northwest Books; First Edition edition (June 1, 1996)
ISBN-10: 0882404741
ISBN-13: 978-0882404745
On the Wing: American Birds in Migration
In addition to illustrations of birds flying, this book also includes colorful maps of migrations and ranges.
Age Range: 8 and up
Grade Level: 3 and up
Publisher: HarperCollins (June 5, 2001)
ISBN-10: 0688166490
ISBN-13: 978-0688166496
Moonbird: A Year on the Wind with the Great Survivor B95 (Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Honor (Awards))
Age Range: 10 – 14 years
Grade Level: 4 – 8
Series: Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Honor (Awards)
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR) (July 17, 2012)
ISBN-10: 0374304688
ISBN-13: 978-0374304683
The Man Who Flies With Birds (Israel)
Yossi Leshem studied bird migrations over Israel, in part to prevent bird strikes on airplanes.
Age Range: 10 and up
Grade Level: 5 and up
Publisher: Kar-Ben Publishing (September 1, 2009)
ISBN-10: 0822576430
ASIN: B00DF86QLQ
Nonfiction Video
Winged Migration (2003)
Jacques Perrin (Actor), Philippe Labro (Actor), Jacques Perrin (Director), Jacques Cluzaud (Director) | Rated: G | Format: DVD
Amazing footage of geese and other birds flying through the air, filmed using ultralights that are moving right with the birds. If you like birds, this one shouldn’t be missed.
Fiction/Informational Fiction:
Waiting for a Warbler by Sneed B. Collard III and illustrated by Thomas Brooks
The story is told in two separate strands. The main text shows two children, Owen and his sister, as they watch for birds to return to their area. They particularly anticipate the arrival of the Cerulean warbler whom they had briefly spotted the year before.
The second strand follows a group of migrating birds as they take the harrowing journey north across the Gulf of Mexico. It is intense and fraught with danger.
The story switches back and forth between the two story lines before converging. Along the way, readers learn about the importance of providing habitat for birds.
Reading age : 6 – 8 years
Publisher : Tilbury House Publishers (February 2, 2021)
ISBN-10 : 0884488527
ISBN-13 : 978-0884488521
All Eyes on Alexandra by Anna Levine and illustrated by Chiara Pasqualotto
In All Eyes on Alexandra, young Alexandra Crane is terrible at following her family in their flying Vee. She can’t help it that the world is so full of interesting distracting sights! When it’s time for the Cranes to migrate to Israel’s Hula Valley for the winter, Alexandra is excited but her family is worried. Will Alexandra stay with the group, and what happens if a dangerous situation should arise? Might Alexandra—and the rest of the flock—discover that a bad follower can sometimes make a great leader?
Age Range: 3 – 8 years
Publisher: Kar-Ben Pub (August 1, 2018)
ISBN-10: 1512444391
ISBN-13: 978-1512444391
Baba Didi and the Godwits Fly
Baba Didi of the title is the narrator and Isabella’s grandmother. When they discover brown shorebirds called bar-tailed godwits feeding on the beach near their home in New Zealand, Baba Didi explains how the birds make a migration flight all the way to Alaska each year. The reader soon learns Baba Didi made an equally perilous journey when she and her husband left Croatia when they were young and sailed all the way to New Zealand.
Series: Searchlight Books
Publisher: Lerner Publishing Group (August 1, 2013)
ISBN-10: 1467715522
ISBN-13: 978-1467715522
Flute’s Journey: The Life of a Wood Thrush
Flute is a wood thrush that migrates from Maryland to Costa Rica and back.
Age Range: 4 – 8 years
Grade Level: Kindergarten – 2
Publisher: HMH Books for Young Readers; 1st edition (February 15, 1997)
ISBN-10: 0152928537
ISBN-13: 978-0152928537
Welcome, Brown Bird
Also following a wood thrush, the story centers on a boy in New England and a boy in Central America, each of whom treasure their experiences with the same bird, but don’t know the other exists.
Age Range: 3 – 7 years
Grade Level: Preschool – 1
Publisher: HMH Books for Young Readers; 1 edition (April 1, 2004)
ISBN-10: 0152928634
ISBN-13: 978-0152928636
The Far-Flung Adventures of Homer the Hummer
Just one look at the cover, and you know this is a special children’s book. It follows a ruby-throated hummingbird’s migration from Michigan to Costa Rica.
Hardcover: 32 pages
Publisher: Ann Arbor Editions (August 1, 2005)
ISBN-10: 158726269X
ISBN-13: 978-1587262692
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by Megan Nicole Cooley Peterson
by Louise A. Spilsbury
by Charles Micucci
by Gail Gibbons
by Judy Allen check illustrator: Tudor Humphries
by Linda Glaser and illustrated by Gay Holland conveys information about the honey bee life cycle and concepts like pollination using a few well-chosen words. The back matter has questions for deeper understanding.
by Anne Rockwell and illustrated by S. D. Schindler
(Animal Close-Ups)by Paul Starosta has excellent full-color photographs. As well as important facts about honey bees, it also wasps, bumble bees and carpenter bees.
By Loree Griffin Burns and photographs by Ellen Harasimowicz.
by Stephen Buchmann
by Naomi Shihab Nye
by Jean C. Echols, illustrated by Lisa Haderlie Baker. Published by Great Explorations in Math and Science, University of California, Berkeley. 1987.Great ideas for hands on activities for young children.
by Jeni Wittrock will help young readers learn more about the anatomy, life cycle and behaviors of tarantulas. With carefully controlled vocabulary and short sentences, the child can gain confidence reading while at the same time increasing their understanding of the natural world.
by Laura Marsh
Setting the stage with, “As you read these words, there is probably a spider nearby,” Pringle does an excellent job of introducing young readers to all the many different kinds of spiders.
| 2017 NSTA CBC Outstanding Science Trade Book
by John Himmelman
by Jim Arnosky
by Ellen Lawrence
by Sandra Markle
by Bridget Heos and illustrated by Andy Comins
by Kathryn Lasky and her husband, photographer Christopher G. Knight
by E. B. White
by Vijaya Khisty Bodach
by Robin Nelson
by Allan Fowler
by Jan Kottke
by Anne Rockwell and illustrated by Megan Halsey
Although the word “start” in the title and the pictures of sunflowers germinating on the cover suggests this books is about plant life cycles, with exception of a corn kernel germinating on pages 4-5 and an apple seed growing on pages 30-31, this book is about much more. In fact it is mainly about seed dispersal. Whether it is by wind, water, or animal taxi, author Melissa Stewart reveals the many, many ways seeds get around.
by Ken Robbins
by George Levenson and photographs by Shmuel Thaler
by Wendy Pfeffer and illustrated by James Graham Hale
by JoAnn Early Macken and illustrated by Pam Paparone
by Dianna Hutts Aston and Sylvia Long
by Gail Gibbons
by Helene J. Jordan and illustrated by Loretta Krupinski
by Joseph P. Anthony and illustrated by Cris Arbo
by John Himmelman
by Bobbie Kalman
by Ken Robbins
by Patricia Relf and illustrated by John Speirs,based on series by Joanna Cole and illustrated by Bruce Degan
by Bonnie Worth and illustrated by Aristides Ruiz
by Kathryn O. Galbraith and illustrated by Wendy Anderson Halperin
by Susan Heinrichs Gray
by Bonnie Juettner
by Arthur Geisert
by Ruth Krauss and illustrated by Crockett Johnson
by Eve Bunting and illustrated by Kathryn Hewitt
by L. Patricia Kite
by Demi
by Eliza Wheeler
by Helen Frost
by John Himmelman
by Dianna Hutts Aston and illustrated by Sylvia Long
by Nic Bishop
by Robin Michal Koontz and Bandelin-Dacey
by Lois Ehlert
by Irene Kelly.
by Loree Griffin Burns and with photographs by Ellen Harasimowicz is a lovely book for youngsters that will surely inspire a trip to a butterfly exhibit. It explains that the tropical butterflies seen in local butterfly exhibits come from butterfly farms, and then visit such a farm in Costa Rica. You will want to use it to accompany units on life cycles, farming, and insects. Read it and watch children’s imaginations take flight!
(2009) and 
(2010) by Darlyne Murawski
by Paul Whalley
by Rick Mikula
: a twelfth-century tale from Japan adapted by Jean Merrill and illustrated by Floyd Cooper.
by Sue Fliess, which starts with a bit of text that really reflects the best way to teach science to kids:
by the Children’s Poet Laureate 
by Jane Yolen with photographs by her son Jason Stemple is also published by Wordsong. In a series of two-page spreads we find a close-up photograph, a poem about the featured insect or arachnid, and an informative paragraph to add fun facts and details.
has long been a favorite of our family. Douglas Florian was formerly a cartoonist, and his fun, silly side comes through in his poetry books. Florian painted his quirky illustrations with watercolors on brown paper bags. It gives them an informal look that is appealing and kid-friendly.
, a newer book by Douglas Florian (2012), goes into more scientific detail than some of his other books of poetry. The reader comes away with an appreciation of bees and how they live.
by Paul Fleischman and illustrated by Eric Beddows is a classic that everyone should experience. The depth, the accuracy and the amazing rhythm of the poems for two voices, it is simply made to be shared. Some of my favorite poems of all time are in this little book.
by Carole Gerber and illustrated by Eugene Yelchin just came out in February (2013). Although it is centered more on plants, it features a number of insects and other creatures as well. Listen to what they have to say.
by Joyce Sidman and illustrated by Beckie Prange encompasses the change of seasons at a pond. Not just about insects, it is about the pond as a habitat.
by Leslie Bulion and illustrated by Leslie Evans is for the older reader (probably 8+) who doesn’t mind a bit of gore and mayhem. It also contains up-to-date factual information about insects and notes about the poetic forms. The illustrations are very clean, crisp and bright. I was impressed that the author had obviously spent time reading the work of the late great entomologist, Thomas Eisner.
by Janet Lawler and photographs by Brian Skerry.
by David Wiesner is a wordless fictional picture book about what a young boy discovers at the beach, including a very special camera. Use it to open discussions about floating and sinking, as well as life underwater.
by Elizabeth Moore is a beginning reader that is just the right size and vocabulary-level for children ages 4-8. Using bright photographs to illustrate points, it reveals what the ocean is and what lives there.
written by Molly Bang and Penny Chisholm and illustrated by Molly Bang, is a Bankstreet Children’s Nonfiction finalist. It celebrates ocean habitats and food chains. This book is the combination of the talents of Penny Chisholm, who is a MIT professor and expert on oceans, and Molly Bang, who is a Caldecott award winner.
by Kate Coombs expands the reader’s experiences by mixing poetry with lavish illustrations. (As of today, the Amazon link offers an audio snippet of a couple of the poems). Poetry and art encourage children to observe their world closely, a skill that is also useful for science.
by Katherine Roy
by Seymour Simon is for middle grade readers. It has smaller illustrations and deeper text than Coral Reefs, covering topics ranging from extreme ocean animals to extreme ocean weather events. Simon even covers the weather events driven by ocean temperatures in the eastern Pacific Ocean, called El Niño and La Niña. He also mentions coral reefs. Most amazing fact? I thought it was the pinky-nail-sized Australian jellyfish that can deliver a mammoth-sized amount of pain.
by Bradley Hague has been named a 2013 Outstanding Science Trade Book by the NSTA. It calls on the full resources of National Geographic to chronicle the amazing field of deep water oceanography,
by Kenneth Mallory tells the story of marine biologist Rich Lutz as he investigates the odd creatures that have been recently discovered around hydrothermal vents.
by Loree Griffin Burns is about Dr. Curt Ebbesmeyer, an oceanographer who studies the huge streams of water flowing through the ocean, called currents. Dr. Ebbesmeyer discovered that by tracking how fast and how far floating items spilled from ship accidents (like sneakers and floating toys) moved, he and other scientists could map the direction and speed of the ocean currents.
by Rebecca L. Johnson allows readers learn about cutting edge science, view glorious full-color photographs of creatures never seen before, and get glimpses into the lives of scientists at work. It is so appropriate for kids at an age where they are getting ready to explore their world, as well as starting to think about their career options. This book is sure to inspire everyone to want to study marine biology.
by Nancy F. Castaldo encourages the reader to explore concepts about the ocean using hands-on activities and crafts. Activities range from creating a jellyfish mobile to learning how whales stay warm in cold Arctic waters.
by Jane Ann Peddicord won the 2006 International Reading Association Children’s Book Award. It combines poems about space with stunning photographs and artist’s renderings of space. Peddicord also includes some informational text to fill in and emphasize the facts revealed in the poems.
, compiled by Lee Bennett Hopkins and illustrated by Melissa Sweet (1995). The book features the poem “Children of the Sun” by Brod Bagert, which starts:
by Amy Sklansky and illustrated by Stacey Schuett (2012) really lives up to its name. The poems are fun, creative and absolutely perfect for kids. For example, in the poem “Zero Gravity” some of the lines are flipped over. How creative!
(2007) is probably the one most geared to older children.
by Laura Purdie Salas (2008) is fresh and lively. Salas is devoted to her craft, and presents poems in different forms, and then explains each in the backmatter. This book would work well for a unit on poetry as it does for a unit on space.
(2009) compiled by Lee Bennett Hopkins and illustrated by Mariusz Stawarski presents the sun, stars and moon from an interesting, earthbound perspective. Hopkins has collected poems from a variety of poets and organized them to flow from sunrise to sunset. A wonderful celebration both the skies and poetry.
by Tony Mitton and Ant Parker (2000) are perfect for toddlers and preschoolers.
by Susan Stockdale
by Melissa Hill and Gail Saunders-Smith, PhD (Consultant Editor) is part of a new series that feature common species of owls. Early readers explore where owls live, what they eat, and their life cycle, while learning new vocabulary words. Did you know that owls do not build their own nests?
by Carmen Bredeson and Lindsey Cousins
In 
by Lita Judge
by Bernadette Gervais and Francesco Pittau
by Stephanie Spinner
Perfect to accompany a citizen science project like The Great Backyard Bird Watch, this kit comes with a 64-page book, simple-to-use binoculars, a laminated identification sheet with pictures of common birds, and an activity poster. What a great way to encourage the next generation of bird watchers.
by Annette LeBlanc
by Jonathan Alderfer
Written with light humor (one of the crows is named “Crow we never got around to naming”) and illustrated with birds-eye-view photographs (like the one on the cover). Whether you have read all of books in the Scientists in the Field series or none of them, you are going to want to pick up this one. Perfect for anyone interested in learning, tool use and birds, including budding animal behaviorists, ornithologists, psychologists and educators.
