Mocking Birdies

By Annette Simon

Simply Read Books

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1894965299
• ISBN13: 9781894965293
• Release Date: November 2005
• Publisher: Simply Read Books
• Length: 32 Pages
• Weight: 0.90 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 9.4" x 9.2"
• Age Range: 4 to 8 years
• Grade Range: Preschool to Grade 3

Customer Reviews

Bright voices

Wikipedia explains that mockingbirds are "best known for the habit of some species of mimicking the songs of other birds, often loudly and in rapid succession." The Mockingbird is the state bird of Texas. This could be a fun book to add to the "state symbols" lessons. Kids understand that copycatting is a sure way to get under someone's skin. The book flap reminds us that "stop copying me" is a frequent childhood refrain. The bright primary colors and geometric shapes of the birds prepare the readers for a bit of fun as they read this book. The birds sit on lines that resemble a music staff and then later, telephone lines. The text varies in size and color, which would make the book interesting to share as a choral read with a class. I would put the book under an Elmo so the whole class could see the colors and read the words. One group could read the red lines, another, the blue lines, and the purple lines together. The echoing quality of the text would make all students feel successful. This is also a good book to share sitting side by side with just one special reading friend.

Mocking Birdies

This picture book is a real treasure. A blue bird sings in blue text; a red bird copies that singing in red text. Stop singing my song! Stop singing my song! But after the initial copycat dialogue, the two begin talking: "i sing red as the dawn, when the sun peeps hello" "i sing blue as the noon, when the sun calls to play" Next thing you know, the two birds are singing together. And red and blue voices overlap to make purple. And then the purple bird shows up! And then there's a green cat. "Skit scat" "copycat" "copycat cat CAT." The color coded dialogue contributes to the fun. I'm not sure how well it would work in a traditional story time, even with a storyteller who is good with doing different sounding voices, because of the great moment where red and blue overlap to be purple. Instead, I think it would work best with multiple readers, whether its in a small group with one or two beginning readers, a parent and child, or with a larger number of storytellers. I like how the electric wires the birds are sitting on become a music staff. And I like how the colors of the rainbow are used. And I also like how the book jacket is different from the actual book cover, with the book cover incorporating the clever red and blue make purple motif.

Fun to read aloud, read along, read alone

My six-year-old and two-year-old repeatedly ceased their usual banter ("He's touching my [beloved plastic object goes here]!" "MINE!") long enough for me to read them Annette Simon's fun, colorful Mocking Birdies. The title birdies' dialogue is color-coded to match the characters, making this book especially well-suited for reading (singing, tweeting, etc.) together with my older son, who also enjoys reading it by himself. Annette Simon gets a whole lot of emotion out of the circles, semicircles and triangles she uses for her birds' bodies -- as fun as the dialogue is, our favorite pages are the wordless two-page spreads where the birds go beak-to-beak in a silent stare-off.

Spending time with Mocking Birdies is a lot of fun!

This is a fun and colorful book, published in November, 2005 by Simply Read Books. It's a simple story about two birds who keep copying each other, in a ridiculous and circular argument. One bird is red, and the other bird is blue, and the text of each bird's words is also in red or blue. Eventually, the two birds decide to sing together, instead of fighting with one another, and the text of their combined words is colored purple (get it? Red and blue together make purple). There is a nice page where the red and blue words are shown gradually overlapping one another, to make this very clear. What sets this book apart, to me, is not the story of the birds copying each other, and learning to get along (though I think that kids, especially bickering siblings, will find it funny). No, what sets this book apart are the boldly colored illustrations of the birds, and a big yellow sun. I especially love one page that shows the oversized faces of the two birds, challenging one another beak to beak, with no words at all. Ms. Simon's ability to capture the personalities of these two birds, in simple, geometric illustrations, is amazing to me. I also think that the colored fonts, especially when they merge to make purple, make this an excellent book for children just learning to read. The words themselves are a vibrant part of the story. And isn't fun with words what it's all about? I think that this book would make an excellent addition to any child's library. And if you have twins, well, then you should certainly buy it. Incidentally, the mockingbird is the state bird of both Texas and Florida, the two states that Annette Simon and her family have lived in most recently. Maybe that's where the big yellow sun in the books comes from, too. These comments are reproduced from a review that I posted on my website, Jen Robinson's Book Page, on February 18, 2006.

we love it!

Mocking Birdies is a fun, original and beautiful book. My 3.5 yr old loves the colors and the birds, but mostly loves the rhymes. What better thing to do than mock and copy your sibling? She wants to read it over and over and over again. you should buy this book. you should buy this book.