Through the Looking Glass Children's Book Reviews
Kids Can Do it: Birdhouses
Nonfiction Craft Book
For ages 8 and up
Kids Can Press, 2005 ISBN: 978-1553375500
Many of us love to watch birds, especially in the springtime when they are building their nests and raising their young. One way to encourage birds to come into your yard is to build a birdhouse for them. Many birds have specific needs and won't use a house if the hole into the house is too small or too big. In this excellent book readers are given all the information that they need to build bird-friendly, attractive, and unique birdhouses for their avian neighbors.
The author not only describes how to make the nine birdhouses she has designed, but she also carefully and thoughtfully describes at the very beginning of the book what materials, tools, and methods will be needed to build them. Mini tutorials describe how the tools should be used and what one needs to do to make sure that injuries do not occur. The author is enthusiastic, encouraging, and her designs are different enough that there should be a house to suit every child who has an interest in making a birdhouse. The author even has a birdhouse design that is made using an old boot. None of the designs shown in the book are too difficult do nor should they take too long to build.
