My Baby Blue Jays by John Berendt-ADVISABLE

Berendt, John.  My Baby Blue Jays, 32 pgs.  Viking Juvenile, 2011.   $16.99.  Inside cover:  “When two blue jays started to build a nest on his balcony, John Berendt picked up his camera and began to record a familiar but always miraculous rite of springtime.  As the eggs are laid and hatch, baby blue jays emerge, are fed, grow bigger, learn to fly, and eventually make their way out into the world.  He captured it all.  Now, he shares his observations in pictures and text that will intrigue and delight young readers.”  This is a fantastic book detailing events that take place in a family of blue jays.  The author could have written this book in many different ways, but he chose to write to the reader, especially to the children, and we loved that!  We also loved the scrap-book layout of the book.  This would be a great addition to a unit on families, birds, etc.  Parents can also find tender analogies in raising and sending their own children out into the real world.  Pre-K.  EL (K-3).  ADVISABLE.  Reviewer: SL.