Robins!: How They Grow Up

Author: Eileen Christelon

Clarion Books (2017)
Ages 6-9 years
  
Robins! How They Grow Up by Eileen Christelow is about two robins telling their family stories. The robins start their story by telling the readers how their dad came back to the north after the winter, and how he found a good place to stay. They then explained how their mom came over and found their dad, so their mom made a nest and laid four eggs and kept them warm. Then, one day a squirrel finds the nest when their mom is out looking for food, and the squirrel takes one of the eggs. All of the eggs hatch and are fed. When they are six days old, their eyes open and their feathers begin to emerge. When they are eight days old, they grow more feathers. At fourteen days old, they are flapping their wings and learning to fly. When the robins are three weeks old, they are stronger and have full tail feathers. At six weeks old, they are finding their own food, however, when they are looking, their brother gets taken away by a hawk. When they are Eight weeks old, they are flying with their friends and learning. The robins are five weeks old when they fly south for the winter. This book provides a lot of information to readers, has illustrations that keep the reader's attention, and has reference pages that help them learn new words. 

This book has a lot of information about robins that most children won't know. This will help children learn more about robins and other birds, which they may find interesting. Throughout the book the robins explain some of the things that happened in the story. When they were telling readers how they got more feathers, the robins elaborated and said that their feathers keep them warm and help them fly. This book also gives extra bits of information on robins. When their mom and dad meet, the robins inform readers that male robins have darker colored heads than females do. The information in this book is accurate. The characters in the story are fictional; however, they help readers understand the lives of robins. Children may find this information in this book interesting, which will keep them engaged in the story. Another element in this book that will keep readers engaged is the illustrations. 

The illustrations in the book are in a comic style. This helps readers understand the flow of the story because they can go from box to box and see what is happening. The illustrations help readers see things that they may not understand. When their mother is building her nest, it may be hard for readers to imagine, however, the illustrations show the process that the robin took to build her nest. The illustrations take up most of the pages and the text is on the side of the bottom. This helps readers who are having trouble reading understand what is going on in the story. Since some of the words will be new to young readers, reference pages are helpful.
Reference pages are important in children's books because they can provide readers will additional information. There is a glossary in this book, which allows readers to learn new words. This will help readers become familiar with and learn new words. There are also additional facts about robins on the page following the glossary. This page gives readers some fun facts about robins, which can make readers more interested and engaged in the story. 

Overall, this is a great book for children. It provides accurate information about robins that children may not know. It also teaches readers new words. It has great illustrations that keep readers interested in the story. The illustrations provide more information to the reader. There is a glossary that gives readers the definitions of the new words that they saw. 

Review by Aaliyah Girdler