Catherine, Called Birdy Companion Booktalks

A baker’s dozen to get you start­ed on the April Book­storm™  books …

Aviary Won­ders Inc. Spring Cat­a­log and Instruc­tion Man­u­al, Kate Sam­worth. Clar­i­on Books, 2014

• Win­ner of the 2014 Kirkus Prize for Young Read­ers’ Literature
• Fan­tas­tic illus­tra­tions of fan­tas­ti­cal creatures
• Build your own birds!

Back­yard Birds by Karen Stray Nolt­ing, Jonathan Latimer, and Roger Tory Peter­son. Houghton Mif­flin Har­court, 1999

• Col­or pho­tographs and drawings
• Easy guides on how-to-iden­ti­fy com­mon birds
• Great sup­ple­men­tary mate­r­i­al for reports 

Blood Red Horse by K.M. Grant. Walk­er, 2006 (Book 1 of a trilogy)

• 13 year old rides a beloved horse into bat­tle dur­ing the crusades
• Nar­ra­tive fol­lows both Chris­t­ian and Mus­lim characters
• What does it take to become a knight? 

Cas­tle, writ­ten and illus­trat­ed by David Macaulay. Can­dlewick Press, 2005 edition

• Calde­cott Hon­or book
• Step-by-step con­struc­tion of fic­tion­al 13^th Cen­tu­ry castle
• Easy Read­er ver­sion avail­able 

Cas­tle Diary: the Jour­nal of Tobias Burgess by Richard Platt, illus­trat­ed by Chris Ridell. Can­dlewick Press, 2003

• Dai­ly life in a cas­tle from an 11-year-old servant’s point of view
• Joust­ing, sword fight­ing, archery, horse-back riding
• What was it like to live in a cas­tle? 

Creepy Crea­tures: Fleas by Valerie Bod­den. Cre­ative Paper­backs, 2014

• Under-the-micro­scope pho­tographs with amaz­ing details
• Great back mat­ter for report writing
• One in a set of Creepy Crea­tures books 

Crispin: Cross of Lead by Avi. Pen­guin, 2002

• New­bery winner
• Page-turn­ing action
• False­ly-accused boy goes on the run in 14^th cen­tu­ry England

Doo­dle Stitch­ing: Fresh and Fun Embroi­dery for Begin­ners by Aimee Ray. Ster­ling Pub­lish­ing, 2007

• Easy-to-fol­low pat­terns for a vari­ety of projects (book covers!)
• “Doo­dles” appeal­ing to boys and girls
• Many designs that even begin­ners could fin­ish in a short block of time 

Good Mas­ters! Sweet Ladies! Voic­es from a Medieval Vil­lage by Lau­ra Amy Schlitz, illus­trat­ed by Robert Byrd. Can­dlewick Press, 2011

• Linked sto­ries told through mono­logues, per­fect for read­ers the­ater or solo reading
• New­bery winner
• Vil­lage map and oth­er illus­tra­tions by Robert Byrd and Lau­ra Amy Schlitz’s author notes pro­vide a wealth of detail to sup­port the stories

Oxford Dic­tio­nary of Saints by David Farmer. Oxford Uni­ver­si­ty Press, 5th edi­tion, 2011

• Easy-read­ing biogra­phies of 1300 saints, with empha­sis on most famil­iar and Eng­lish saints
• Gives folk­lore asso­ci­at­ed with saints as well as history
• Just-the-facts approach — doesn’t judge or proselytize

Proud Taste for Scar­let and Miniv­er, by E.L. Konigs­burg. 2001 reprint

• His­tor­i­cal fic­tion from two-time New­bery-win­ning author
• Meet one of the most pow­er­ful women in his­to­ry: Eleanor of Aquitaine
• Fast-mov­ing, dia­logue-rich narrative

Sal­adin: Noble Prince of Islam by Diane Stan­ley. Harper­Collins, 2002

• Biog­ra­phy of an Islam­ic hero and ruler dur­ing the Crusades
• Beau­ti­ful illus­tra­tions evoke medieval Islam­ic art
• Great back mat­ter for report writ­ing 

   

Secret Diary of Adri­an Mole, Aged 13−3÷4 by Sue Townsend. Harper­Teen, 2003

• First crush, acne, a roy­al wed­ding, being broke — through the eyes of British teen
• First in a series of humor­ous diaries
• 1980s Britain — details of set­ting might be unfa­mil­iar to today’s read­ers but emo­tions won’t be