Follow the Flyway: The Marvel of Bird Migration by Sarah Nelson Illustrated by Maya Hanisch
I’ve been thinking a lot about birds recently. It’s fall season here in the Midwest, which means it’s time for some species to migrate. Move south. And yet, we were recently on a family hike in our local Open Lands and came across birders who were looking for a limpkin. A limpkin is a bird native to Florida. Much like the flamingoes recently spotted in Wisconsin, people speculate this individual limpkin got swept up in hurricane winds and ended up here in Illinois. One local birder told me she checks on the limpkin everyday to make sure it is surviving the colder temps. With birds on the brain, I highly recommend a lovely new nonfiction picture book: Follow the Flyway: The Marvel of Bird Migration by Sarah Nelson & illustrated by Maya Hanisch (2023) When I first picked up Follow the Flyway, I thought the author created a cute play on words to call a bird highway a flyway, but, in fact, flyway is an actual term for a bird’s migration path. This book takes the reader from the early days of spring when birds lay their eggs to the chilly days of fall when migratory birds make their way south towards the ocean. The text is simple and beautiful. The illustrations are just lovely. My favorite line is, “Some just seem to know the way, like a map of the world is inside of them.” It truly is a marvel that birds make this regular journey. Nature…how awesome.
Heart: I’ve been thinking a lot about movement recently. With climate change (and wars), we will continue to see the movement of humans within and across borders. The growing migrant crisis in Chicago is evidence of that. And, what about the animals, the insects and other natural elements? Wouldn’t it be great if we all knew our way in this world, “like a map of the world was inside us?”
Head: Close to 1,000 migrating birds were killed on October 5th when they flew into the windows at McCormick Place. I was stunned when I heard this on NPR. Further research led me to this Smithsonian article. Clearly we have a lot of work to do to protect our birds.