Book picks similar to
Zo in the Roosting Tree by Sara Webley


crows
kids-fantasy
kids-fiction
middle-grade-fiction

Odd, Weird & Little


Patrick Jennings - 2014
    He's short - kindergarten short - dresses in a suit like a grandpa, has huge eyes, and barely says a word. But Woodrow isn't exactly Mr. Popularity. The frequent target of the class bully himself, he figures that maybe all Toulouse needs is a chance. And when the two are put together in gym to play volleyball, they make quite the team. Toulouse can serve, set, and spike like a pro. He really knows how to fly around the court. But when the attention and teasing switch back to Woodrow, he learns that the new kid is great at something else: being a friend.Full of heart and laughs, Odd, Weird, and Little is another winner from the author of the state-list favorite, Guinea Dog.

The Witch at the Window


Ruth Chew - 1985
    Now that they are in print again, a new generation can fall under her spell and fall in love with reading.   Why did a witch appear at Nick’s window?   Could it have something to do with a mysterious tree in Prospect Park? Ever since Nick and Marjorie discovered it, strange things have been happening. First, they find an odd spoon with no owner. Then a spooky bird follows them home—and talks to them! It must be the witch’s magic!   But where has she vanished to? And what is she looking for?

Crow Made a Friend


Margaret Peot - 2015
    But like all crows, he is very clever. Using autumn leaves for wings, sticks for the body and a crab apple for the head, Crow makes a friend! But winter winds blow in, destroying his creation. Undaunted, Crow fashions another bird friend out of snow but cannot prevent it from melting in the warm spring sun. Alone again, Crow hears the caw, caw, caw of a real, live bird and finally forms a friendship that will last in this warm, satisfying story that celebrates perseverance and ingenuity.About the Series:I Like to Read® books are picture books written and illustrated so that even the newest reader can enjoy a satisfying, quality literary experience. The books in the series are written at kindergarten and early first grade reading levels."These books deftly combine text and art to create a positive experience for new readers."—School Library Journal"This series dares to make entertaining reads from short texts and familiar vocabulary"—Kirkus Reviews"Each one makes the hard world of learning to read enough fun to encourage children at this critical developmental moment to try another one."—Vicky Smith, Children's and YA Editor at Kirkus Reviews

Da Vinci's Cat


Catherine Gilbert Murdock - 2021
    But he must admit that a kitten walking into a wardrobe and returning full-grown a moment later is quite odd. Even stranger is Herbert, apparently an art collector from the future, who emerges from the wardrobe the next night. Herbert barters with Federico to get a sketch signed by the famous painter Raphael, but his plans take a dangerous turn when he hurries back to his era, desperate to save a dying girl.Bee never wanted to move to New Jersey. When a neighbor shows Bee a sketch that perfectly resembles her, Bee, freaked out, solidifies her resolve to keep to herself. But then she meets a friendly cat and discovers a mysterious cabinet in her neighbor’s attic—a cabinet that leads her to Renaissance Rome. Bee, who has learned about Raphael and Michelangelo in school, never expected she’d get to meet them and see them paint their masterpieces.

The Long, Long Journey: The Godwit's Amazing Migration


Sandra Markle - 2013
    She will spend the summer in Alaska learning to fly, find her own food, and escape from scary predators. Her long, long journey begins in October when she flies to New Zealand. This 7,000-mile flight is the longest nonstop bird migration ever recorded. Follow along on her amazing voyage!

The Penguin that Hated the Cold


Barbara Brenner - 1973
    Tired of always being cold, Pablo, a penguin, decides to move from the South Pole to a warmer climate.

Stepping Stones


Lucy Knisley - 2020
    So suddenly moving to the country and getting new stepsisters shouldn't be too much of a surprise.Jen did not want to leave the city. She did not want to move to a farm with her mom and her mom's new boyfriend, Walter. She did not want to leave her friends and her dad.Most of all, Jen did not want to get new "sisters," Andy and Reese.If learning new chores on Peapod Farm wasn't hard enough, then having to deal with perfect-at-everything Andy might be the last straw for Jen. Besides cleaning the chicken coop, trying to keep up with the customers at the local farmers' market, and missing her old life, Jen has to deal with her own insecurities about this new family . . . and where she fits in.

Unusual Chickens for the Exceptional Poultry Farmer


Kelly Jones - 2015
      Twelve-year-old Sophie Brown feels like a fish out of water when she and her parents move from Los Angeles to the farm they’ve inherited from a great-uncle. But farm life gets more interesting when a cranky chicken appears and Sophie discovers the hen can move objects with the power of her little chicken brain: jam jars, the latch to her henhouse, the entire henhouse....   And then more of her great-uncle’s unusual chickens come home to roost. Determined, resourceful Sophie learns to care for her flock, earning money for chicken feed, collecting eggs. But when a respected local farmer tries to steal them, Sophie must find a way to keep them (and their superpowers) safe.   Told in letters to Sophie’s abuela, quizzes, a chicken-care correspondence course, to-do lists, and more, Unusual Chickens is a quirky, clucky classic in the making.

Dactyl Hill Squad


Daniel José Older - 2018
    Magdalys Roca and her friends from the Colored Orphan Asylum are on a field trip when the Draft Riots break out, and a number of their fellow orphans are kidnapped by an evil magistrate, Richard Riker. Magdalys and her friends flee to Brooklyn and settle in the Dactyl Hill neighborhood, where black and brown New Yorkers have set up an independent community--a safe haven from the threats of Manhattan. Together with the Vigilance Committee, they train to fly on dactylback, discover new friends and amazing dinosaurs, and plot to take down Riker. Can Magdalys and the squad rescue the rest of their friends before it's too late?

One More Warbler: A Life with Birds


Victor Emanuel - 2017
    He has observed more than six thousand species during travels that have taken him to every continent. He founded the largest company in the world specializing in birding tours and one of the most respected ones in ecotourism. Emanuel has received some of birding’s highest honors, including the Roger Tory Peterson Award from the American Birding Association and the Arthur A. Allen Award from the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology. He also started the first birding camps for young people, which he considers one of his greatest achievements.In One More Warbler, Emanuel recalls a lifetime of birding adventures—from his childhood sighting of a male Cardinal that ignited his passion for birds to a once-in-a-lifetime journey to Asia to observe all eight species of cranes of that continent. He tells fascinating stories of meeting his mentors who taught him about birds, nature, and conservation, and later, his close circle of friends—Ted Parker, Peter Matthiessen, George Plimpton, Roger Tory Peterson, and others—who he frequently birded and traveled with around the world. Emanuel writes about the sighting of an Eskimo Curlew, thought to be extinct, on Galveston Island; setting an all-time national record during the annual Audubon Christmas Bird Count; attempting to see the Imperial Woodpecker in northwestern Mexico; and birding on the far-flung island of Attu on the Aleutian chain. Over the years, Emanuel became a dedicated mentor himself, teaching hundreds of young people the joys and enrichment of birding. “Birds changed my life,” says Emanuel, and his stories make clear how a deep connection to the natural world can change everyone’s life.

Hen and the Art of Chicken Maintenance: Reflections on Raising Chickens


Martin Gurdon - 2003
    This idiosyncratically written book chronicles the endless pleasures and myriad of pitfall of chicken keeping.

When Mischief Came to Town


Katrina Nannestad - 2013
    Her grandmother is stern, the people on the island are strange, and children are supposed to be seen and not heard. But no matter how hard Inge tries to be good, mischief has a way of finding her. Could it be that a bit of mischief is exactly what Grandmother and the people of Bornholm need?

Odd Duck


Cecil Castellucci - 2013
    She may swim with a teacup balanced on her head and stay north when the rest of the ducks fly south for the winter, but there's nothing so odd about that.  Chad, on the other hand, is one strange bird. Theodora quite likes him, but she can't overlook his odd habits. It's a good thing Chad has a normal friend like Theodora to set a good example for him.  But who exactly is the odd duck here? Theodora may not like the answer. Sara Varon (Robot Dreams) teams up with Cecil Castellucci (Grandma's Gloves) for a gorgeous, funny, and heartwarming examination of the perils and pleasures of friendship.

The Armchair Birder: Discovering the Secret Lives of Familiar Birds


John Yow - 2009
    In thirty-five engaging and sometimes irreverent vignettes, Yow reveals the fascinating lives of the birds we see nearly every day. Following the seasons, he covers forty-two species, discussing the improbable, unusual, and comical aspects of his subjects' lives. Yow offers his own observations, anecdotes, and stories as well as those of America's classic bird writers, such as John James Audubon, Arthur Bent, and Edward Forbush. This unique addition to bird literature combines the fascination of bird life with the pleasure of good reading.

Cold Cereal


Adam Rex - 2012
    Reader's estimation of value may be higher or lower, depending on your tolerance for this sort of thing.