Tag: nature picture book

cover of Heronry - beautiful illustration of a great blue heron wading in water
Posted in PB, Read-aloud, So Many Good Books

Heronry

Posted on by Susan Uhlig

Perfect Picture Book Friday

Herony (Tilbury House Publishers, 2026) by Barbara Herkert and illustrated by Gordy Wright is such a delight! Isn’t that cover lovely?

Lyrical language and beautiful illustrations pair up to tell about the great blue herons at their breeding grounds. From arrival through choosing just the right nest, finding a mate, eggs laid, chicks hatched, fledglings learning to hunt and fly, then the departure, we follow these birds at the heronry. All is quiet until they return the next year.

I love how you can read the poetic lines once all the way through, and then go back and start over to reread the facts on the opposite pages. Either way the story flows well. It’s a book to treasure.

See all of the author’s books here and read about Barb here.

Check out the illustrator’s other books here and see some sample illustrations here. Read about Gordy here.

(I received an advanced copy from the author–it comes out June 16th.)

cover of This Old Madrone Tree
Posted in Nonfiction, PB, So Many Good Books

This Old Madrone Tree

Posted on by Susan Uhlig

Perfect Picture Book Friday

This Old Madrone Tree (Web of Life Children’s Books, 2023) by Barbara Herkert and illustrated by Marlo Garnsworthy is such a lovely nature book about a specific tree’s annual life cycle. (I can’t believe I forgot to recommend it last fall!)

In the Pacific Northwest, madrone (sometimes called madrona) trees grow near the coast. This book tells the story of one such tree and the creatures who visit throughout the year. We visit all four seasons starting with summer and ending with spring.

The text is lyrical and the illustrations beautifully compliment it. My favorite part of the text is “In winter, the wind whips and snarls. Waves raise their frothy heads. Rain slashes sideways. Thunder roars, and lightning cackles.” Can’t you just see and hear it? I have a really hard time picking a favorite spread as the illustrations are so lovely. But the forest scene when the bark curls reminds me of family vacations on the northern California coast when I was young.

The author has a madrone tree where she lives that inspired this story, her fifth published book. Read more about Barb here and check out her other books here.

The illustrator loves nature so was a perfect choice. Read about Marlo here and see samples of her illustrations here. Check out some lovely spreads of this book on the publisher’s site.

FYI: This is my 100th picture book recommendation on this site! Woo hoo!