Author: Sarah Allen
Publisher: Affirm Press
Synopsis: Spend a day with Australia's most vibrant and unique feathered friends. Full of splashing shorebirds, clattering cockatoos, parading penguins and greedy galahs, Busy Beaks is the perfect introduction to birds of all shapes and sizes.
Themes: Australian birds, Australian habitats, scientific and common names, routines and timelines, descriptions
Year levels: Australian Curriculum: English, Foundation to Year 2; Science, Year 1
Why use this book? This story is a great example of a hybrid text that both entertains and informs. It introduces children to many common Australian birds in a variety of habitats, structured around the cycle of a day across locations in Australia. Brightly coloured and engaging illustrations will attract younger readers, and the short yet rich, descriptive phrases and sentences can be analysed and then used as an example to build students' descriptive writing skills. The text could also be used as a companion to studies of biological sciences in Years 1 and 2, focusing on living things, their habitats and lifecycles.
Focus passages: Pages 9–12, 21–26 and the ‘Facts & Feathers’ section.
Unit writer: Sophie Honeybourne