Nerdy Birdy

Title: Nerdy Birdy 
Author: Aaron Reynolds 
Illustrator: Matt Davies 
Publisher: Roaring Book Press 
Publication Date: September 22nd, 2015
Genre/Format: Fiction/Picture Book  
GoodReads Summary: Nerdy Birdy likes reading, video games, and reading about video games, which immediately disqualifies him for membership in the cool crowd.

One thing is clear: being a nerdy birdy is a lonely lifestyle.

When he's at his lowest point, Nerdy Birdy meets a flock just like him. He has friends and discovers that there are far more nerdy birdies than cool birdies in the sky.What I Think: As a long-time Nerdy Book Club member...I so want to be a Nerdy Birdy! This is a super sweet book about an all-around nice little book-reading, video-game-loving bird. I especially love the unique characters in this book. Aaron did a great job of bringing each of the different birds to life while Matt did an awesome job of depicting so much on the page. The characters with their big personalities and dialogue to match make this a fun book to read aloud.
     As a mentor text, I can see reading this with a class at the beginning of the school year and talking to them about fitting in. Nerdy Birdy would be great as a read aloud in middle school even. Reading the book and then asking kids to think about how they treat others and maybe inviting them to write about a time when they made a friend or when someone wasn't included in the group. I recently saw an article about teaching young girls to be "includers" instead of mean girls. Everyone wants to feel included so I love this sentiment and I especially love that this picture book is a great way to start a conversation or a great way to add to the conversation.
     There are so many great plays on language in this book as Aaron Reynolds brings the characters to life. It's just so fun! It also makes this a wonderful mentor text for thinking about characters in a story or how to describe and bring characters to life. Knowing our characters is so important and this is a perfect text to study when thinking about characters and how writers need to know all about their character when they write their story.
Read Together: Grades Pre-K - 12
Read Alone: Grades 1 - 5 
Read With: Be A Friend by Salina Yoon, Bluebird by Bob Staake, One by Kathryn Otoshi, Red: A Crayon's Story by Michael Hall
Snatch of Text:    

"Three things Nerdy Birdy is good at:

1. Reading

2. Playing video games

3. Reading about video games"

Writing Prompts: Write about a time in your life when you made a new friend. 
Topics Covered: Friendship, Loyalty, Fitting In, Courage, Adversity 

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