Cover Image: Birds of a Feather

Birds of a Feather

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Member Reviews

Birds of a Feather: A Book of Idioms and Silly Pictures" by Vanita Oelschlager is a delightful exploration of idioms through playful illustrations and engaging narratives. Idioms, those quirky phrases that add color to our language, are cleverly depicted through the lens of literal interpretation, creating a whimsical and educational experience for young readers.

Vanita Oelschlager has crafted a book that not only entertains but also educates. Each page introduces a popular idiom, such as "raining cats and dogs" or "cool as a cucumber," accompanied by vibrant illustrations that bring the idioms to life in a literal sense. The artwork is both charming and humorous, encouraging children to think creatively and critically about the meanings behind these expressions.

What makes "Birds of a Feather" stand out is its ability to make learning idioms fun. By presenting them in a visual format, Oelschlager invites readers to decipher the figurative meanings behind the idiomatic phrases, fostering language comprehension and critical thinking skills. The book also includes a glossary at the end, providing definitions for each idiom and further enhancing the learning experience.

Moreover, the book's format makes it accessible to a wide range of readers, including young children who are just beginning to explore language and older students who are expanding their vocabulary. The colorful illustrations and simple explanations make it engaging for preschoolers, while the inclusion of more complex idioms ensures that older children can also benefit from the book's content.

Overall, "Birds of a Feather: A Book of Idioms and Silly Pictures" is a delightful addition to any child's library. It combines the joy of storytelling with the educational value of language exploration, making it a must-read for young readers eager to spread their wings and soar into the world of idioms.

Rating: 5/5

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Birds of a Feather is a cute book with lots of anecdotes and sayings and their accompanying explanations. The pictures are fun and vibrant and pair nicely with the story. The only downside was the explanations were upside down on the ebook (which made them hard to read as when you flip the book it’s once again upside down) although in a physical copy you could easily flip the book to read it. I loved the fun sayings and explanations and the story definitely holds little one’s attention’s with the colorful content.

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Birds of a Feather by Vanita Oelschlager is a cute book about idioms. My 2nd grade class always laughs when I say "Do you have ants in your pants?" when they are squirmy on the carpet. I thought they would enjoy this book and I was not wrong! Each page contains a silly illustration to help young learners with the literal meaning of the words in a common idiom. Some were easier for them to understand than others but overall it was a fun and educational read. I recommend this books to parents and teachers.

Thank you Netgalley for letting me voluntarily read this book and leave an honest review.

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The ‘shut eye of bravery and determination to find on the pact of friendship and kindness as pillars of peace and mutually respectfulness of friends new and old.

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A cute book destined to delight children - a reboot of The King Who Rained. My children enjoyed that book and my grandson will enjoy this version.

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This book is a lot of fun, with silly phrases and goofy colourful illustrations, it is perfect for children to learn new phrases and meanings

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A group of 6-8 year olds and I had a wonderful time reading this book together. The giggles were many, the questions too. The illustrations were perfect. I recommend this book to anyone who loves the sound of children learning and having fun.

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As we know children are curious so they ask questions. I'm waiting for my kid to grow up and ask silly questions.

One day while talking to a friend, I said "oh no just let the cat out of the bag already." Her 6 years old came running and asked where the cat is. It got difficult fast enough to explain to him that there wasn't really a cat.

So this book is about idioms and can help kids understand what the idioms are in a fun and enjoyable way.

Thank you Netgalley and Vanitabooks for ARC in exchange of an honest review.

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A gorgeous picture book full of idioms. Perfect for children, my daughter really liked this one. We loved the illustrations which made the book feel fun and vibrant.

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Unfortunately I cannot read or review this title. The title will not load on the app and none of the programs I have on my phone or chromebook will read the format that is used. Since I cannot submit without a star rating I will give it three stars.

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This book is not only entertaining, it is also a fantastic educational tool for early age children as well as teachers.

The author believes that idioms show a language's sense of humor.

Oelschlager states "They're your language's ticklish spots, so learning them can be lots of fun".

Young children can be encouraged to guess what the phrase actually means!
When the book is turned upside down, readers are provided with what the phrase actually means and how it’s used in a sentence. (Almost like a spelling bee!)

I loved the illustrations and the use of them 😂

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Adorable full color artwork to accompany each idiom!! And if you fill a children’s book with animals and humor – I’m in!!! This book was precious!! I was given a digital copy of this book by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

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This book is great for teaching English and specifically to ESL ( English Second Language Learners) I did find it bothersome that the text of meaning and sentence example were upside down in this version of the book-- I kept having to flip my computer upside down. I would recommend this book to my students aiming to learn Idioms coming from animals . The illustrations we quirky, interesting and also helpful for understanding the idiom in that it can help spark a discussion with ones students.

Thank-you Netgalley for the opportunity to view this book and leave my honest review.

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A great resource for teaching children idioms. I love the fact that it is illustrated in a way that can challenge children to try to figure out the idiom on their own. At the bottom of the page it tells the explanation on what each idiom is meant to mean. Just overall this is a well thought out and executed educational book.

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This book is more fun than a barrel of monkeys!

Birds of a Feather A Book of Idioms and Silly Pictures is a delightful picture book that appeals to children of all ages. Idioms are turns of phrase whose meaning are not directly related to the words alone. If you say “it's raining cats and dogs” near a young child, you can practically see the gears turning as they picture the animals falling from the sky. Author Vanita Oelschlager has created a book that plays upon this concept. Each page contains a humorous illustration by Robin Hegan depicting the literal meaning of the words in a common idiom. The illustrations will engage very young children and make them giggle. I especially enjoyed “Look what the cat dragged in.” with the drag racing feline and the “no spring chicken” pictured up to its neck in a mound of snow.

This book is not only entertaining, it is also a fantastic educational tool. The author believes that idioms show a language's sense of humor. Oelschlager states “They're your language's ticklish spots, so learning them can be lots of fun”. Young children can be encouraged to guess what the phrase actually means. When the book is turned upside down, readers are provided with a definition of the phrase and an example of it used in a sentence. Caregivers and early childhood teachers can explain the meanings of the phrase. But this book isn’t just for young children. It is also
perfect for teachers of older students who can use this book to launch a Language Arts lesson on idioms. English as a second langue teachers have found it useful as well.

The relatively small print for this information was probably intended so as to not interfere with the pictures. However, I would have preferred it if this area had used larger print, so that older children would be able to read this information with ease. At the end of the book, the author discusses the “hidden meaning” of idioms and gives an example explaining the derivation of “barking up the wrong tree”. She then encourages readers to explore the origins of other phrases. As someone who often wonders about the origin of a phrase, I couldn’t help but be disappointed that she did not also provide the sources of the other phrases pictured in this book. Whether you are sharing this book with a little one or teaching grammar, this book is out of this world.

I would like to thank Netgalley and the publisher for providing this book in exchange for an impartial review.

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Birds of a Feather by Vanita Oelschlager was such a fun read. Besides it’s silliness and awesome illustrations, the book is educational showing different idioms and their meanings. Young children will love this and I would use it in teaching.

Thank you Netgalley and VanitaBooks, LLC for the ARC. The opinions of this review are my own.

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This book was so much fun, I loved the different words, I’m sure it’s going to help a lot of kids learn more about idioms.
The illustrations too were so well done and fitted the book perfectly.
I’m definitely recommending it!

Thank you netgalley and the publisher for this early copy

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3.5 stars rounded up to 4

This is a fun book introducing children to the concept of idioms.

Confession: Since I was looking at this on my laptop, I missed the explanations, which are in small print and upside down on the page. Without defining the idiom, I wondered how useful the book would be. But with the idiom, excellent illustrations, and definitions, this is a fun way to open up discussions regarding idioms.

The illustrations and explanations work beautifully together. Educators, this is a book you may want to check out.
My thanks to NetGalley and Vanita Oelschlager for an ebook to review.

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This is an absolutely charming children’s book with terrific graphics illustrating the various idioms. My 4 year old laughed and laughed as we talked about the phrases and what they really mean! Then he wanted to draw his ideas of the different phrases. This book is perfect to help children understand idioms. Note: I loved it too & the fun we had discussing and playing with words!

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This is a fantastic children’s book. I’m babysitting and decided to read the kids something other than what they already own. This one was great. The pictures are so well done and made us all giggle. The idioms gave us something to discuss. Anything that gets kids to stop looking at TV or video games and looking at a book is 5 stars to me!

Thank you to NetGalley for gifting me this book. This review is 100% my own honest opinion.

Book Description
Children are innately curious about words, especially phrases that make them laugh (""Ants in your pants!""), sound silly (""Barking up the wrong tree"" or ""Goosebumps"") or trigger images that tickle a child's sense of the absurd (""Like a bull in a china shop""). Birds of a Feather introduces children to the magic of idioms words that separately have one meaning, but together take on something entirely different. Birds of a Feather introduces idioms with outlandish illustrations of what the words describe literally. The reader then has to guess the ""real"" meaning of the phrases (which is upside down in the corner of each spread). At the end of the book, the reader is invited to learn more about these figures of speech.

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