When children know how to name the things they see in the world around them, it can be an important part of understanding how they fit into that world. Birds can be robins, crows, chickadees, or many other types. A picture book by Jane Yolen and Adam Stemple, Crow Not Crow helps young readers understand the role of observance in learning how to identify and name the myriad birds they are likely to see in their daily lives.

In the book, a young girl goes birding with her dad. She brings along child-size binoculars to help her see birds up close. Her dad teaches her to identify a crow by looking at its size and the color of its feathers, beak, eyes, and feet. When they encounter other birds on their outing, the dad asks the girl to determine if the new bird is a crow or not, simply by observing. It’s a great way to introduce the concepts of birding.

Illustrations by Elizabeth Dulemba show many different types of birds and various environments where they can be found. A guide at the back of the book gives detailed information about crows and all the other birds depicted on the pages of the books. There’s also a free book companion app, Bird QR, created specifically for Crow Not Crow and other books from the publisher where readers can listen to bird calls and learn more.

The publisher provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.