Super Swifts: Small Birds with Amazing Powers

Gr 1-3--Anderson introduces readers to the small, unassuming birds who migrate yearly from central Africa to northern Europe as the "champions of the bird world." The narrative then follows the swifts from the Congo across deserts, mountains, and oceans, until they reach their nesting places in the United Kingdom. There they meet their mates and raise the next generation of swifts before migrating all the way back to Africa and starting the process over. Interspersed are facts and further information for curious readers or those completing reports. Robin's mixed-media illustrations are pretty and will inspire readers to seek out photos of swifts to confirm what the birds actually look like. Back matter includes facts about other species of swifts as well as an index. VERDICT A secondary purchase for collections where books on birds and nature are popular.--Kadie Seitz

Swifts, small and unremarkable-looking, stay aloft almost their entire lives, flying great distances at up to 70 miles an hour. Anderson starts this survey of "the champions of the bird world" in central Africa, where swifts winter over the Congo River. Mixed-media close-ups by Robin show the birds' gray plumage and blade-like wings, while aerial views show a female ("our swift") flying over vast oceans and above misty banks of sun-reflecting golden clouds. Landing for the first time in a year in Britain, she raises young, building nests stuck together with saliva, "which sets hard like superglue." Alongside the main narrative, smaller type supplies additional information on each page, and inset boxes also detail the lice that nestle in the birds' feathers and breed when the swifts nest. It's a close-up view that hints at the inter-relatedness of life. More about swifts concludes. Ages 4-8. (May)