Birds of a Feather looks like it might be about an unlucky and silly-looking flock of featherless birds. But it’s not. And that’s the point of this highly creative book that introduces children to ways that they can “play” with words.

This is a book about idioms…words and phrases that have one meaning separately, but taken together mean something entirely different. Here a child can laugh at what it looks like to be “raining cats and dogs.” Flip the book upside down and she can read what the idiom really means.

The illustrations are fun to look at and sure to delight readers young and not so young. The lessons about idioms and their origins become wonderful tools for teaching children the meaning of common expressions. They also become pathways for learning word play and having fun with language.

The meaning of idioms is explained more fully in the back of the book. Birds of a Feather can be used easily either by teachers in classrooms, or by a parent one-on-one with her or his child.

Birds of a Feather (2009), deals with birds, insects or animals. Our second, Life is a Bowl Full of Cherries (2011) uses food idioms. Out of the Blue uses color idioms. All three are fun – and instructive.

Look inside Birds of a Feather.

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