A Baby Hornbill Learns to Fly
Illustrator: 
Partha Sengupta
age group: 
7+ yrs
Number of pages: 
16
Publisher: 
National Book Trust
Themes:
nature and wildlife hornbills birds
Genre:
picture book, fiction
 

 

What a great way to teach children about the hornbills, a species of birds found in several parts of India.

In this story a pair of hornbills make a nest inside a hollow of a tree. We see the entire process right from preparing the nest to the laying of the eggs, the incubation and the nurturing. We also see how devoted the parents are devoting a large chunks of time and effort to care for the young hatchling.

Soon, the baby is old enough to fly, but strangely is afraid to take the big step forward. Knowing that their chick could die if it did not fly, What could the caring parents do to make it fly?

The writer seamlessly weaves the two distinct parts of the story - the life of hornbills and overcoming fear, making this a very valuable read to a young child.

The large well-defined illustrations with bold outlines are eye-catching and could also be a boon to a child with low visual abilities.

Reviewed by Shamim Padamsee