Two Blue Jays

by Anne Rockwell, Megan Halsey (Illustrator)

Miss Dana's class has front-row seats for one of nature's most awe-inspiring spring performances. In the branches of the fir tree outside their classroom, two blue jays build their nest. Shortly after the nest is completed, the female blue jay lays her eggs. The male brings her all kinds of food-an acorn, a worm, even a piece of a cookie! She guards her eggs closely, but the children are able to get a quick glimpse of them. Days later the children see the newly hatched baby blue jays huddled together in the nest. Three weeks later, the children say good-bye as the blue jays leave the nest for the first time. Without a single lesson, the birds spread their wings and take flight. This charming story with spectacular three-dimensional illustrations will bring out the nature observer in every child.

Genres: Animals, Picture Books, Nature, Childrens, Nonfiction, Science, School

32 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 2003

Reviews

[KC · Rating 3 out of 5]

A grade school look at Blue Jays and how they live, nest, and grow. Wonderful art work to boot.

[Kathryn · Rating 3 out of 5]

My five-year-old picked this out from the library himself. Very appealing cover (the illustrations of the birds inside are very nice, too and don't miss the spreads inside the covers that show the eggs of various birds at the front and the birds themselves at the back). The story follows two blue jays that nest on a branch outside a classroom window. The children watching throughout the season learn about the birds, such as diet, nesting practices, eggs (and chick development stages inside), chicks hatching, feeding/parenting, up through empty nest. There's an author's note at the back but, unfortunately, no bibliography or suggestions for further reading.

[Allison DeMeo · Rating 2 out of 5]

Personal reaction: This book was boring but full of information about birds. The illustrations in this book will capture the students attention. I think this book will keep the students intrigued because they will want to know what the Blue Jays are doing.

Purpose: This book could be a read aloud or a independent read for K-3rd graders. If this was a Kindergarten class it would have to be read aloud because of the sentence structures and complex vocabulary (i.e. perched). This book also contains a lot of information on how Blue Jays create their habitat and watch their eggs hatch. This would be a good independent read for the second and third graders because the pictures help you understand what you are reading. There are pictures of a baby bird inside an egg at different stages and it would be easier for an older student to look at these themselves in order to understand the process. This would be a great way to transition into nature and birds during a science lesson. It gives you the time period of when everything happens with the egg and new borns. It also provides information on gender roles in birds lives. This will be a great book for Spring time!

It is also good to read to set up our own experiment with watching and recording birds outside the classroom window.

[Paris · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would not recommend this book to readers younger than 3rd grade. This book identifies and follows two blue jays. The story takes place in a classroom. Students watch the interactions of the blue jays from their classroom window while they learn interesting facts about nature from their teacher, Miss Dana. I liked this book because it give alot of facts about birds and information about nature. I would allow students to read this book for fun. It could be used to teach about the life of birds.

[jennyreadit · Rating 4 out of 5]

I purchased this book at a public library book sale to add to our literary non-fiction text set. Perfect for teaching not only about blue jays, but the literary non-fiction craft as well. Students observe two blue jays as they build a nest and their babies hatch and fly away.
Not very many NF text features, but enough to distinguish it for students. Children interested in birds will enjoy this book.

[Christine Fran · Rating 4 out of 5]

My bird loving children adored this book! They are intrigued by the blue jays who visit our bird feeders and were interested to discover more. When I asked my daughter what she learned after we completed the story, she said she didn’t realize blue jays bury their food like squirrels for later. This is a great informational text for students in the primary grades. We love Anne Rockwell and this book did not disappoint.

[Carolyn Reierstad · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice study in basic bird life cycle and kids making observations of the world around them. Has read it every night for two weeks.

[Rena Sherwood · Rating 4 out of 5]

The artist for this book, Meagan Halsey, was living in the town next to mine at the time this book was published in 2003. I think she still does, but her face isn't familiar to me. Hopefully, she managed to make enough money from books like these to move far, far away. Lansdowne has turned into a tip.

And she did a really super job with this book. She works with paper cut-outs in this book, making for a more 3D effect. She also knows her birds. She was especially realistic with the blue jay hatchlings, which really are as weird as shown here.

I loved that the narrator of this little informative book was a dark haired girl with glasses. I loved looking out of the window during school. However, I'd get yelled at for that. Here, the teacher is smart enough to turn the nesting pair of blue jays into a memorable series of lessons for the students. I wish I'd had a teacher like that. Well, after all, this is fiction.

Details given include what blue jay eggs look like, what blue jays eat, what baby blue jays look like when the feathers start growing, and that blue jays really, really hate cats.

Blue jays were all over the place when I was a kid growing up in the Philadelphia suburbs, then again when I moved to Lancaster County. After spending five years in England, I came back to my Mom's house in the town next to Lansdowne and noticed the lack of bird life, including blue jays. Most had been killed off by West Nile Virus, striking against windows, habit destruction and various waves of bird flu. It's been nearly two years since I've seen a blue jay.

I miss them.

[Hendrix · Rating 5 out of 5]

We learned how a blue jay mom and dad prepare for their babies! And also that blue jays are the only birds who bury nuts and seeds in the ground to save for later, which sometimes helps new trees to grow!

[E & E’s Mama · Rating 4 out of 5]

A classroom observes a pair of blue jays as they prepare a nest and eventually as baby blue jays are born. A great way for preschoolers to learn about birds!

[Melki · Rating 4 out of 5]

One lucky school classroom gets a firsthand look at two blue jays building a nest, and raising a family of four. Very informative, with wonderful cut paper illustrations by Megan Halsey.

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love the artwork. Loved the story.

[zunggg · Rating 2 out of 5]

Quotidian tale of blue jays who don't do anything out of the ordinary. Good for avid fans of the bird, but not for the lay reader.

[Christian Wallace · Rating 4 out of 5]

Personal reaction- I enjoyed this book because it is informative, full of detailed and realistic illustrations, and because it has a lot of value for the classroom.
Purposes- This book would be used in a read aloud for enrichment and and informative purposes. It would be especially valuable in a unit about science and nature because it accounts for two blue jays as they create and sustain a nest for their babies. You could present this book in a read aloud and then do various activities with the students where they could track birds on the school property or at home. The book is appropriate for Grades K-2 but because it has so much value in the classroom with the ability to plan lessons and activities around it, it could be used in further grade levels for different purposes. The language and text is informative because it is all geared around the processes and items that go into a blue jays time creating a nest with a mate. The children will be presented with words such as "perched" and will have an engaging and fun time figuring out what the words mean.

[Marjorie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book details the lives of a pair of blue jays as they build a nest in a big fir tree outside the window of a classroom. The students chart the progress as the female bird lays four eggs and then waits for them to hatch. The students then watch as the baby birds grow and grow, finally flying off to take care of themselves. This book would be a great tool to help children become familiar with the life cycle of birds. It would also be beneficial in helping children learn to be close observers of nature and to realize that "science" is all around them.

[Kathryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought that this book would be a great book to use to help young children in K-5 begin to understand and build knowledge of the concept of time that it takes for eggs to hatch and what the birds had to do in order to prepare and take care of the baby birds. Using this book, you can build on and create lessons that incorporate charting and graphing, counting and addition, and making comparisons with your students.

[Kayla Heenan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a great book to read to students during a unit about birds. It did a great job at showing the circle of life of the Blue Jays narrated by a child. The pictures were very detailed and really helped with understanding what was happening throughout the story. I would for sure read this to my future students.

[Melanie Hetrick · Rating 3 out of 5]

School children are delighted to discover a nesting pair of Blue Jays outside their classroom window. They watch and observe the behavior of the birds and are fascinated by the family of birds.

[Mckinley · Rating 3 out of 5]

A class watches the nesting and hatching of two birds and their nestlings.

[Shelley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Simple book about observing two blue jays and their baby chicks that hatch. Good if you can't get the real thing. :)

[Colleen]

Wings and Things - unit 5
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