The Hungry Hummingbird

by April Pulley Sayre

When a hungry little hummingbird begins its search for food and soon begins pecking at anything red in color, it quickly learns the hard way that not all things red are edible.

Genres: Birds, Nonfiction, Picture Books, Science

32 pages, Library Binding

First published September 1, 2001

About the author

April Pulley Sayre was an award-winning children’s book author of over 55 natural history books for children and adults. Her read-aloud nonfiction books, known for their lyricism and scientific precision, have been translated into French, Dutch, Japanese, and Korean. She is best known for pioneering literary ways to immerse young readers in natural events via creative storytelling and unusual perspectives.

Reviews

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

We follow a young hummingbird as he tries to learn the right things to eat. It's written in a "is this good food for a hummingbird" then "Yes!" or "No!" fashion. My boys were okay with the format, but much older than 9 and they'll probably roll their eyes.

We thought it was funny, and didn't know, that young hummingbirds will often try to eat red hat, red t-shirts, red tail-lights and so on. The book did an excellent job describing their diet. The wonderful illustrations really added to the understanding and enjoyment.

The last page has more 'factual' information.

Recommended just for fun or to learn more about hummingbirds.

[Mariah Hanson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Solid book about how hummingbirds find flowers that correspond with their beak shape. If I were to read it with my kiddos, I’d omit the plant names. What kind of 5 year old cares about the fact that some plants are called "yarrow" and "trumpet vine"? It seems randomly formal for a young children’s book.

[Denise · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a favorite, pictures were great though!

[Katherine Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

The illustrations in this book are just beautiful. The story is a good one for helping children grasp how animals learn to survive in the wild.