This is an amusing and quaint book of birds, or is it children dressed as birds? Each page has an illustration of a bird, with a short rhyme about it. For the young, or young-at-heart. ( )

Published in 1912 this quaint little book of nature sprites is one of four by Elizabeth Gordon and one of three illustrated by M.T. Ross. (The 4th one, "Wild Flower Children: The Little Playmates of the Fairies" was illustrated by Janet Laura Scott and is by far the best.) This book features charming couplets of rhyme about various birds, including many that we don't see quite so much of these days like the Golden Pheasant, Indigo Bunting, Kingbird or the Redstart. The book is definitely worth seeing because it is so quaint and it once spoke to a sweet and innocent pre-Nintendo audience that probably adored the little bird beings it depicts. I loved the whimsy and delicate details of Gordon's flower sprites but somehow the concept of a flower-human hybrid just doesn't transfer well to the bird kingdom. The cute little children's faces sticking out of a bird's body is just a little bit creepy. The Guinea Hens, for example have a normal bird's beak and black button eyes, but underneath there is a human face and sticking out from the underside of the wings are human arms. It just doesn't work the way a Daisy bonnet does. As a collector's book this may be desirable but if you must choose, I suggest you go with one of the three plant themes and leave the birds, well...for the birds. ( )