We Are Starlings: Inside the Mesmerizing Magic of a Murmuration

by Robert Furrow, Donna Jo Napoli, Marc Martin (Illustrator)

Overview

A NEW YORK TIMES/NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY BEST ILLUSTRATED CHILDREN'S BOOK • A stunning picture book for young nature lovers about starlings and the fascinating phenomenon of murmurations. Illustrated by the award-winning artist Marc Martin, this book about the natural world vividly explores how such an enigma is even possible.

Sweeping, diving, twisting, turning. To look up at a murmuration of starlings is an experience like no other. Hundreds, thousands, and sometimes millions of starlings fly together as one flock. The group ripples, whirls, and waves as each bird stays close to its neighbors in a harmonious synchronicity of movement.

The story is told from the point of view of the flock, which gives the reader an inside look at what is happening, and the breathtaking illustrations perfectly capture the ebb and flow of a murmuration. Young readers will witness and fully appreciate the extraordinary communication and collaboration abilities of these birds and may be able to apply these lessons to their own lives.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780593381632
Publisher:	Random House Children's Books
Publication date:	05/09/2023
Pages:	40
Sales rank:	54,878
Product dimensions:	8.70(w) x 11.60(h) x 0.60(d)
Lexile:	AD430L (what's this?)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Donna Jo Napoli is both a linguist and a writer of children's and young adult fiction. Some of her work includes Words to Make a Friend, Treasury of Greek Mythology, Stones in Water, Treasury of Norse Mythology, and Daughter of Venice. She has five children and eight grandchildren. She dreams of moving to the woods and becoming a naturalist. She loves to garden, bake bread, dance, and make pottery.

Robert Furrow lives to experience, teach, and write about the natural wonders of our world (especially birds). He grew up exploring the woods of Pennsylvania, but he now lives in California's Central Valley, where he is an assistant professor of teaching in wildlife, fish, and conservation biology at the University of California at Davis and conducts research. Here his winters are full of swirling, squealing flocks of starlings. As an educator, he teaches students about California's natural history, and at home he gardens with his wife and daughter to create a yard humming with native bees, butterflies, and birds. His passion for birding extends beyond the home, as he leads local bird-watching walks for the community.

Marc Martin is an artist, illustrator, and author. He has written and illustrated internationally award-winning books, including A Forest, Everything & Everywhere, and A River, which was named a Best Illustrated Picture Book by the New York Times. He lives in Melbourne, Australia.

Editorial Reviews

★ 09/04/2023

Voicing a collective identity through the first-person plural “we,” starlings perform a fractal air ballet in this spare look at the species’ movements. As the pages turn, Furrow and Napoli’s minimal text traces starlings gathering into a “giant flock” (hundreds, then thousands, then millions). Martin’s expressive multimedia spreads grow accordingly, approximating the undulating black shapes of the birds swirling in unison against a peach-hued sunset. Further lines describe the sound that gives a murmuration its name (“We flap flap our wings,/ making a murmur even those/ on the ground can hear”) and mode of avoiding predators (when the cluster veers, a peregrine falcon rocketing into the flock “can’t target any one of us”). Further emphasizing starlings’ group movements, pages end with the birds’ landing “all at once.... / a sudden plop/ to earth—the starling way.” A brief note concludes. Ages 4–8. (May)

Publishers Weekly

★ "This book answers so many questions about the formations starlings create against the sky without taking away the wonder. It’s stunning." —School Library Journal, starred review

★ "Starlings fill and overflow the pages, swooping in gorgeous waves across the double-page spreads." —The Horn Book, starred review

★ "Voicing a collective identity through the first-person plural “we,” starlings perform a fractal air ballet in this spare look at the species’ movements." —Publishers Weekly, starred review

“A good introduction to starling murmurations." —Kirkus Reviews

"There is an exquisite sense of movement and scale as the dazzling murmurations seem to dance across the spreads." —Booklist

"A wonder to behold." —The Bulletin

From the Publisher

★ 04/01/2023

Gr 1–4—A stellar narrative nonfiction book about the collective of starlings and their migration. The book opens on a close-up of two starlings; with every spread the number of starlings increases, giving readers the sense and visual depth of the group, which can grow into the thousands and even into the millions. The text poetically describes how the murmuration can be supportive, an alliance, and a defense against predators, while the scenes support this thrillingly. Every digital watercolor lends movement and poignancy to the text. A great read-aloud to share with a group and a great introduction to starlings, Furrow and Napoli's book would make a grand companion to Vulture View by April Pulley Sayre. VERDICT This book answers so many questions about the formations starlings create against the sky without taking away the wonder. It's stunning.—Ruth Guerrier-Pierre

School Library Journal

2023-02-25
Discover the magic of a murmuration of starlings.

Just two starlings open the book one morning. They are chilly and restless, taking off and joining other starlings. Flying for days, the flock continues to grow as Martin’s illustrations get more and more crowded: hundreds, thousands, millions. They have become a murmuration of starlings, seeking warmth and safety in their huge numbers. Each bird in the flock has allies—those birds flying closest to them—and by paying attention to only their allies, the birds can fly in complex patterns and avoid predators without flying into each other. As sunset nears, the starlings twist and dance in the sky, making ribbons and snakes. And then, all at once, they land to feed and roost. The backmatter offers more info about starlings, but it’s incomplete, lacking a map or any description of habitat. Martin tinges his watercolor, pencil, and digital collage illustrations with the oranges, pinks, yellows, and reds of the setting sun, but this makes the timeline confusing since the birds take off in the morning, fly for days, and roost at sunset. He does, however, provide a marvelous sense of scale, placing tiny humans under the flock and showing an enormous ribbon of birds above what in real life are huge windmills. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

A good introduction to starling murmurations, though readers will need to fill in the gaps. (Informational picture book. 3-8)

Kirkus Reviews