Bees, Snails, & Peacock Tails and Birdsongs

This two-story program includes iconographic-animated adaptations of author Betsy Franco and illustrator Steve Jenkins' picture books Bees, Snails, & Peacock Tails (2008) and Birdsongs (2007). Bees, Snails, & Peacock Tails explores various patterns and shapes found in nature (“tucked in hollows of trees, in the tidepools and seas”), combining vivid colors with wildlife sound effects as it looks at creatures including spiders, worker ants, geese, snakes, and bees (also featured is a “New Angles on the Animals” segment with more detailed facts). In Birdsongs, Franco voices the pecking, cooing, quacking, squawking, and chirping calls of birds in a 1-10 countdown fashion, mimicking the sounds of morning doves, a red-capped woodpecker, sparrows, gulls, robins, a hummingbird, and more. Also featuring a “Feathery Facts” segment with more bird details, as well as a “Sharing My Story” conversation with Franco, this informative two-fer for ages 3-8 is easily recommended. Aud: K, E, P. (J. Williams-Wood)