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Pocket Observology: A Field Guide by Giselle Clarkson

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ACHUKA Book of the Day 2 Oct 2026

Publisher: Gecko Press
ISBN: 9798348042424

See also:
Omnibird [An ACHUKA Book of the Year 2025]
The Observologist [ACHUKA Book of the Day 26 Sep 2023]

A little larger than pocket-sized (a touch bigger than a fiction paperback) but considerably smaller than the original Observologist title (see above), this is fantastically user-friendly. With a weather-proof jacket, it contains both new content and material adapted from previous titles. 

And ACHUKA simply LOVES it. Working as both illustrator and writer, Clarkson has complete control of her material and an instinctive feel for presentation.

This pocket guide is a useful tool and fun reminder of how to look at the world around you with care and close observation every day.

Use this guide to identify whether you’ve found a bee or wasp, centipede or millipede, moth or butterfly. Compare shapes of seeds, leaves, and feathers to deduce their origin. Notice snail trails, and make discoveries by turning over a leaf. Learn how to observe—listen, look, record, and collect. With its how-to guides, comic illustrations, weatherproof cover, and built-in, useful tools—such as a ruler, key, and quick access sections—this handy guide will enliven every expedition.

After poring over Giselle Clarkson’s rich, oversized books indoors, every observologist and omnibirder can slip this guide in their pocket and set out on small scientific outings every day.

You can follow Giselle Clarkson on

What Makes a Bird?: An Illustrated Guide to the Bird World by Nadeem Perera ill. Montse Galbany

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ACHUKA Book of the Day 3 Apr 2026

Publisher: Flying Eye Books
ISBN: 9781838742065

“Perera highlights both [birds’] universal characteristics (wings, beaks, feathers, two legs) and the many adaptations that have allowed them to survive in nearly every kind of habitat from oceans to cities and polar regions. Galbany follows suit with a bountiful gallery of species, all depicted in stylized but precise detail and in natural settings and attitudes but with plenty of inserted close-up views of distinctive beaks, nests, patterned feathers, and anatomical structures… 

An informative and engaging introduction to birds written by wildlife TV presenter and bird watcher, Nadeem Perera.

A richly illustrated book detailing everything that makes a bird a bird. Featuring birds from all over the world, and peppered with clear case studies on different bird species and punchy fact files on all things beaks, feathers, migration, nesting and more, the book also closes with a chapter on connecting with birds and becoming a birder.

Follow Montse Galbany—a digital illustrator and graphic designer living in Granollers, a city close to Barcelona—on

Here are more examples of the illustrator’s work:

The Magic Feather by Julia Donaldson ill. Catherine Rayner

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ACHUKA Book of the Day 18 Mar 2026

Publisher: Macmillan
ISBN: 9781035066704

A rhyming fairy-tale adventure about the magic of nature and caring for our environment from the Number One bestselling Julia Donaldson, author of The Gruffalo, and Catherine Rayner, winner of the Kate Greenaway Medal for Illustration.

Imagine if you could speak to birds . . . that’s just what happens to one young girl when she is given a magic feather that transforms their trills and twitters into words – and she discovers that they need her help! Join her as she embarks on an amazing journey across the sea to save their nests from the queen’s woodcutters.

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Omnibird: An Avian Investigator’s Handbook by Giselle Clarkson

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ACHUKA Book of the Day 3 Nov 2025
An ACHUKA Book of the Year 2025

Waterstones
Bookshop

See also:
The Observologist [ACHUKA Book of the Day 26 Sep 2023]

“The book’s detective framework cleverly reframes birding as puzzle-solving rather than memorization, making it equally appealing to dedicated young ornithologists and reluctant nature observers. The thick, durable paper and eco-friendly vegetable ink printing enhance the detailed, delightful illustrations while demonstrating a genuine commitment to environmental values—a perfect complement to its nature-focused mission. A truly stellar work that will delight bird enthusiasts while converting the ambivalent into eager avian investigators.” KIRKUS

Q&A with Giselle Clarkson

This truly remarkable book is highly like to be chosen as one of ACHUKA’s Books of the Year 2025. But the year’s not done yet, so that decision has yet to be made.

Have you seen a bird today? Probably, unless you’re reading this in bed. Did you truly look at the bird? To open your ornithological eyes and ears, meet the Omnibird.

An Omnibird contains the essential birdiness of every bird.
It was born from an egg, has feathers, two legs, a beak and gizzard, perhaps some premium features like spurs or a curuncle. Once you recognize the Omnibird, you’ll see the remarkable in any bird. You’ll be expert at finding extraordinary things around you, just by looking.

The Omnibird describes 12 common birds from habitats around the world—eagles, owls and seabirds, starlings, ducks and swans. You will explore the incredible internal structure of bird bones, learn what a gizzard stone is for, meet the tiny creatures that live on birds, and find the fascinating in eggs, bird poop, feathers, and flight patterns.

Now you’re an Omnibird expert, you’ll look at every bird in new ways every day.

You can follow Giselle Clarkson on

 

 
 
 
 
 
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A Home Is A Nest by Emma Carlisle

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ACHUKA Book of the Day 11 Mar 2025

Waterstones
Bookshop

See also:
Time Runs Like A River [ ACHUKA Book of the Day 17 Jul 2024]
What Do You See When You Look At A Tree? [ ACHUKA Book of the Day 24 Jan 2023]

A beautiful gift book, exploring the concept of ‘homes’ and ‘family’ in nature, from the cosiness of winter dens, to the arrival of spring and bird’s first flight. Drawing parallels between the way animals care for their babies to how humans look after their own, the book is made for snuggling and sharing, with a gentle narrative that’s perfect to read aloud at bedtime.

A perfect gift for those entering the precious early days of parenthood.

You can follow Emma Carlisle on

 

 
 
 
 
 
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Hello Scottish Birds by Kate McLelland

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ACHUKA Book of the Day 28 Feb 2023

Waterstones
Amazon
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Picture Kelpies are a range of Scottish children’s picture books published by Floris Books, all of which have Scottish authors or illustrators, are set in Scotland or have Scottish themes and are suitable for 3 to 6 year olds.

This is a  bold, colourful introduction to Scotland’s most famous birds for young children, full of bright  illustrations from bestselling illustrator Kate McLelland. A companion to Hello Scottish Animals.

Say hello to Scotland’s most famous feathered friends! From the rare swooping osprey to the burrow-digging puffin, and the fast-diving gannet to the capering capercaillie, children will love meeting Scotland’s different birds in these fun and friendly illustrations.

Is that a golden eagle soaring high above the mountains?

Packed with lively pictures and simple, clear words, this bold picture book brings McLelland’s trademark bright illustration style to this introduction to Scottish birds for young children.

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Feathers Together by Caron Levis ill. Charles Santoso

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Waterstones
Amazon
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An uplifting story of animal friendship, inspired by a real-life pair of storks whose bond overcame great distance.

Best friends, Malena and Klepetan, always adventure together. The two excitedly prepare to fly thousands of miles for the flock’s annual migration to a warm winter. But when Malena is injured, she stays in Croatia while Klepetan goes to South Africa, and the pair must navigate the turbulent winds of separation for the first time. Being apart is hard. Malena and Klepetan miss each other but even over the vast distance, the two brave explorers discover ways to enjoy their separate seasons while keeping their hearts connected and their hopes aloft that spring will bring them back together.

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Love Birds by Jane Yolen ill. Anna Wilson

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Waterstones
Amazon
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From the author of the Caldecott Award-winning book Owl Moon, comes a friendship story about a bird-loving boy who meets a bird-loving girl, beautifully illustrated by Anna Wilson

New in town and shy to boot, bird-loving Jon loves nothing more than to listen for the tappity-tap-tap of a woodpecker, the caw-cawing of crows, the cries of jays, the coos of the doves, and especially the hoots of owls. One night an owl calls, and when Jon calls back, it answers! But what Jon thinks is a bird is actually a bird-loving girl, and that’s when he discovers the best sound yet: that of a friend.

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When The Storks Came Home – Nature’s Wisdom by Isabella Tree ill. Alexandra Finkeldey

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Waterstones
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A charming, fictionalised retelling of the successful reintroduction of the white stork at the Knepp Estate, a UK native bird which has been brought back from extinction.

In this second picture book from bestselling author and globally significant conservationist Isabella Tree, we meet eight-year-old Beanie, who loves birds. When she discovers that huge white storks used to live in her own village but were hunted to extinction in the UK 600 years ago, she is determined to find a way to bring them back. But reintroducing a vanished species is not so simple! Storks can fly hundreds of miles, so releasing storks into the local countryside won’t be enough to make them return and stay for good. With the help of other villagers, Beanie hatches a plan…

Beautiful illustrations help bring this powerful and important story to life, teaching children about conservation and their environment in an accessible way. The Ivy Kids list is planet-friendly, with all of its titles printed on 100% post-consumer recycled paper, locally to where they will be sold.

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Wren by Lucy Hope

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Waterstones
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The next fantastic novel from Lucy Hope, author of Fledgling, an ACHUKA Book of the Day 15 Nov 2021.

A dark, gothic adventure set on the island of Anglesey in North Wales and featuring a very fantastical beast… Wren lives in an ancient castle in the mountains near the sea. The wind whistles through it and the walls sing to her. Wren is busy inventing things, and her father is busy disapproving. But the castle contains a mystery and as Wren is drawn further into it, she realises the answer lies in the very foundations of her home, foundations that are being shaken to their core.

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