Jess’s granddad is a birdwatcher, and a bit of a tall-tale teller to boot. To hear him talk, the birds are as interested in drawing him as he is in drawing them, and one day all kinds of birds got together to sing the dawn chorus just so he could record it for her. “Birds are amazing,” he tells her. And so she decides it’s time to see them for herself. At first her birdwatching trip with Granddad is a disappointment—she can’t see anything. But once they are inside the birdwatchng hut, all kinds of birds appear! Jess can now share in her granddad’s enthusiasm for birdwatching. But that’s not all she can share in. “Granddad, I liked it best when the dancing penguins came and shared my sandwich,” she tells him. “Dancing penguins?” he replies. “I must have been looking the other way.” Once again, Simon James’sdroll, understated humor infuses both the words and watercolor art of his story. (Ages 4-7)

A grandfather shares with his grandchild the quiet wonder of birdwatching - and a wry talent for telling a tall tale.
"When I go birdwatching, things happen," Granddad tells little Jess. Sometimes, he says, while he's drawing pictures of the birds, they draw
pictures of him. And sometimes they help him out by finding their own names in his bird book. "Birds are amazing," says Granddad, but Jess isn't so sure. So one day she goes birdwatching with Granddad to see for herself.
With expressive line-and-wash drawings, Simon James captures the leafy grandeur of the outdoors and the warm, special rapport between a child and a granddad, illustrating once again the huge happiness to be found in little things.