• Age: 8 to 12
• Grade: 3 to 7

The sequel to the award-winning Book Uncle and Me features bird lover Reeni and her quest to save her city’s bird count event when the mayor tries to shut it down.

Reeni is wild about birds! So when she and her best friend, Yasmin, have to pick a survey topic for a school project, asking their neighbors what they know about birds is an obvious choice. They are shocked to learn that no one — not one single person! — has heard about Bird Count India and the major event it is about to launch all over the country. Thousands of birdwatchers will be out counting birds as part of a global movement. Global means world, and isn’t this city part of the world? How come people don’t seem to care about the threats to city birds? And why is the mayor intentionally thwarting their city’s bird count event?

Reeni and Yasmin enlist help from Book Uncle, Reeni’s family and even their school bus driver. They must get people interested in the bird count, get them to ask the city government to support the event. After all, what’s good for the birds is good for all of us … right?

A funny, triumphant story about learning to advocate for both the human and non-human inhabitants of your community.

Key Text Features

chapters

dialogue

illustrations

Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.5.2

Determine a theme of a story, drama, or poem from details in the text, including how characters in a story or drama respond to challenges or how the speaker in a poem reflects upon a topic; summarize the text.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.5.6

Describe how a narrator's or speaker's point of view influences how events are described.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.6.3

Describe how a particular story's or drama's plot unfolds in a series of episodes as well as how the characters respond or change as the plot moves toward a resolution.

Uma Krishnaswami's inspiration for this book came from her memory of planting a mango seed as a child and seeing it grow into a tree, and also from a news story about people who planted trees in potholes. She has written many children's books, from picture books to middle grade readers to retellings of classic tales and myths, including Bringing Asha Home (CCBC Choices), The Happiest Tree (Paterson Prize finalist, CCBC Choices, Bank Street College Best Books), Naming Maya (IRA Notable Books for a Global Society) and Chachaji's Cup (Paterson Prize for Books for Young People, Bank Street College Best Books). Her latest middle grade novel, The Grand Plan to Fix Everything, published by Atheneum, received starred reviews in Kirkus and School Library Journal. She teaches at Vermont College of Fine Arts in the MFA program in Writing for Children and Young Adults and is an active blogger. Uma was born in New Delhi, India, and now lives in Aztec, New Mexico.

Uma Krishnaswami's profile page

JULIANNA SWANEY has illustrated numerous books for children, including the first two books in the Book Uncle trilogy: Book Uncle and Me and Birds on the Brain, both written by Uma Krishnaswami. She spends her time at her home in Oregon painting, gardening and daydreaming.

Julianna Swaney's profile page

• Nominated, Forest of Reading Silver Birch Express Award

Themes of friendship, community, and global well-being run through this slender, quick-paced story.

Children's Literature Comprehensive Database

Birds on the Brain is a fast-moving, intricately woven, and largely theme-driven novel ... This book could prove both enriching and empowering.

CM: Canadian Review of Materials