Pigeon Problems: An Urban Bird Researcher's Journal

by J. A. Watson

Overview

Anthony Briggs hates pigeons, and for good reason. Thanks to his funny way of walking and his leg braces, his classmate TJ started calling him “Pidge,” a nickname he’d love to dump. So when the Science Squad recruits students for a project to solve why pigeons come in so many different colors, Anthony is anything but interested . . . until he learns that the reward is spending a night at the Natural History Museum. He signs up in a flash, and ends up paired with TJ. Anthony is stuck listening to TJ’s insults and doing two people’s work. Can he stick it out to win the museum overnight? Or will the birds get the best of him again?

Welcome to the Science Squad, a citizen science organization for curious kids who love nature and science! Follow along as Squad members journal their efforts to make a difference in the world around them.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781631631870
Publisher:	North Star Editions
Publication date:	09/01/2018
Series:	Science Squad
Pages:	192
Sales rank:	448,140
Product dimensions:	5.00(w) x 7.50(h) x (d)
Lexile:	790L (what's this?)
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Arpad Olbey is an illustrator veteran and art director of his art studio in London. He works with paper, pencils, and paints or digital high-tech equipment, depending on the project. His wish is to combine his experience and technical knowledge to deliver the best that his creativity can give to audiences.

Editorial Reviews

"Anthony is a likable character ... and his classmates are a mirror of New York's diversity.” —Kirkus Reviews 

"This book has valuable lessons about seeing life from a different perspective, whether through observing people or our environment. Recommended." —School Library Connection

From the Publisher

2018-07-30

Anthony Briggs has many reasons to hate pigeons, including the fact that the class bully has been calling him Pidge for years, but when studying them could earn him an overnight at the natural history museum, he learns to appreciate the creatures.

Anthony, a black New Yorker, dinosaur enthusiast, fantasy comic-book creator, and leg brace-wearing kid with Blount's disease, wavers over whether or not to join the Science Squad but decides that even though it means studying "garbage-eating rat-birds," he wants the museum overnight badly enough to do it. His friend Jasmine joins, but so does Jasmine's other friend, Ivy, and the class bully, TJ, who never misses an opportunity to pick on Anthony. When everyone partners up to collect data in pairs, guess whom Anthony is left to work with? It's not all bad though. After some difficult moments, Anthony learns not to shrink when ridiculed, and he learns that sometimes people lash out because they're upset over something else. Anthony works hard to earn the Science Squad badges, and he becomes protective of a pigeon with a bum leg who reminds him of his own vulnerability. Anthony is a likable character who name-checks familiar books in his chatty narrative, and his classmates are a mirror of New York's diversity. However, the journal conceit is a thinly veiled attempt to dump science information into readers, so the book will succeed best with true science enthusiasts.

A science book with just enough story to it. (note on urban bird-watching, glossary, bibliography) (Fiction. 8-12)

Kirkus Reviews