The Language of Birds

The Language of Birds

Written by Rafe Martin

Illustrated by Susan Gaber

Rafe Martin, 2000

32 pages

Traditional Literature

            The Language of Birds was a story I was not familiar with until I found this book.  It is a Russian fairy tale about two brothers named Vasilii and Ivan.  Their father gave them each ten gold coins and sent them out into the world to see what they could gain with them in a week.  Vasilii went to a fair and spent all of his money on his own selfish pleasures.  Ivan instead went to the forest, and while he was there, he rescued a baby bird that had fallen from its nest.  To thank him, the mother bird taught Ivan the language of birds so he could always understand them.  When Vasilii and Ivan returned to their father a week later, Vasilii lied and told his father that he spent all of his money entertaining the sons of merchants and would later become wealthy as a result.  Their father believed Vasilii’s lie, and he was very proud of him.  When it was Ivan’s turn, he returned all of the money to his father and told him that he learned the language of the birds.  This angered their father, and he asked him what the birds had told him.  Ivan replied that the birds had told him that he would one day be a prince and that his brother and father would both serve him one day.  This further angered their father, and he did not believe him.  Will learning the language of birds profit Ivan?  Will the bird’s prophecy come true?  The only way to find out is to read the book!

            Susan Gaber did a beautiful job illustrating this book.  I could not find the exact medium that she used in these illustrations, but I did find that she uses watercolors, acrylics, or colored pencils in all of her work.  These illustrations are very fitting for this story based on the setting and content of it.  All of the colors are kind of dull, which is also fitting for the setting and content of the story.  Gaber included a great amount of detail in each picture; I notice something new every time I look at one!  Single page and doublespread illustrations are interspersed throughout the book providing a variety of page layouts.

            I really enjoyed this story, and I believe it would be a great addition to any classroom ranging from third to sixth grade.  This book could be used in a compare and contrast lesson; the class could compare and contrast the similarities and differences between Vasilii and Ivan.  It could also be used as a character education lesson teaching students that it is better to be honest and wise like Ivan than selfish and clever like Vasilli.  Additionally, this book could be used when the class is talking about old sayings like saying someone “understands the language of the birds.”  They could use this book to really understand that it means that someone is very wise using Ivan in the story as an example.   Overall, I really enjoyed reading The Language of Birds, and I believe any teacher would be glad to add it to her collection.