The book, Gertie's Birdies, is both a visual delight and an easy to read aloud collection of verse to stimulate the minds of young children and connect them to the natural world. The author slips a few easy to understand ornithological facts into each page thereby teaching and entertaining both reader and listener. Donna Salko is the mother of five children and a curious bunch of grandchildren. "I had my first granddaughter using binoculars before her fourth birthday. Her brother could identify more birds than the average adult before he even started preschool." Donna has had a love affair with photography since her father put the first Canon SLR in her young hands. Today, she continues the generational tradition by teaching young children proficiency with cameras and binoculars. Trips to birding hotspots are regular events. An avid prize winning photographer and outdoor enthusiast, her efforts to introduce her grandchildren to birding fell short due to the lack of educational and entertaining material available. Searching book stores, gift shops and information centers, the author found the few field guides written for children seemed to be geared toward much older children. The very young children had only coloring and activity books from which to learn. Donna Salko put together a collection of stunning bird portraits paring each with a short verse. From the large size American Eagle, Osprey and Wild Turkey, to the very small Ruby Throated Hummingbird and American Goldfinch, each of the portrait and poem pages gives small children a better grasp of the avian beauty and diversity in their own backyards without overwhelming them with scientific fact. The author lives in Northeast Pennsylvania but travels frequently to Florida, New Mexico, Arizona, Maine and Rhode Island. She can be found photographing birds and wildlife from her backyard to J.N. Ding Darling NWR, Bosque del Apache and Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge, her favorite haunts. She enjoys visiting classrooms to read aloud and discuss these backyard wonders to very receptive and enthusiastic primary grade-schoolers.
