Book Mama: Kevin Henkes, Birds and a Sock-a-too

Kevin Henkes, Birds and a Sock-a-too

We are huge Kevin Henkes fans in our house.  Chrysanthemum and Chester’s Way are our ultimate favorites but for this month’s book club, we decided to explore one of Kevin Henkes’ books we were not very familiar with.  It was a tough choice, but we finally settled on his book, Birds.

We were drawn to this book for two reasons, the first being the gorgeous illustrations and the second, the topic- birds. We have recently moved to Australia from the States and the birds here are AMAZING!  There are birds flying outside our window that we would only see in a zoo or sadly, a pet store back home. While here we have seen Sulphur-Crested Cockatoos, Rainbow Lorikeets, Kookaburras and Australian Ibises, all up-close.  So, Birds, was a natural choice for us.

After reading the book the a few times, we decided to create a bird from things we could find in our home. But first we had to decide which kind of bird we wanted to make.  It was an easy choice for my son- hands-down a Sulphur-Crested Cockatoo. We gathered some supplies and set to work.

How to Make a SOCK-A-TOO

Materials:

  • a small, white sock
  • yellow felt
  • stuffing
  • black sticky-back felt
  • white felt or fleece (we used the fleece simply because that is what we had in the house)
  • white thread

Mama’s Directions:

Stuff a small, white sock with pillow stuffing, cotton or something similar.  Tie a piece of white thread about 1/3 way down from the toe of the sock to create a head as shown below.

Cut a crest from the yellow felt. I cut two identical crests and glued them together so it would stand up.  Glue the two googly eyes on the face of the bird. Attach the crest to the top of the head with glue as well. For the nose- cut a rounded triangle from the black sticky back felt, bend in half and glue to the face.

Cut 2 wings and a tail from the white felt or fleece. Shape them as you like.

Cut 2 pieces of yellow felt the same shape, but slightly smaller than the wings and glue them in place. These will make up the underside of the bird’s wings.  Repeat with the tail.

Tuck the tail- yellow side down- into the back end of the sock and glue it in place. Use a clothespin to hold the sock closed around the tail until the glue dries.

     

Cut two feet from the black sticky back felt.

I needed something for the legs so I scrounged through my random bag of “stuff “I have saved and found these pencil wraps. I cut one in half and used the two pieces as the legs for our bird. You can use anything you like here- pipe cleaners, straws, rolled- up paper or whatever you have laying around the house!

Glue the legs onto the feet. Once dry, glue the legs onto the bird.

You are done! Now you have your very own SOCK-A-TOO! Isn’t he cute???

Optional:  As you can see in the picture above, there are 3 small piece of white fleece in front of the yellow crest. If you would like these on your Sock-a-too, simply cut three half-circles and glue them directly in front of the yellow crest.

Stop over at Toddler Approved to see the other activities from the Summer Virtual Book Club for Kids.

This month’s author: Kevin Henkes

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16 thoughts on “Book Mama: Kevin Henkes, Birds and a Sock-a-too

  1. Pingback: Book Mama: Books about Birds | Boy Mama Teacher Mama

  2. Pingback: My Little Bookcase | Blog | The Children's Bookshelf: A Sock-a-too, three bears, buildings and pirates! : A love of reading starts with one special story

  3. Thank you for linking up to The Children’s Bookshelf.
    I absolutely love your sock-a-too. How clever. I agree that Australia has the most wonderful and colourful bird life. There is nothing like listening to a kookaburra sing on your backyard fence.
    Thanks also for introducing me to a ‘new’ book.

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