Review: Birding Is My Favorite Video Game

Title: Birding Is My Favorite Video Game: Cartoons about the Natural World from Bird and Moon
Author/Illustrator: Rosemary Mosco
Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing
Copyright: 2018
Price: $12.99
ISBN: 978-1449489120
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Summary and Thoughts: Learn about birds and nature in a fun way with this collection of comics from Rosemary Mosco’s webcomic, Bird and Moon. Birding Is My Favorite Video Game is a fun, laugh out loud, collection of nature comics that will teach you some oddball facts and just poke fun at wildlife and humans. The only real gut-hitters in this one are the comics on climate change which might make some readers cry (I legit got emotional over these comics in this collection).

This collection is great. The artwork is not consistent but in a variety of styles from pixel art to detailed animals to rounded people. The humans, when they show up, are a mix of skin tones. The animals are mostly realistic, yet a little cartoony. There are black and white comics and comics in color. Each page basically gives readers a different style and leaves readers wondering what’s next. It’s definitely fun and I’m sad I didn’t know about this comic before, especially since Jeph Jacques did the introduction and I have read his comic for a long time (and have the Yelling/Angry Bird dry erase board).

I heard about this comic, I think, in the spring preview comic webinar that Library Journal does. I also read the School Library Journal review and I have to disagree with their reviewer here. I know it was marketed as a kids title, but as soon as I read Jeph Jacques as doing the introduction, I immediately questioned what SLJ had said. SLJ’s review puts this title at Grade 5 and up, but says that middle grade would enjoy this as well. My idea of middle grade is likely different than this reviewer as I see middle grade around 4-6/7 grade (i.e. my chapter book collection’s high end). While it is likely “there” as a middle grade book, I’m thinking that there are quite a few things that would go over their heads (and let’s face it, Questionable Content is listed in the intro and that is more for adults). Poking around Barnes and Noble and Amazon as well as looking at the “read-alikes” listed on the back (Hark! A Vagrant and XKCD), this comic has a strong new adult readership. In the case of Amazon and where it ranks in best selling titles, it is not even on the children’s market radar. As of this review, my library’s copy is in children’s, but I’m moving it up to teen. It is a comic that middle schoolers, high schoolers, and adults will enjoy. The kids who will be drawn to this will have a strong science background (for example, listen to science podcasts) or be given this by their parents, but otherwise, this has jokes that are likely to go over their heads. Fans of XKCD, Sarah’s Scribbles, and the like, will enjoy this title. Good for middle school, high school, academic, and public libraries.
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Recommended Audience: Middle school, High School, Teens, Adults
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Source: Library