Do not read Vulture View by April Pulley Sayre and illustrator Steve Jenkins while eating lunch. Even if it is a nice, tame dish of shepherd’s pie (just hamburger, corn and lots of mashed potatoes). While there is nothing grotesque about the images of Jenkins, it was shall we say the idea of their dining choices that made me feel less than hungry.
But that’s not to say I was not enjoying the book. Once I separated the two acts, I found things very lovely. A simple, but not simplistic, poem floats along the pages. The words are soothing, fun and cleverly cute. The images are not bold but not lacking. They have good, strong colors in a slightly unrealistic presentation. We see a little about the vulture and how they live, eat and sleep. Perhaps my favorite image is their vulture tree near the end as it is both a bit eerie and soothing. The other is the deer carcass near the savory orange flowers that shows nature in an accessible and tasteful way (I’m sure the vultures would agree). 
Also included is an afterwards that condenses facts into a few paragraphs and we learn more wonderful things about those adorable creatures. There are sources and a few other things that will expand your reading about vultures. If you are looking for a science book that gives you everything about these amazing beings (have you seen one? I have. Once one was having a late lunch, covering with their body the entree and basically taking up one lane of the road), this is not it, but it is a nice combination of factual-fiction and introduction to non-fiction elements.
