Cuckoo by Lois Ehlert

Today at preschool, we made paper cut out cuckoos a la Lois Ehlert's Cuckoo. This book was suggested reading in our Early Americas section, as it's an old Mexican folktale-a "you can't tell a bird by its feathers" story.
I had never seen this book of hers before, but as soon as I picked it up, I felt compelled to recreate her colorful Cuckoo. I have a feeling many of Lois Ehlert's books have that effect on adults and children alike.
For Cuckoo, I traced the shape of the main body parts from her illustration in the book and then made templates to trace onto brightly colored cardstock. After hours of cutting (I prepared this craft for 14), I cut small slits in 4 spots to accommodate the gold brads.
In class, the kids glued on the eyes and their choice of wing designs and hinged the body together with the brads. The end result was quite beautiful-a dozen unique and colorful Cuckoos.